<span style="color: #222222;">J&K School Education Department has done away with school bags and formal textbooks for pre-primary students. As per a notification, issued by Principal Secretary School Education, schools have been directed not to assign any homework to the students upto 2nd standard. The notification has been issued as Rule 8A in School Education Act under which the heads of the schools have been entrusted to ensure that students of pre-primary school are not asked to carry any bag except light carrier for lunch box. As per the amendments made in the Act, no school should prescribe any other subjects except language and arithmetic for class 1st and 2nd students. Students from 3rd to primary classes should be prescribed only language subjects, Environmental Science and Arithmetic. Language, Social Science, Mathematics and Science for class 6th and 7th, or as prescribed by the affiliating authority," the notification reads. The Department has also fixed maximum permissible weight of the school bags for students of different classes. The weight of school bag for class 1 and 2 should not exceed 1.5 kg. Similarly, 3 kg, 4 kg, 5kg and 5.5 kg for standards of 3rd to 5th, 6th to 7th, 8th to 9th and 10th classes respectively. In case of violation or non compliance of the order, Government may cancel affiliation, recognition of the schools, the order further reads.</span><br />