Homework should be like vitamins – and come with a recommended dosage, Hong Kong parents’ group says
City’s competitive system has parents questioning whether their children have time to pick up life skills or even daydream
A parents’ union in Hong Kong called on Wednesday for primary school pupils to be given less homework after 60 per cent of mothers and fathers said their children spent more than 1½ hours a day on assignments after class.
Some 23 per cent said their children spent more than 2.5 hours on homework.
The survey findings involving 1,402 parents with children at 341 schools were revealed by the Hong Kong Parents League for Education Renovation.
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In another survey of 518 parents, covering 116 primary schools, the group found that 68 per cent of the schools allocated less than 40 minutes for recess while 74 per cent of them allowed less than 50 minutes for lunch.
Both were below the Education Bureau’s recommendations, comprising two 20-minute recesses and an hour-long lunch daily.
Only 14 per cent of the 116 schools had tutorial classes, designated for pupils to finish homework in school. Half of these classes were actually used as extended lessons to continue teaching.
“Homework is like vitamin pills. We all know they’re beneficial but there should be a recommended intake,” Eiffel Chau King-lun, convenor of the parents’ group, said.
“The government now does not have any limit on how much time pupils should spend on homework.”
