So much for the carefree fun of childhood. Hong Kong’s young primary school pupils are now assigned, on average, a staggering seven homework assignments a day, according to a new study.
Well, at least they’ve got weekends, right? Wrong!
The study by the Professional Teachers’ Union, which surveyed 425 primary school teachers, found that primary students were likely to take home even more homework on their days off, reported Apple Daily.
Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, PTU representatives blamed government policy for the students’ onerous workloads.
They said teachers could not reduce the amount of homework because of the introduction of more so-called “learning targets” — which refer to topics that must be covered — alongside a widening of the school curriculum, which includes a push towards promoting science, technology, engineering and math subjects.
The study, carried out between December and January, found that more than half of the teachers polled gave their students between seven to 10 pieces of homework per day.
According to the Standard, more than 60 percent of the teachers also said they have to give pupils additional homework to cope with the controversial Basic Competency Assessment (or BCA).
Introduced last year, the BCA is a revised version of Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA), which tests a students maths and language skills.
The new test was purported to be simpler than its predecessor, however a committee is currently reviewing how it should be implemented and whether or not primary three pupils — who are eight-years-old on average — should continue to sit the exam.
The exams are at the centre of the debate over excessive homework and what’s been described as a culture of drilling students for tests.
The PTU study among several examples of research suggesting Hong Kong students are overburdened by heavy workloads and academic pressure.
A study in 2015 found that, despite their younger age, primary school students spend more time on homework than their secondary school counterparts.
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