PETALING JAYA: Double-session primary school pupils will be provided lockers starting this year as a way to solve the issue of heavy schoolbags, says the Education Ministry.Education Minister Datuk Dr Radzi Jidin said the initiative would start with pupils in Years One, Two and Three.

       He said an allocation of RM37.3mil had been set aside to provide lockers for a total of 323,186 lower primary pupils in 10,662 classes.

       The second phase of the locker initiative is expected to start next year, which will see the provision of lockers extended to Years Four, Five and Six pupils in double-session schools.

       “After studying the issue of heavy schoolbags in detail, we found that the problem is critical among primary school pupils, particularly Years One to Three.

       “This is a new approach as the ministry will be providing lockers to pupils for the first time.

       “However, for single-session schools, pupils will keep books inside theie desk drawers at their respective classrooms,” Radzi said in a video posted on his Facebook page yesterday.

       He said the locker initiative was one of seven holistic solutions devised by the ministry to overcome the issue of heavy schoolbags which has been going on for almost three decades.

       Other measures taken to resolve the issue of heavy schoolbags include the reorganisation of timetables to only three or four subjects per day and giving schools the flexibility to provide a timetable according to a weekly rotational system.

       Radzi said the rotational system would lessen the number of textbooks and activity books brought daily by pupils.

       He added that the number of exercise books had also been limited to two per subject, with each not exceeding 80 pages.

       “During our visit to schools, we found that many pupils were carrying more than two exercise books for one subject,” he said.

       Another measure being implemented is limiting the type of activity books and workbooks used by pupils.

       Radzi said they were only allowed to use activity books provided by the ministry, while workbooks are to be used as reference material outside official teaching and learning (PdP) periods.

       “We are also taking the approach of embracing digital textbooks by continuing to publish new textbooks in a digital format.

       “To date, a total of 692 titles of digital textbooks have been uploaded in the Digital Educational Learning Initiative Malaysia platform. Pupils who have a device can access digital textbooks through this platform,” he said.

       Radzi said teachers were encouraged to use a pupil-centred PdP approach such as thematic, modular and project-based learning, virtual lab or alternative learning.

       “We have also discussed with Jakim (Islamic Development Department) to allow pupils to attend religious classes in their school uniform to reduce the items in their bag,” he said.

       He hopes that the initiatives outlined would be able to reduce the problem of heavy schoolbags.

       The ministry had in the past conducted three major studies related to the issue in 1994, 2008 and 2017, as well as taken various actions to address the matter, Radzi added.

       This included issuing a circular on the use of workbooks in primary schools in 2000, and guidelines on dealing with heavy schoolbags in 2018.

       “To ensure that every approach is implemented as best as possible, we will closely monitor each one through a task force that will report to us periodically,” he said.

       The minister said closer cooperation with parents and guardians, and engagement sessions with Parent-Teacher Associations would also be enhanced to address the issue.