How a Hong Kong primary school pupil’s homework load has put a strain on family life

My daughter is in Year Six at a Hong Kong primary school. She has lots of interests outside school, including dancing and sport, but she has so much homework she barely has time to fit these in. I’m totally against children getting such a great deal of homework in primary school. Am I being unreasonable?

You are not alone in your views. A primary school in Britain recently made the bold decision to completely scrap homework. In voting for the change, the positives listed by parents for their children included more time for family, reading and following their individual interests and hobbies.

Parents frequently tell me that compulsory homework has a negative effect on family life and can put strains on relationships at home. Mathematics is a case in point: parents try to help their children using the methods they learned at school, which are often very different to the method the child has been taught. This causes arguments and confusion. Of course, this does not mean parents should never help or advise if their child is struggling in subjects at school.

Some parents even go as far as hiring homework tutors in order to avoid tension with their children. Perhaps surprisingly, recent findings by Britain’s Social Market Foundation show that students who complete their homework with minimal interference from parents and learn to manage their own time tend to be more successful in the long run. Children whose parents frequently help them with homework are likely to do worse at school.

Less surprisingly, children who did homework before other activities were associated with higher test scores than those who did not prioritise it.