The Arguments for the Abolition of Homework from the Education System - Essay Example

The term homework refers to tasks, which have been assigned by teachers to be completed outside from and it has been, for a long time one of the most fundamental parts of the education system. Despite its long duration in the system, there has recently been a huge debate on whether it is worthwhile for teachers to continue giving students homework. There are those who claim that homework is useless to the students and that it should be abolished for these students’ better good. Those who support its continuation , on the other hand, claim that it would be best to retain homework because it not only keeps students occupied when they get home from school, but it also helps them perform better at school. Therefore, when these arguments are brought forward, one would be very tempted to side with the first argument because homework is detrimental to students’ social and other facets of their life and should be abolished. In this paper therefore, we shall make arguments for the abolition of homework from the education system of our country. In addition, it has been argued by those who support its continuation that homework helps to develop the home school partnerships which are essential for them to excel in their education. However, what they do not consider is the effect of homework on the relationship between parents and their children. Homework keeps children working long into their free time and when they are done with this, they have very little time left to interact with their parents and they instead have to go to bed in preparation for another busy day at school. This is detrimental to their relationship with their parents because the time, which would have been used to interact and bond with their parents, is taken up doing homework. This results in frictions between parents and children and causes a disruption of family life due to a lack of understanding between them. The proponents of homework state that it reinforces those skills and knowledge, which students have learnt at school and that this greatly benefits their academic experience. This indeed is a very noble argument for the retention of homework, but it fails to consider the fact that the expectations of the school curriculum are excessive and that students have to spend an estimated six hours daily trying to fulfill these expectations. The curriculum has to be adjusted so that it can cater for all its expectations without imposing more hours of work on students who would better use their time doing something more productive. The lack of any physical activity by the students has come because of the long hours sitting in class and listening with very little time left to them for physical education. When homework is added to this routine, then it becomes a problem because after school, students come home when they are mentally exhausted and they need time to relax through physical and other activities so that they can use up all the physical energy they have contained all day. In the end, this will be beneficial to them both academically and physically since they will be able to do well in both. Moreover, some have said that doing homework helps to raise the achievements of the students, which is often a great misconception as they fail to consider the pressure put upon school children. Considering that both teachers and students are under immense pressure to achieve, and this is often driven by the need to enhance the reputation of a school so that it can be kept open through parents wanting their children to attend that school. Therefore, in order to achieve this, teachers tend to pile homework on their students so that they can cover the school syllabus faster. In this case, homework have little but insignificant benefit for the individual, creative development of the student and it instead functions as a tool for satisfying the targets set by the school administration. In other words, student achieves or gains little from the homework given since it is for serving other selfish motives. However, those in support of the retention of homework argue that it helps students to be able to work independently. Although the ability of students to work independently would be greatly appreciated, this does not always apply to homework. It is true that most students want to do well, but this cannot be possible without the presence of a teacher to give guidance. Thus, when a student finds it difficult to do a task in his or her homework, normally, they have to wait until the next day in order to ask their teacher. Doing such tasks at home does not have any benefit for the student because some of the time, they do not completely understand what they are or should be doing. It is the duty of teachers to stimulate their students enough to ensure that during their free time, these students are able to do their own research on the subject taught without having to be told. This is what one would consider effective learning and academic achievement. In conclusion, it has been said that homework helps students in their preparation for the next stage of their education. Despite this being a very important thing in the academic development of the student, the need for other activities that are also vital for a student’s development has been completely ignored. The latter activities should never be endangered in favor of the former because to do so would be detrimental to the student. Therefore, students should be given enough time for them to relax from a hard day at school by doing something completely unrelated to it. This will not only ensure mental relaxation for the students but it will also help in their overall development. It has been proven that other activities, especially physical ones like sports, lead to a longer attention span of students in class. These activities ensure that the students are relaxed and this state, without any homework, provides the means through which they excel in their education. Read More