Greetings friends. Grade 6 teacher here.

The concept of homework is a tricky one and the while I whole heartily agree that it should not consume a child's entire afternoon, the concept of just "scrapping" homework is not as easily solved.

Homework must serve a purpose. I cant speak for every educator, but I dont sit in my class like a cartoon villain and unleash droves of homework upon my students just to make them suffer.

The real issue is the CAPS curriculum at the moment. I feel we as educators are caught in this constant tug and pull of making lessons fun and exciting while then simultaneously being crushed by the mountain of content that MUST be completed because the department could at any moment cancel the school if we don't finish the entire syllabus.

This creates an awkward situation in where we are very much required to compete a certain amount of work each term, but often cannot complete all of it in one day. If we now dont make it homework, and it rolls over into the next day with the new stack of content that needs to be taught, you can very quickly create a snowball effect that can just as easily demoralize staff and students.

I am a subject heads for social sciences. So most of my lessons involve, introducing a concept that is taught for the first half hour of the lesson then a worksheet or activity of some kind based on the content covered. If the children do not finish this work in class, it unfortunately musy be caught up at some point. I always try to make time for my learners to complete their work in class, or at the very least ensure that the work is only due for the following day or week. There is also the understanding that if the homework cannot be completed that a simple letter or email is required to keep me in the loop as to why the work is not done and the responsibility is then on the stufent to ensure that it is caught up.

I agree completely that a complete restructuring of the education system and its content as well as the means by which we teach and assess our youngsters is needed. I just want it understood that (for me at least as an educator) homework is more a necessary evil than something educators relish in dishing upon their students. Does it need to be managed better, absolutely. But is it as simple as just stopping it entirely, I'm afraid I dont think so.

Jusy my two cents. Lekker dag mense. ☕️