Taipei mayor touts lockers to reduce weight of student school bags

Taipei, Feb. 16 (CNA) Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) expressed hope on Friday that young students in the city will no longer have to carry school bags loaded down with books as the city government prepares to place lockers in more than 5,000 classrooms over the next three years.

Chiang made the remark after greeting students at the front gate of Dong-xin Elementary School in Nangang District on the first day of their spring semester, saying he hopes students in elementary and junior high schools in the city will not have to carry school bags any heavier than one-eighth of their body weight.

Starting from 2024, the city government will budget NT$1.2 billion (US$38.3 million) for the policy to install lockers in 5,400 classrooms, Chiang explained to members of the press, adding that students and teachers will work together to design their lockers.

The policy will target elementary schools first, while lockers will be placed in the classrooms of selected junior high schools from 2025, the Taipei City government's Department of Education said in a statement issued the same day.

Asked about the school bag of his oldest son, a junior high student, Chiang admitted that he found the bag "a bit too heavy."

"I keep reminding him that he is now in junior high and growing up, [so I] hope [he] will reduce the weight of his school bag," Chiang said.

According to data compiled by the city government, the maximum average school bag weight of first and second-graders in Taipei is 3.48 kilograms, and that of third and fourth graders and fifth and sixth-graders 4.56 kg and 5.38 kg respectively, representing a decrease of 5.17 percent, 0.22 percent and 1.28 percent compared to the numbers in 2019.

During the interview, Chiang addressed concerns that such an ambition could be hard to realize because many students attend after-school programs or tutoring centers. As such, it is necessary to work closely with the schools.

For example, teachers should tell students to leave unneeded textbooks at school and to fill their water bottles when they arrive at school, Chiang said.

Meanwhile, Tang Chih-min (湯志民), head of the city's Department of Education, who accompanied Chiang on Friday, encouraged teachers to reduce the amount of homework they give students, according to the department's statement, adding that teachers should also give more interactive homework rather than just written assignments.

In addition, the department said it will continue to ask schools to measure students' school bags randomly and ask parents to help teach their children to keep only necessary items in school bags.

However, the efficacy of such measures is questionable given that the city government has been promoting the idea for more than two decades.

In a meeting with Taipei's elementary school principals in late January, Tang raised the issue of reducing the weight of students' school bags and offered similar advice.

However well intended, progress is hampered by the fact that even if students receive less homework at school, the spare space in their school bags will be filled by homework from tutoring centers, said Chang Su-hua (張素花), president of the association of Taipei's elementary school principals.

In other words, the cooperation of students' parents is required, added Chang, also the principal of Shuanglian Elementary School.

A similar opinion was shared by Chen Ching-yi (陳清義), principal of Yanping Elementary School, who said he observed that more and more students are bringing to school items such as roller skates, snake boards and building blocks, which suggests at least some of the weight comes from students' extracurricular activities.

Therefore, it is inadequate if only schools endorse the policy, Chen said, underscoring the need for greater parental understanding and the cooperation of tutoring centers.