A retired scientist in Jharkhand and two of his associates have developed a warning system that beeps and lights up when a school bag exceeds a certain weight limit or goes above the child’s body mass index (BMI).
Kamal Sharma, 68, a retired scientist of the Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research in Dhanbad, research assistant at the institute, Prem Mandal, and Aparna Shree, secretary of the NGO Innovation for Society, have not only developed the bag warning system but also conducted trials on students of various schools and institutions within a period of six months.
Sharma is also the chairman of the NGO which develops sustainable technologies for the society.
“It is a sensor-based system using microchips and sensors for fixed programming. Parents or students would have to enter either weight or both weight and height (for the body mass index) initially. Whenever the bag is lifted, a light will glow with a beep sound if the bag is in excess of the permissible limit for that weight or BMI. It can be affixed near the holding point of bags. As the schools were closed during lockdown, we have conducted trials for nearly a month on students going for tuitions or coaching classes and the result has been encouraging,” said Sharma.
The bad posture of children due to carrying heavy school bags is what inspired the retired scientist to work on this project.
“We see several children walking with a bad posture developed due to carrying heavy school bags. They also develop a hunched back and hang their arms forward while walking due to musculoskeletal disorder. This happens despite the central government directive for students not to carry school bags in excess of 10 per cent of their weight. We decided to develop a system which will sound an alarm to parents, students and also teachers not to force students to carry bags in excess of the permissible weight,” said Sharma.
Scientist Kamal Sharma Telegraph picture
In October 2018, the education (erstwhile human resource development) ministry had directed all states and Union Territories to “formulate guidelines to regulate the teaching of subjects and weight of school bags in accordance with the Government of India instructions”. According to the central government’s advice, weight of school bags being carried by students in Classes I-II, III-V, VI-VII, VIII-IX, and X should not be more than 1.5kg, 2 to 3 kg, 4kg, 4.5kg, and 5kg respectively.
The ministry also said that students should not be forced to carry study materials other than the prescribed textbooks to school, according to the day’s timetable.
Sharma and his associates are willing to transfer the technology to any organisation for commercial production provided they give an undertaking against pricing it reasonably.
“We are a voluntary organisation and are not keen on commercial production. We are ready for technology transfer to any organisation for a token amount to us and with a condition that the product should be pocket-friendly. It cost us less than Rs 250 (per piece) and if it is manufactured in bulk, the price would go down further. We want the product to be affordable for all parents,” said Sharma.
