JEDDAH, 10 December 2005 — Authorities at a local school have decided to take a backbreaking burden off schoolchildren.
Beginning this academic year, Al-Riyadh Elementary School in Jeddah’s Al-Andalus district adopted an innovative scheme, called “School without schoolbag”, under which the children need not carry their books to school. The authorities will provide two sets of books to each child — one set for use in school and another for home. Each child will also be given a file to keep worksheets that they complete in the classroom. The project is a trailblazer.
“This is the first initiative of its kind ever implemented in a government school in the Kingdom,” said Majed Al-Amoudi, the principal of Al-Riyadh Elementary. “Our students don’t have to carry a heavy schoolbag anymore. However, they are required to complete their homework using a set of books given to them for home use.”
The school has also implemented a new system allowing students to move freely from one classroom to another, giving them a greater sense of freedom.
Doctors and health experts warn that heavy schoolbags could put children’s health in jeopardy. A heavy bag that is slung over a child’s shoulder over the 12 years of schooling can cause chronic back problems in later life. Risks include muscle strain, distortion of the natural curve of the spine and rounding of the shoulders.
Al-Amoudi said the system was adopted after consultation with the parents. He said more than 85 percent of parents welcomed the move.
The response was so encouraging that some parents donated up to SR10,000 to help the school meet the expenses of implementing the program, Al-Amoudi said. “We appreciate their generosity. The project needs financial support to be successful,” he added.
Mohamed Al-Jifri is the head of the community relations department at the Teachers College in Jeddah. He has two children studying at Al-Riyadh School.
“We all support the policy of ‘school without schoolbag’. It relieves us a lot. We had been distressed by the sight of our children carrying a heavy load on their backs every day to school and back home,” Jifri said. “I’m sure the system will be a 100 percent success. It gives the children a sense of relief.”
He hoped that all government schools would implement the scheme.
Al-Amoudi said students will not be charged for the additional set of books, but they will have to pay a nominal fee of SR50 to support the program.
Al-Amoudi also spoke about a possible shift to an electronic education system.
“I agree an electronic system would be very beneficial to the children. However, right now, our school concentrates on conventional teaching techniques using notebooks and pencils,” he said.
Al-Riyadh School has 813 students on its roll. It admits only children living in the neighborhood or those who have relatives enrolled in the school.
