Kurdistan Region education ministry pledges lighter schoolbags for elementary students

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Education said Tuesday it has resolved the issue of heavy schoolbags for elementary students, confirming that the problem “will not persist this year.”

In recent days, 964media spoke with parents of first-grade students who said their children carry schoolbags weighing up to five kilograms. Some parents said they often help their children carry the bags to school.

Hasan Serti, director general of educational programs at the Ministry of Education, told 964media that the new 2025–2026 school year program takes the matter into account. “To reduce the weight of first-grade students’ bags, we have combined the teacher’s guide with the textbook, eliminating the need for separate manuals,” he said.

Serti added that the ministry reduced paper stock thickness for textbooks and workbooks to make them lighter. “The textbook pages have been reduced to 80 gsm paper, and the workbooks to 70 gsm, which makes them smaller and easier to carry,” he explained.

He said lessons for grades one through three have been divided between the first and second semesters to reduce the daily materials students must bring. Serti also urged parents to prepare their children’s bags based on the daily class schedule and “only include what is needed each day.”