'Expensive' School Homework Banned In Sharjah

Parents in Sharjah will not be asked to spend money on projects and homework.

According to the Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ), all schools in the emirate have been banned from giving students homework and projects that force parents to shell out huge amounts of money.

This comes after a circular issued by the Ministry of Education (MoE).

A report in Khaleej Times says that the circular instructs the school management to ensure that all projects and homework are completed in the class, and also gives out a warning to refrain from giving marks on these projects.

The decision aims to reduce financial burden on parents who already pay high schools fees to provide the best education to their children.

Some of the projects, which are part of the homework sometimes, need material costing up to AED200, which adds up to the cost of education. Moreover, if the students fail to submit such projects, their overall marks get affected.

SEZ has received a number of complaints from parents about being overburdened with homework projects and activities being imposed by the teaching staff.

Some parents have also suggested that such projects must be carried out within the schools and under the supervision of teachers, as students can then learn and change the workings if required.

Sometimes parents even buy ready made projects, where the child doesn’t know what the projects are about.

Banning of expensive homework came in the wake of a complaint lodged by a parent on Sharjah TV and Radio live show. The parent had complained that she had to leave her Emirates ID for several days at a bookshop to get her daughter's project done, because she didn't have enough money to pay for the cost of the project, which required buying a number of items.