Thursday, August 30, 2007

Homework Should Be Banned?

Okay, this is going to make Malaysian parents cringe. The Tasmanian Parents And Friends Association says that homework should be banned altogether! And apparently a lot of parents share the sentiment.

Gosh! That's about the most absurd thing I've ever heard. I got this information from an article that appeared sometime back in The Herald Sun newspaper. At first I thought I misread the sentence with that statement. I had to read it a few times to make sure I got it right. It seems that homework is "an excuse for poor teaching in the classroom and merely adds to the stress of students".

Goodness, as it is, the kids here don't have much homework to do. From Prep to Year 3, there is no homework at all. The kids just get supervised tuition in school - meaning they finish whatever they need to do in the classroom. They have daily readings at home but the teachers stress these are not homework, just something to practise on. And even some exercises that the kids bring home are optional. And no, they stress that's NOT homework. Hmm, "homework" must be a very bad word indeed.

The kids already have things too easy here. I say some homework is definitely a must. Otherwise, they are sure to get lazy and find it hard to cope when they go to secondary school. This is already happening, especially among Australian born kids. But the parents don't seem too overly concerned about the lack of enthusiasm in homework.

I still don't get it. Homework should be banned? That's just too ridiculous.

2 comments:

anfield devotee said...

no homework means more time fer more aussie pursuits such as cricket, rugby, surfing etc . . .
Maybe yer two kids may end representing Aus in the Olympics in a couple of decades, who knows. Besides, people over there are more atuned to the "quality of life". Chill la, yer kids will probably turn up out to be more well rounded citizens than if they had their heads buried in homework all the time like it is here. Sigh, wish my childhood had less fookin homework . . .

weiyin69 said...

I actually didn't mind my homework, except the part with anything to do with Maths and Physcis! Other than that, I was okay.