Homework could be scrapped from primary schools – here’s why

A government committee is set to discuss whether children should still have to do homework after school.

According to the Irish Primary Principals' Network (IPPN), there needs to be a complete overhaul of the traditional form of assessment after the school day has ended. The group say that the days of parents knowing exactly what their child was getting up to in school through watching them do their homework are long gone. However, the IPPN still maintain that some form of after-school work needs to exist, and that it should encourage project work and study skills. President of the IPPN Maria Doyle says that children should enjoy the work that they do and understand why they are being asked to do it.

"We need to be realistic here. Children, particularly in senior classes in school, need to develop skills around study (...) and it never ceases to amaze me that parents don't have a bigger say in what format this homework takes."

Similar arguments have been put forward across the UK too. While many believe that hours of homework is of little help to students, its negative effect on the teachers themselves has also been addressed. Last year, a secondary school principal in Colchester was reported to a government watchdog by a parent after she decided to scrap homework. The Daily Mail reported that Catherine Hutley made the decision because it was becoming "impossible" for teachers to plan adequate lessons as well as correcting homework. She argued that there simply was not enough time for her and her colleagues to get their work done. Similar arguments made in favour of scrapping homework included the positive influence it would have on children's' mental health, and the research skills it would encourage. However, some parents weren't too happy with Principal Hutley's decision. One mother complained that there had already been a lack of homework throughout the year, and that she had been forced to send her child to grinds to make up for it. The parent said that she thinks reducing homework is right, but that there needs to be "more guidance." The IPPN are expected to meet with the Oireachtas Petitions Committee today.