Poland to abolish homework for primary school pupils
Polish school pupils have a slightly higher homework burden than the average in other countries, a report by Poland’s Educational Research Institute (IBE) has found. It also noted that greater amounts of homework are not associated with better learning outcomes – in fact, the opposite is true.
The IBE – an institution supervised by the education ministry – published its findings shortly before the government abolishes homework in primary schools next month.
IBE analysed existing research findings on homework, with a particular focus on data from three international comparative studies: TIMSS, PIRLS and PISA.
The report noted that the international evidence shows that, in fact, the less time pupils spend on homework the higher are their average skill levels.
According to self-reported data from PIRLS 2021 – which covers 56 countries and territories – pupils in Poland spend around 1.7 hours per day on homework while the average in other countries is 1.5 hours.
The PIRLS data also showed that only around 30% of Polish parents agree with the statement that “my teacher’s child gives too much homework”, with 70% disagreeing. Over 85% agreed that “my child does well with their homework” and 54% said that their child enjoys homework.
The data also showed, however, that boys spend less time on homework than girls and that children from families with lower socioeconomic status spend less time on homework their their peers.
Findings from TIMSS and PIRLS showed that recent years have seen a decrease in the amount of homework Polish pupils receive in maths, science and Polish classes, with a similar trend seen in other countries.
IBE published its analysis before the controversial abolition of compulsory, graded homework in Polish primary schools, which will go into force from April.
Barbara Nowacka, the education minister, said that currently, primary school pupils have
an excess of things to learn, to memorise, also at home, at the expense of free time, at the expense of extra-curricular activities, at the expense of meeting friends.
A recent non-representative citizen survey conducted by “SOS for Education” – a coalition of 40 organisations monitoring the state of education in Poland – found that only 7% of teachers and 23% of parents surveyed supported the complete abolition of homework.
Among both groups, the idea to “diminish but not abolish” homework dominates, with 57% of teachers and 44% of parents in favour of this solution.
Homework arrangements in other European countries vary. In France, written homework in primary schools has been banned since 1956, while in Estonia only first-grade pupils are not given any homework.
Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg and Romania introduced solutions limiting the amount of time that primary school pupils spend on homework and specifying when it is to be given or the nature of the tasks.
Comments (2)
Куда Польша идёт? На Запад? В задницу она идёт, как и вся Европа. Выбрали сволочь Туска на свою голову...
Корреляция "больше заданий - хуже результаты" может быть из-за государственной, регуляторной, распильной натуры школьного образования. Бюрократический процесс как газ занимает всё свободное время учеников, все доступные финансы и т.д. предметами не из тривиума и квадривиума, а тем, что призвано увеличить чьи-то бюджеты или власть. Тут как время, так и бюджеты падают жертвой tragedy of commons.
Если сэкономить время на ДЗ по математике, его займёт ОБЖД (а как же не научить детей не совать пальцы в розетку, ко-ко-ко), научный коммунизм или как там у лишнехромосомных, "уроки о важном".