Is Homework Really Necessary?

School holds an important position in a man's life. School is necessary as it creates a base for your future studies, a place where you’re taught the basics. One can consider it as a stepping stone towards life, a foundation for the future. It is not just a place where you complete your academics, but a place where you grow, make friends and memories that are irreplaceable, develop your personality and most importantly try and establish an identity. One loves and hates many aspects of the school. But what is the one thing that is commonly disliked by across the whole world?

Most of you would answer the work that was given to be at home, commonly referred to as homework. I remember getting it almost every day when we studied in kindergarten, and this work was enjoyable. Taking color pencils, crayons, using paint to draw and fill color gave us joy. Or doing the simple basic mathematics where two plus two equals to four. Each year a child gets admitted to a new grade as he/she grows up. The pressure increases and the load of homework keep piling up. Doing your homework on time helps you fetch the results you want. My question is, is homework really needed, and does it really help?

I remember getting worksheets and assignments being assigned to me to complete, especially in the ninth and tenth grade. The amount of duress a child is been put under during the year when we are supposed to give our board exams is insane. Go to school for six hours, come back home for an hour or so and then again leave for tuition's or classes some of which continue for more than six hours. The child comes back home, tired, and with a load of “homework” to do. How much of a help is this homework really? I’m not against the notion of studying but am against overworking. Sadly, school going children can’t go on strikes or rebel against it. One would say that taking extra classes is a choice, that it's not compulsory. But one can't deny that it is an integral part of the Indian education system. It has become necessary with schooling. When I say necessary, I don’t mean compulsory, but schools don’t really teach properly, and so children feel that attending tuitions would help them cover up what the school faculty missed. It becomes a sort of bandwagon. So, if both institutions try and understand each other, work together in a sense to reduce the burden, it will make a lot of difference for the children. Homework was enjoyable till it was easy, but as you grow the difficulty level is bound to increase which results in disliking the work given. I remember doing so many creative things for home assignments, and if somehow I could have that too as I grow up, something with more practical experience, I think I’ll enjoy doing it.

Many systems are rigid and not in favor of making new changes, especially the educational one. It is not compulsory for a child to have a lot of homework to learn and progress in life. The practice is no doubt essential to excel in anything, but that can be done in school and classes itself. It is very common for kids to just complete the work at the last minute or just copy it down from others. But if these worksheets are asked to be completed in the school hours itself, it would make a difference. No one is saying not to give any homework to the kids, but to see how much is being given and if possible most of it be done in the school hours itself. Apart from academics, students have a lot to complete and sometimes it just gets too much.

There is no doubt that homework is necessary for the learning process. Homework is a way of the child staying in touch with what was taught that day and help in memorizing and reproducing the matter. What is necessary is that schools should be more understanding of the amount of homework that is given. It shouldn't be given with the intention of completing the portion faster or getting the work done as soon as possible. If conciseness is maintained, I do not think that homework would remain an issue anymore.

It is necessary but only upto an extent.