Focus: Ban homework

There can be no real academic education without a balanced homework. Homework is much more necessary than classroom teaching.

Suliman Ali Shah

Dubai

Homework is the only thing that forces the student to remember school when at home. If this is banned, their life will only be about entertainment.

Pramila S Raj

Dubai

Yes, it should be banned. We send children to study in school for most of the day. Why extend to homework? Let them relax when they come back home for they are already too tired from school. We are paying the school so teachers will take charge of teaching. It seems like they are partially doing their duty – study in school, study again at home. Let the students be inspired to go to school, not hate it. Parents need to relax as much as children. I feel pity for the children — when they finish eating lunch, they clean up and pull their heavy bags to start doing their work, instead of playing with their little sister or seeing their plants in the garden. They will come home at 3pm and start doing their homework after an hour until dinner time.

Rosa Lina

UAE

I am going to say yes to a ban. Teachers nowadays do not provide quality time in teaching, only a handful do. The parents end up having to teach their children and ensure that homework is done. Moreover, teachers do not coordinate! Excessive homework during exams does not allow the child to focus on doing well to pass.

Mo Jo

Dubai

This question should have been asked 20 years ago.

Vikas Pahuja

Dubai

Homework must be something practical, related to the topic, instead of just a lot of writing work, so that it makes children take interest in the topic and learn.

Shifa Kouser

Sharjah

The entire schooling system is broken. Homework should never exist. It almost feels as though the teachers can’t do their job. Or, it should be completely optional along the lines of ‘recommended exercise’.

Xed Ali

Nottingham, UK

Homework should be given but in limits and should not be given regularly. Children are already overburdened with many unwanted things in school.

Qassim Abdulla

Dubai

Holiday homework and holiday projects should be banned.

Tessy Max

Dubai

Yes , projects and assignments should be given out, but not on a daily basis.

Aqsa Kamil Khan

UAE

Not homework; weekly project should BE given to students. It would be a better step for students.

Aali Raxa

No, I don’t think so. Yes, you could lessen it a little bit but do not completely remove it. It is helping students in studying and preparing before lessons will be discussed in the class.

Mary Ann Li Ner

Dubai

Not at all. If a child revises the things taught in school they will be under less pressure during exams. Homework develops a habit of reading the school work and a sense of responsibility towards studies. It should be more or less depending upon age and standards but homework is a must.

Smita Ojha

Muscat, Oman

Never. Might as well give diplomas at registration ...

Jason Renoux

Dubai

Nominal homework is fine, but what if all the curriculum becomes homework? That kind of approach should be reviewed.

Jas Abdul Jaleel

Kanchipuram, India

Homework is needed but it should not be on something new that children have not learned in class. It should be a practice of what they learned in class. Nowadays, what usually happens is that children are not able to do the homework as teachers have not properly explained the concept in class and they come to parents for help.

Jipna Jijith

Dubai

Homework helps them give extra attention to what they learnt in school, so it’s not good to ban homework. But it should also not push children toward boredom or depression. Parents should manage children, lovingly and peacefully.

Sisilia Jayasingha

Sharjah

If children get homework we will come to know what they have done in school, and we can also talk to them about related topics in our own mother tongue, so children can understand better.

Rizu Zafer

UAE

It should not banned completely but be limited to one subject a day. Also, it should be thought-provoking, not just writing practice.

Sumaira Farooq

UAE

All these comments here are making me sad and angry because it all stems from the cultural misconception that if a child doesn’t study at least 12 hours a day, he won’t succeed in life. Do you think that stuffing huge amounts of impractical information in seven hours, five days a week and later burdening them at home with more work and stress is good for a child’s development? The curriculum should be limited to school time. If you can’t teach a child in that time then revise the way you teach because you are probably doing it wrong. Children hate school because of this. There are a lot of other important things a child can learn to succeed in his life and he doesn’t learn it in school. Learning, socialising and communication at an early age by doing many activities with friends or joining clubs is very important for the future to develop great relationships in your career. Being active in participating in extra-curricular activities such as swimming and dancing will teach children how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle and stay out of trouble. Experimenting in many activities and hobbies will help children realise their field of interest to choose the right career. Education is not about quantity, it is about quality.

Susie Bellamys

Durban, South Africa

I think the question should be: Should homework be limited?

Rashid Muhammad

UAE

Homework should not be banned. It should be less and very qualitative.

Nour Ali Khan

UAE

The quality of teaching at schools isn’t effective enough. That’s why children are loaded with homework.

Nisha Kumar

Homework should never be banned and this question would never have been raised when and where I grew up. If learning, development, reading, writing, ambition for knowledge, productivity, good study habits, responsibility and revision can continue to thrive after school hours, it certainly should. These days, there is too much dependence on schools to entirely sustain all development and learning in our children and if the students fall short, we blame the poor teachers. I cannot even fathom the existence of this question. Hard work never killed anyone!!

Shanzeh Haque

Dubai

It should be limited. May be once a week on weekends

Ann I.E.

