Chinese parents lament losing sleep over children’s homework

Chinese parents are complaining that they have too much homework to do, despite government guidelines to lessen schoolwork for primary schoolchildren.

The burden is falling on parents as they help their children print, bind and even check and correct their assignments.

One father of twins, surnamed Zhang, complained about losing sleep because he had to check his children’s homework assignments, according to a CCTV report.

The parents have to sign off on each completed assignment and are berated by teachers in group chats if they fail to do so, screenshots shared with CCTV show.

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Another parent said they were asked to just take a picture of the completed work and send it to their group chat.

The teachers often did not even mark the assignments, it was claimed.

Other parents also took to social media to share their complaints following the CCTV report.

Chinese schools told to cut homework as parents pick up the slack

“Our child’s school is like this too. If we miss a mistake the teacher names and shames us in the group chat. Some parents who don’t have time send their children to special tutors to check their work. The classes cost 1,000 yuan (US$143) a month,” wrote one user on Weibo.

“The parents do half the teachers’ work these days, maybe they should also get half the teachers’ salary,” wrote another.

Chinese primary and middle schoolchildren spend an average of 2.82 hours on homework a day, three times the global average, according to government statistics.

Are you kidding? Chinese parents furious over 12-page holiday assignment on fallen leaves

While various local governments have issued orders to reduce schoolwork, parents still often take to social media to vent about all the extra work they do for their children’s education.

In September, angry parents complained that they had been asked to “stand guard” at the school gates and were assigned to a roster without their consent, the Qilu Evening News reported.

Another well-known Hangzhou primary school set a 12-page assignment on the life cycle of leaves for first and second-graders last month. The parents, who had to do most of the work, took to social media to complain bitterly.