19 Mar 2013, Dresden, Germany --- A boy sits on his desk and does his homeworks in Dresden, Germany, 19 March 2013. Photo: Thomas Eisenhuth --- Image by © Thomas Eisenhuth/dpa/Corbis [15MARCH2016 FEATURES FAMILY Line]Hong Kong Sze Yap Commercial and Industrial Association Sau Wai Commercial Society School is organising a “No Homework Day” event to ease the burden on students and improve family relations. The primary school’s students will not receive homework for the last weekend in April.
The school principal, Law Nim-chee, said the event organiser, Sham Shui Po East Happy Teens Club, will coordinate a series of activities in preparation for the No Homework Day.
Workshops and teaching materials will be provided for students to teach them how to make good use of their leisure time.
The students are usually given a heavy homework load, which many students and parents don’t like, and can lead to depression, stress and exhaustion among children. As a result, students can’t spend time with their friends, and their interest in learning diminishes.
Heidi Chan, who has a child in Primary Two, said: “We don’t have many opportunities to enjoy family gatherings and talk, as my children are always doing a lot of homework. Such an event would provide more time for parents and children to do activities.”
But Chan said she would only want the event occasionally, as she believes the right amount of homework reinforces what children learn in school.
Another parent, Ms Yuen, who has a child in Primary One, said the event would be good, since arguments occur when parents force their children to finish their homework. “My daughter has at least six pieces of homework every day, which she often doesn’t finish until 11pm,” she says.