UAE

Ban homework. The children are attending classes and not doing a correspondence course.

Nasir Khan

UAE

Within reason, small homework assignments can support parental guidance of school work. It also promotes learning outside the classroom.

Elizabeth Hurst

Dubai

Homework should never be banned, but keep it reasonable. Sometimes, children are being sent home with hours and hours of work. This is not healthy, nor normal. Correct, the teaching objectives are heavy and a teacher cannot finish all of that during class. But you cannot request a child to do another four hours at home after having been in class for eight hours.

Isabella Sophia

UAE

Is this even a question to ask? Homework plays an important role in school where they do the homework and from that students get to learn about what they did in their homework. So no it should not be banned

Saif Wazed

Dubai

I don’t think it is right to abolish the concept of homework completely because this will make children not just lazy and unproductive buy also eat up on the chances of parents reviewing what their children do at school. Majority of parents, especially those working, track their child’s progress in studies through the homework given. In case children are not given assignments to be completed at home, parents and guardians will not be able to review what their child has been doing at school. However, I do feel that the amount of homework must be reduced as most of the times, children lose out on the opportunity to enjoy their childhood due to being burdened by excessive assignments for home. I remember how I would remain glued to my books until the wee hours of morning to complete my assigned homework each day. As a result, I was always stressed, unhappy, under pressure to perform my best and meet deadlines. I usually did not have enough time to sleep and would be lethargic the following day. Our school gave us more homework than what was taught in class. We had to finish chapters on our own in case we were lagging behind in the completion of our syllabus. Sadly, some schools give more homework than the others to give an impression that their education standard is high and tough. Apart from this, I also feel that some home assignments are useless, have no benefit to children, are time-consuming and at times, costly - these include making charts, models, projects, printing presentations and other contents. Homework should be given in moderation that is realistic to be completed within a few hours. It should not take the entire day, leading to feelings of fear, depression and stress in children. And more importantly, homework should be useful, creative yet educative for a child.

Fatima Suhail

Dubai

No, homework should not be banned. But don’t force a child to do it either. They will realise it’s importance gradually.

Almas Bashir

Practise makes a person perfect. If homework is stopped, he will become more lazy. We have to do homework for all our achievements. Children should be interested and supported by parents. Out of 24 hours, three can be devoted to studies during vacations.

Geetha Ravindranath

Dubai

Teach what makes money, and children will ask for more homework.

Jader G. Z. Avila

I agree with giving children occasional homework. But not during Thursdays, as it would ruin the weekend.

Lioba-Hassan Robiso-Lotfi

No, I mean its like revising. Even skilled people can forget urgent things during the day so a student could easily forget. And another thing is that it will be highly effective for students, especially those who are weak in studies. I mean after school, if parents give some time for revision they could save his or her whole year.

Ravi Roheywal

Dubai

Yes, it should be banned because they give regular homework and by the time we finish our homework, we can’t study. Or, they should give homework for one subject a day, not more than that.

Abdullah Mohammadi

Sharjah

Yes, I am a student of grade nine, and I say it should be banned. Giving it rarely is fine, but regular homework is too hard for us.

Mahra Hamdan

Abu Dhabi

Absolutely yes. Children are tired enough after school. Brain dead! However, I do believe in an occasional project. But only something that is compatible to their interest and learning, and something that will help them employ skills such as problem solving and inquiry. Something that will be worthwhile, constructive and productive to their future, not stuff that is random!

Em Dodds

Dubai

Teachers should teach. Students - practice makes perfect. Homework with the right guidance helps.

Irshad Valli

Dubai

Homework is counterproductive. I can bet on that. I have been a teacher, and personally, I have seen students who have spent their entire day only studying to get good grades. And yes, they did get good grades in exams but by the time they reach college or highschool most of them are physically very weak - have glasses, are vulnerable to real-world situations since 90 per cent of their lives were spent under the roof and without any interaction with what the outside world is going through. The difference of grades between them and a student like me who played more is just few percent, and I am also earning more than all of my higher grade colleagues. I am a sportsman, a counsellor and physically stronger than they are on account of academics as well as in dealing with situations. In fact, they just memorised the subject but couldn’t understand what they are reading or memorising. It’s useless, trust me. Less is more. Work less, play and rest more.

Alam A.

Dubai

What happens in school is that there are around eight subjects, out of which almost half have homework every day. Children don’t get any free time for themselves. Which is really needed for physical development. So, homework should only be for one or two subjects, and that too within limits - something you can finish in an hour or two.

Yousra Faizan

Dubai

In our country, the Philippines, studying eight subjects with homework is normal for students. Because homework is a way of achieving disicipline on how to study well. Practice makes perfect, because learning is a continuous process.

Joemaly Tan

Dubai

Homework is a recapitulation of lessons, which you teach and read in school, it is necessary at basic levels

Ikram Said

Dubai

— The writer is a trainee with the Readers Desk at Gulf News