Homework blues

We know well that school homework helps parents follow up on their children's progress, but the same homework brings difficulties in staying focused and also pressures parents, especially those who find it difficult to balance life and home stresses.

"It is extremely difficult to balance the equation at home. I have home responsibilities, and I also run my business at home. I also have hundreds of responsibilities on my shoulders. On top of that, there is daily school homework for my children," Umm Hayyan, a mother of five, a home business owner and a housewife, said.

She added that such homework not only comes in on one subject, but the lesson has almost two to three assignments daily, which they don't even mark daily.

"I would like to plea for something to be done as soon as possible. Yes, we need our children to pass, but there must be a better solution," she said.

Free time allows children to relax and discover the world on their own terms, like riding a bike, reading books or interacting with friends and family. Additionally, it teaches students valuable skills that can't be learned at school.

Children also gain healthy levels of physical activity, which can help boost cognitive function and replace the time spent completing homework.

"When we also take a closer look at students themselves, especially from grade one to four, parents claim that after school, the children want to play outdoors, interact with their siblings or take a nap, but they find themselves in fear of having homework and claiming to be difficult for them," Sawsan al Ajmi, a private sector employee, said.

"I feel students concentrate more on the fear of homework completion than striving and reinforcing learnt knowledge," she said.

Yahya Rashid, a father of three in Al Amerat, said the struggles of today's world are great. They are reasons behind stress. "Most people have to work, pass through heavy traffic to and from work and after reaching home, they find different responsibilities, including school homework lined up. Something needs to be done to reduce the pressure or devise new means to scrap school homework," he said.

Others say it is difficult for working parents to take control of school homework. "Both my wife and I are employed, which causes work-related stress. We need rest, but our children wait for us to clear their homework," said Said al Habsi, a father of four school-going children.