10 bagless days for classes 6-8: NCERT makes schools stress-free

The National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) on Monday released guidelines for the implementation of bagless days for classes 6 to 8 in an effort to make learning in schools more experiential and stress-free.

Developed by Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education, the vocational education unit of the NCERT, the guidelines come after the new National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 recommended that all students in classes 6 to 8 participate in a ten-day bagless period.

The guidelines released on the fourth anniversary of NEP 2020 aim to make the ten bagless days period an integral part of the teaching-learning process rather than an add-on to the existing scheme of studies of education.

The guidelines state that in these ten days, children will be given periodic exposure to activities outside school through visits to places such as monuments of historical, cultural, and tourist importance, meetings with local artists and craftsmen, and visits to higher educational institutions in their village, tehsil, district, or state.

“All students will participate in a ten-day bagless period, sometime during grades 6 to 8 where they will intern with local vocational experts such as carpenters, gardeners, potters, artists, etc.,” the guidelines stated.

The ministry stated that this will not only reduce the boundaries between bookish knowledge and the application of knowledge but also expose children to the skill requirements in the work areas, thus helping them to decide the future career path.

The guidelines add that these bagless days will be encouraged throughout the year for various types of enrichment activities involving arts, quizzes, sports, and vocational crafts.

The guidelines also suggested that a minimum of ten days or 60 hours of school time should be allocated to the activities for this programme, out of the over 1,000 hours spent by teachers and children in the school in a year.

“Ten bagless days activities can be accommodated in any number of slots in an annual calendar, with all the subject teachers being involved in developing the annual work plan,” it stated.