Students who forget to bring books or other equipment to class can breathe a sigh of relief - the Education Department has stepped in to save them from punishment.
The department yesterday told teachers to take an easier line on forgetful pupils who turn up without their homework or textbooks.
Principal curriculum planning officer Cheng Chee-hing said the new attitude was one of the measures to avoid lumbering children with heavy school bags.
The weighty satchels could harm the growing spines of primary and junior secondary school students, Ms Cheng said.
'The department considers it important that measures are taken to tackle the problem, and wishes to obtain support and co-operation from schools,' she said.
'Time-tables should be designed so as to avoid students bringing a large number of books to school on any day.' 'Teachers should avoid punishing students for occasionally failing to bring books or other items in class,' Ms Cheng suggested.
