Schoolbags weight carriage in the context of the Algerian primary school reforms

Abstract

The Algerian educational reforms are intended toestablish a renovated educat ional system. Thereforms cover all the levels of education fromprimary school to universities. The aim set atmodernizing the educational syllabuses,improving the school textbook and promoting thequality of education in general. In primaryschools, t he reforms have shrunken the six levelsused in primary schools to five levels. Courseshave been introduced with their correspondenttextbooks and notebooks. Recently, parentspresented allegations about the observed heavyweight of schoolbags. Doctors, jou rnalists andteachers have been also presenting their worriesabout this issue. This study investigated the weightof schoolbags carried by schoolchildren from thefirst grade to the fifth grade. Results showed asignificant schoolbags weight reaching five Kgcarried by schoolchildren from the first grade. Theeducational reform while has focused on thecontent of the teaching programs seems to neglectthe overloaded schoolbags and ignored their effecton the quality of children health.