Parents in UAE have hit out against Indian schools for burdening children with excessive homework, saying it’s destroying their children and taking a toll on their health.
Parents of children studying in different private schools said the authorities should provide some guidelines to limit the amount of homework assigned by teachers particularly in junior classes, like Grades I to VI.
Many said their children suffer from sleep deprivation and anxiety because of seemingly endless assignments that consume most part of their day and also eat into their weekends.
“My kid just doesn’t have time to be a kid anymore. He remains so bogged down with work that he is never free for anything else. The only interaction he has with me involves heated arguments about homework,” said the mother of a seven-year-old girl studying in Abu Dhabi.
Uzma Shah, a mother of two, said every day her daughter and son come home burdened with heavy backpacks and hours of homework to be completed before the next day.
Her children Fatima and Naveed, are studying in Grade I and III respectively at a private school in Al Ain.
One school in Dubai is trying to ensure homework is attractive to students, through a new initiative they have introduced to pupils. ‘The Learning Menu’ initiative by the Gems Founders School allows students to handpick what kind of homework they want to do.
Ian Plant, head of secondary at the school, said: “This initiative allows students to research topics through a choice-based approach, much like a food menu. Students pick their ‘starter’, ‘mains’ and ‘dessert’ and add any extras that will build and extend their projects. On this home learning journey, parents and students are encouraged to document their work by taking photographs and videos.
Schools may be implementing new strategies to make homework attractive, but students are still feeling the “stress”, which they say is being caused by excessive home learning.
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