Towards ‘healthy’ education

A couple of months ago, I was driving past a Colombo school around its closing time. Schoolchildren in crisp white uniforms streamed past and one youngster was carrying a trolley bag, the type you would carry on a foreign trip. For a moment, I thought he was actually going to the airport. Then it struck me: that was just his school bag. He was not alone - there were many others who carried huge bags on their shoulders or in their hands.

I can positively remember that I never carried such huge schoolbags during my schooldays. Thirty years is a long time and I can only guess that schoolchildren today have more textbooks and exercise books to carry, in addition to lunch boxes and instrument boxes. We all know about the ill effects of carrying bigger schoolbags. The children are saddled with a weight they can hardly carry - they are almost hunched.

It slows them down when walking and getting into a bus or school van is no mean feat with the additional luggage. In view of this problem, the Education Ministry has called upon parents to purchase only ministry approved school bags for their children. The model school bag designed by the Education Ministry in accordance with Healthcare and Nutrition Ministry guidance is now available in the market.

The ministry has introduced the model school bag with input from a committee of experts including doctors who were appointed to look into the issue. The committee rightly found that normal bags have not been properly designed to suit the physical requirements of children who are much smaller than adults and hence ill-equipped to carry adult-sized bags. The committee therefore designed a new model school bag to overcome the problem. The new bag comes as a backpack model along with a waist band which is more ergonomic than many varieties of so-called school bags available in stores.

The Education Ministry has called upon local bag manufacturers to manufacture bags conforming to the new standards and specifications.

Textbooks

However, this does not solve the problem in its entirety. Some textbooks are large and very heavy. Officials at the Education Ministry are said to be looking at splitting such textbooks into different volumes, with each volume containing a few lessons only. Another factor is the use of heavier monitors’ exercise books - schoolchildren should be encouraged to use the normal 80 page exercise books where possible.

Our schools usually do not have a locker facility, in which students could keep their belongings including books overnight. (If you see foreign movies, this is a very common sight). If such a facility can be provided separately or included in the school desk itself, students will be able to leave any textbooks/exercise books that are not needed for studies or homework overnight. Teachers could also help by detailing the books needed for the next day’s lessons. This will naturally lighten the load.

It is an idea that should be considered by at least the leading schools in all provinces. I mentioned school buses and vans previously, but there are many remote areas in Sri Lanka where such services are not economically viable given the limited numbers of students and the distances involved.

It is in this context that we commend the Private Transport Services Ministry and the National Transport Commission for initiating a project to provide free bicycles for students above 12 years in remote areas where there are no adequate public transport services and school bus services are not economically viable.

Under this program, schoolchildren in the Eastern province have been provided free bicycles under Sisu Seriya. Accordingly, 200 schoolchildren from the Batticaloa district and 200 from the Ampara district received bicycles at two ceremonies in Ampara and Batticaloa. Bicycles are already very popular among schoolchildren in the North and the East.

We hope that the program would be extended to other ‘difficult’ areas as well in due course. There are many instances where the children have to walk several kilometres to reach their school and they have to repeat the walk in the other direction when the school closes for the day. Cycling is a far better, healthy alternative which will also enable them to save time.

However, parents and teachers should educate them on riding safely, even if the traffic is sparse on some rural roads.

Function

The bicycles should also be equipped with a bag holder if they already do not have one, because that frees the hands for the all important function of handling the bicycle. The children and their parents will also be able to use the bicycles for other errands such as going to the nearest town. The schools should also have parking facilities for the added influx of bicycles. The Government should consider extending the program to teachers in rural areas too on an application basis, because they also suffer from the lack of public transport.

Carrying a heavy bag and riding a bicycle demand a good level of fitness, which cannot be reached if a child does not get a nutritious diet.

The Government has now decided to supplement the midday meal of schoolchildren in rural areas by adding an egg, with the aim of improving their nutritional levels. The program is being launched from the Central Province.

Earlier, it was decided to include a glass of milk too in this scheme. The move will also benefit the poultry and the dairy farmer. Schools and parents must also be encouraged to include rice flour based products and other local produce in school children’s meals, including those sold at school canteens.

There should be greater emphasis on breakfast, because that lays the foundation for a good day. It is not uncommon to see children who have not had a good breakfast faint while in class or the playground.

Children should also have access to pure potable water at all times, though some remote schools lack such facilities.Education is not all about learning new things per se - there should be a proper conducive environment as well. From bags to meals, such factors are being thought of by the authorities, which augurs well for the education sector in the future.

“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.

John Dewey