Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Permai

How one school’s innovation has lightened the physical load and led to improved student wellbeing and performance

Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Permai, a government primary school in Penang, Malaysia, has innovated to ease one of the heaviest burdens its students carry: the weighty bags on their backs that risk their health. Through its ingenious Smart n Easy Table 2.0 (SnET 2.0), which provides additional compartments to desks, including lockers, water bottles and stationery compartments, and bag storage space under each table, the school has seen an increase in homework submissions from 54% to an impressive 91%, along with corresponding school performance, due to improved student wellbeing.

An initial survey showed that SK Seri Permai school children’s bags weigh on average 7 to 10 kg, or more than one third of their body weight. This heavy load is actually common to all young children throughout the region and, to put it into perspective, is similar to an 80 kg male having to carry 32 kg on his back every day. To put into perspective, active soldiers are only expected to carry 27 kg. Add to this that over 65% of SK Seri Permai’s children travel to school on the back of a motorcycle, weaving in and out of heavy traffic, jeopardising their safety.

The school abandoned early options like traditional lockers due to cost and limited space in the classrooms and turned instead to its own workshop to help develop a specialised desk. After several prototypes, the school unveiled the SnET 2.0 desk which, among other features, included lockers for the two student “shifts”, reducing the average bag weight from 10 kg to a mere 2.5 kg, as children only needed to take home the books they needed for their homework. Student performance and motivation immediately soared , with increased engagement and productivity, along with a sense of ownership and pride in their individual space.

If Sekolah Kebangsaan Seri Permai wins the World's Best School Prize for Innovation, it aims to share its innovative solution with all primary schools nationwide, creating project blueprint packs, detailing the A to Z of project implementation, and supporting hands-on workshops. Furthermore, it will enable the school to improve the functions and designs of SnET 2.0, catering to evolving student needs. Their goal is to ensure every primary school in Malaysia and other parts of the world who are facing heavy school bags problems implement SnET 2.0, positively impacting the health, safety, and academic performance of all students.