Philenews

Addressing the Weight of School Bags – Theopemptou Proposes European Best Practices

Published January 21, 2026, 05:13
Addressing the Weight of School Bags – Theopemptou Proposes European Best Practices

MP Charalambos Theopemptou of the Citizens’ Movement – Cooperation of Ecologists, is raising the issue of the weight of school bags again, highlighting the negative impact on students’ health and comfort. He proposes adopting European practices that focus on school organization and infrastructure, rather than simply setting weight limits. According to Mr. Theopemptou, countries such as France, Italy, Germany, and the United Kingdom implement solutions such as providing storage spaces (lockers), organizing lessons so that all books are not required every day, digitizing educational materials, and promoting ergonomic school bags. The MP proposes specific actions for Cyprus, such as creating storage spaces in schools, improving school organization, gradual digitization, and providing clear instructions to schools and parents regarding ergonomics and the reasonable weight of the bag. A pilot implementation of storage spaces in a representative number of schools, with an evaluation of the results before and after, is considered an easily applicable solution to address the problem.