Assam Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya has instructed all the educational institutions to follow the fresh directives issued by the HRD ministry over weight limit of school bags.

Education department has set a deadline of May 30 for the schools to reduce the weight of students' school bags.

Students should not be asked to bring additional books, extra materials and the weight of a school bag should not exceed the prescribed limit, the order added.

The weight of school bags for students of classes I and II should not exceed 1.5 kg, while the school bag of students of class III to V should weigh between 2 kg to 3 kg.

The school bag of students of classes VI and VII should not be more than 4 kg, while weight of school bags of classes VIII and IX students should not be above 4.5 kg. The school bag of a class X student should not weigh above 5 kg, the order said.