*AP government to reduce school bag weight*

Andhra Pradesh: New textbooks with a different design have reached the Mandal Education Resource Centers for the upcoming academic year. Education Minister Lokesh assured during the Yuvagalam Padayatra that after coming to power, the weight of children's book bags will be reduced.

Accordingly, Telugu, English and Mathematics subjects have been combined in one textbook for classes 1 and 2, and the workbooks related to them have been newly printed in another. This means that from now on, students will have to carry only two books in their bags.

Education officials revealed: Books will be distributed twice a year semester-wise. Previously, there were four textbooks and four workbooks for classes 3, 4 and 5. Together with them, students would have to carry a total of eight books. But now, in the changed system, Telugu-English will be in one book, and Mathematics-EVS in another book. Their workbooks have also been printed in the same way. This means that they will now have four books in their bags altogether. Education officials say that this will reduce the weight of the children's school bags.