Opinion: Ten Bagless Days Will Only Mean Something If Someone Checks What Children Did on Them

Ten days a year, no bag. That is the idea behind the “bagless days” that the Project Directorate of J&K Samagra Shiksha has now asked district education officers to report on, according to Greater Kashmir on 17 October 2026. It is a small policy with a big promise: that children in Classes 6 to 8 spend part of the school year doing and making things instead of memorising them.

This is an editorial. The facts below come from Greater Kashmir's report of the circular; the opinion is ours.

What the circular says

The Samagra Shiksha directorate has asked Chief Education Officers across J&K for an action-taken report on carrying out the 10 bagless-days guidelines for Classes 6 to 8. The circular was issued by Ashwini Kumar, Administrative Officer, Samagra Shiksha J&K. It tells CEOs to circulate the guidelines to all schools that run those classes, under NEP 2020, and to send a consolidated monthly report for their district by the 5th of every month.

According to the report, NCERT issued the guidelines last year for government schools. Mr Kumar said they have been in force since then through communications from the directors of education, and that the new circular seeks a report because one had not yet reached the directorate.

What a bagless day is

Per Mr Kumar, these are 10 days on which Class 6 to 8 students come to school without bags. All academic activity for those classes is suspended, and students take part in activity-based, skill-focused learning. He described the purpose as pre-vocational awareness and promoting the vocational education taught from Class 9 onward, in service of experiential learning and competency-based education.

The report does not say which 10 days these are, and it does not list the activities. That is worth noticing, and we come back to it below.

Why the monthly report is the most important line

It is easy to be pleased by the idea. A child who has tried carpentry, gardening, a local craft or a repair job for a day has learnt something no worksheet teaches. But an idea that depends on a circular to find out whether it has been carried out is an idea that can quietly stay on paper. By Mr Kumar's own account, the guidelines have existed for a year and the directorate had not received the report it wanted.

That is why we think the demand for a monthly district report is the right call, and why it should be more than a number. A report that says “10 days held” tells nobody anything. A report that says what children did, with whom and with what materials, tells parents and teachers whether the day was used well.

What we would like to see

• Publish the activities. Each school can tell parents in advance which days are bagless and what is planned. Parents then know what to expect, and can offer help.
• Use local skills. Jammu region has craftspeople, farmers, mechanics and artists. A bagless day is a chance for children to meet them. The report does not say this is planned; we suggest it.
• Keep it a day of learning. The circular says academic activity is suspended, not that the day is free. Skill-focused work should have a purpose a child can describe afterwards.
• Make the district reports public. A summary on the Samagra Shiksha or education department website would let anyone compare districts.

What parents can ask

Ask your child's school which dates are bagless this year and what is planned. Ask whether the day has already been held. Ask what your child made or learnt. These are polite questions and any school should be able to answer them.

What we do not know

The report does not say how many schools have held bagless days, which districts are ahead, or what the activities have been. We cannot say whether the policy is working, only that the directorate is now asking. We will report any district figures that are published.

Source: Greater Kashmir, 17 October 2026.