Should SA schools stop giving children homework?

The debate on whether schools in South Africa should continue giving children homework continues to rage on in 2018.

Parents are seriously questioning whether it is really a must for their children.  Some schools have already started doing away with homework for pupils in the foundation phase, while limiting the amount given to children in older grades.

Sun Valley Primary in Cape Town is leading the way after its principal Gavin Keller adopted a no-homework policy based on the Finland Phenomenon. The school stopped giving learners in all grades conventional homework three years ago, and the decision has resulted in their grades improving. 

“We had to rethink the function of education. We asked ourselves, 'what is the purpose of homework when children are already spending seven hours at school’…. We made sure that the seven hours they spend at school are so focused, so on task, so full of fun that after school there's still time to play sport, have their friends around, and in the evening, they can still go to bed and read,” he told 702’s John Robbie in a 2015 interview.

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The principal is now sharing his knowledge with schools in other provinces, with the Daily News reporting that he is expected to address a school in KZN about how its learners can benefit from the programme.

The proof is in the pudding, but should all schools follow suit? Education analyst Kobus Maree says he is in favour of homework that is level appropriate.

“You cannot give youngsters in Grade 4 four hours of homework. Let them practice the skills and exercises, but maybe it will be best to let them do that at school under teacher supervision,” he says.

Maree says children shouldn’t have to spend hours in school, only to go home and spend more hours doing homework. 

“Ideally speaking, children should stay at school in the afternoon until such time they have completed whatever homework they have… In many cases when pupils go home, there are no support structures. Parents do not have the capacity, the time or they absolutely cannot help them. So, from that vantage point it makes sense to maybe shift the focus from sending them home to do their homework to expecting teachers to let them do whatever homework they have under the supervision of the teachers,” he told us.

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Homework is often a frustrating process for both child and parent that often ends in tears.

Maree says many parents are over-stressed and cannot give their children the attention needed to complete their homework.

“In South Africa, the vast majority of our learners do need additional help after school, ideally speaking there should be a teacher, a compassionate teacher that will not get upset when they struggle and will know how to gently encourage self-learning.

“I want every person in this country to go to a township where people barely scrape by. [Parents] get up at three o’ clock in the morning, they are so tired when they get home… and we expect them to help their children with homework. That is realistically never going to work.”

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Maree suggests that the we rid our vocabulary of the word “homework”. 

“When they sit in school they do their work. Gradually they will have to do work after school, it’s currently referred to as homework. The term homework is a complete misnomer… It is additional exercises to ensure proper understanding. The word homework, that’s a very ill conceptualized term and that’s where the problem comes in. I don’t want to send children home to do homework. But what does that mean? Sweeping the floor, cleaning the garden, that’s homework, that’s domestic work.

He says the work pupils do outside of normal classes is still school work. “It’s still school work that we do after school to make sure that certain skills are practiced in a way that promotes intellect, and sharp reflection. From this moment on, stop even to use the word homework. Parents can use the word homework, teachers should not be doing it. Teachers teach additional work after school.”

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Do you think schools should get rid of homework? Share your views in the comment section.