Wang Jingli

wangjingli0715@163.com

STARTING this new semester, homework for the third through sixth grade students should be “less than one hour” while the homework time for junior students (grades 7 to 9) should be no more than 1.5 hours, according to the latest notice released by the city’s education authority to ease students’ excessive burden from homework.

The notice also specifies that no written homework shall be given to grade 1 and 2 students.

This is the first school term following the adoption of the nationwide “double reduction” policy, which aims to effectively reduce compulsory education students’ excessive homework and off-campus tutoring burdens.

In response, education authorities recently issued a separate notice on enhancing homework management at compulsory education schools and guidelines for compulsory education homework schemes.

The two local directives, which were drafted in accordance with the country’s requirements and policies, spotlight Shenzhen’s innovative measures to ensure students avoid doing repetitive homework.

The latest notice states that schools can design their own homework but should follow related requirements. For better homework management, schools must establish mechanisms to review homework design and implementation.

Primary school students are encouraged to finish homework at school, while junior middle school students are advised to only take a small portion of their homework at home. Meanwhile, parents are forbidden to check or correct their children’s homework.

With less homework load, efforts will be made to enhance teaching quality. The city is mulling ways to distribute quality educational resources more equally and build mechanisms allowing teachers to provide online tutoring for students.

“We will not assign homework for grade 1 and 2 students and will strictly control the homework load for grade 3 to 6 students. The school will also provide basketball, dance and drama lessons for students during the after-school services,” said Tian Qing, deputy principal of Wentianxiang Primary School in Futian District.

Haile Experimental School, a new school in Bao’an District that has opened this September, will cooperate with South China Normal University to design curricula centering on sci-tech innovation and will introduce shooting and sailing lessons to enrich students’ choices, according to Hua Zhen, deputy principal of the school.