admin Dubai- Some schools are dropping homework to allow students to have a life and ease the demands placed on parents.
Arcadia Education, Taaleem and Ambassador Education the three school operators in the emirate, stated that they have either stopped the age-old practice or limited the amount of work children are asked to do at home at a number of their schools.
Schools have allocated time within class hours for studies to be finished under the supervision of teachers instead of completing work at home, often with the help of parents.
Dubai follows a global movement in education trend fronted by countries such as Finland that have worked to limit the number of hours students spend on homework.
Bahrain in 2018, followed same when the country’s Ministry of Education announced a ban on homework.
At Ambassador International Academy in Dubai, children do “homework” within school hours and are given time twice a week to ensure tasks are completed.
Executive principal at Arcadia School in Dubai Sraham Beale, said levels of homework are a common source of frustration among parents.
He further added, “We asked parents what are the things they find frustrating when designing our curriculum and one of the things they mentioned was homework.”
The school has classes until 4pm with built in time for homework and children are provided with two to three hours time every week to complete work which is enrichment in terms of coaching and training.
There is some value in homework but there are many variables such as how much support a pupil has had, parents unsure of methods teaching ‘their way’ and potentially confusing children and the impact on family life, views expressed by many experts in the field and also upports families with their views on homework. Their revised home learning policy ensures it is built on purposeful study and does not take too much of the child’s time; is flexible and can be adapted to the pupil’s schedule; does not require a lot of adult supervision; and is also engaging and fun.
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