Peshawar: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Textbook Board has decided to cut the volume of textbooks by around half under the semester system, with the move aimed at reducing the weight of school bags, particularly for younger students.
Under the new arrangement, textbooks will be published for individual semesters instead of the entire academic year. Books for different subjects will also be combined into ‘jacketed books’ to reduce the number of books students have to carry to school.
Textbook Board Chairman Abidullah Kakakhel said kindergarten students would carry one jacket instead of three books, while students from grades one to five would carry two jackets instead of six books.
He said the initiative would considerably reduce the burden on schoolchildren and help address health concerns associated with carrying heavy school bags.
The new-format books will be introduced for pre-one to grade five in the 2027-28 academic year, while grades six to eight will be covered from 2028-29, according to the board.
Kakakhel said the curriculum itself would remain unchanged and only the presentation and packaging of textbooks would be revised under the semester-based system.
He said semester- and zone-based procurement would also help the board improve timely availability of textbooks, reduce storage requirements and minimise wastage and additional expenditure.
The distribution of free textbooks would be aligned with the academic calendar to ensure that students receive books at the start of the academic year, he added.
The KP Assembly had approved legislation in 2020 fixing maximum school-bag weights, but the Education Department has acknowledged that the prescribed limits have not been fully implemented.
Under the law, the maximum bag weight ranges from 1.5 kg for pre-grade children to 7 kg for students in grades 11 and 12, with separate limits prescribed for each class.