Hyderabad: Parents are annoyed with the large amount of homework given to students during the four-day Sankranti holidays. Parents said it was wrong on the part of teachers and schools to announce holiday and then give homework, which denies children and parents to enjoy the time out.
Some parents were of the view that homework during holidays takes away from kids the opportunity to get acquainted with festivals and traditions. Schools have Sankranti holidays from January 12-17, and will reopen on January 18.
Pavan Reddy, a parent from Manikonda, said, “Even during regular schools, all arts, crafts, and hobby related activities fall on parents’ shoulders. Kids and parents should be spared at least during festival holidays.”
Education experts also said that schools should avoid giving homework during short holidays like Dussehra, Christmas and Sankranti. Schools like St. Andrews, Holy Family, Mount Litera Zee School, St. Anns, Delhi Public School etc have given homework to even elementary grade students.
However, psychologists felt teachers or schools shouldn’t be blamed for this as they had to adhere to norms set by the education department.
Diana Monteiro, director and counselling psychologist at Hyderabad Academy of Psychology, said, “We seem to have forgotten that holidays are for breaks and enjoyment, but schools or teachers aren’t to blame as they are bound by norms set by education departments. However, given how much children are overloaded with work these days, as parents maybe we should consider going easy on the child even if he/she doesn’t do the work perfectly. Be kind if they can’t finish their work and ensure that the child has a relaxed time during holidays.”
Hridesh Gupta, another parent and a resident of Nallagandla, said, “Excessive homework brings a lot of stress on kids as well as parents. Holidays and vacations are intended to give the child some fun and relief; homework deprives them of that.”
Reshma Joshi Inamder, headmaster of Sri Aurobindo International School, said, “We have not given kids much homework during the Sankranti break.
Nevertheless, holidays can be utilised to areas that a child is weak in, thorough interesting projects, environmental trips etc. Homework too should not be about just finishing the assigned work. Instead, kids should be made to find the task interesting. Above all, homework submission dates should be restricted to school reopening. Children should be allowed to submit it even a week after the holidays.”
