Debate flares up regarding homework during holidays
Should primary or secondary school pupils have to do homework during spring break – or any other holiday period? Many parents and experts says no
Quality not quantity
Kris Goris, the father of a nine-year-old started the debate during the Hautekiet programme on Radio 1 this week. “My son came home with enough homework for one hour a day during the Easter holidays,” he said. “But I find it important to teach him how to disconnect and relax during holidays.”
VSK supports that idea. “Holidays should be a period when pupils are not confronted with school too much,” VSK president Céline Ibe told Het Nieuwsblad.
According to Flemish education consultant Carl Van Keirsbilck, homework during holidays is in general not very useful. “In primary education, the effect of homework is almost non-existent,” he said. He also pointed out that the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children have a right to periods completely free of school.
Education networks are hesitant to produce guideline on the topic. “Homework remains something that is organised on the level of a school, or even the class,” said Lieven Boeve, head of the Catholic education network. Boeve also said, however, that homework can help some children to not fall behind during holidays.
Flemish child psychologist Koen Lowet, meanwhile, emphasised that working on their skills during holidays can help pupils. “But only for about 15 minutes a day,” he said.
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