Michael Gove scraps homework rules
Baku, March 5 (AZERTAC). Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, has scrapped national guidelines which set out how much time children should spend doing homework each night. Instead, head teachers will decide how much extra study, if any, their pupils require.
Officials said that the aim was to cut bureaucracy, and insisted that homework would remain an important part of education.
However, the move was welcomed by parents who have called for less homework to be handed out.
Kirstie Allsopp, the television presenter who has campaigned against homework in primary schools, last night welcomed Mr Gove`s move and said: “Getting rid of the guidelines might free up teachers to think a bit more creatively about it”.
Under the old guidelines, introduced by Labour in 1998, primary schools were told to set an hour of homework a week for children aged five to seven, rising to half an hour a night for seven-to-11-year-olds. Secondary schools were told to set 45 to 90 minutes a night for pupils aged 11 to 14, and one-and-a-half to two-and-a-half hours a night for those aged 14 to 16.
Schools have been given the go-ahead to reduce the amount of homework they set for pupils after complaints from parents that studies are cutting in to family time.
Supporters of homework warned scrapping the guidelines could lead to some schools abandoning it altogether, to spare teachers the trouble of extra marking.
Allsopp, who has two children and two stepchildren, said: “If you have three children, what happens to the other children while the parent is settled in the corner helping each one with their half an hour of homework? Eating a pizza alone. It ends up separating families at that key time.
The Effective Pre-School, Primary and Secondary Education project showed that homework was linked to improvements in 14-year-olds` academic prowess and social skills as well as reductions in levels of aggression and impulsiveness.
Her son Cameron, 11, who is in his final year at primary school is set homework on Friday evening which must be handed in by Wednesday.
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