Some education experts believe that assigning daily homework to primary school students may do more harm than good. Do you agree or disagree?

There is more to life than academics. Some detractors argue that assigning daily homework to primary school students mars their perception by emphasising the utmost importance of academics in life, and shortens their leisure time in doing non-academia activities which can be more fulfilling. However, I disagree with this viewpoint and believe wholeheartedly that assigning daily homework is instrumental to a student’s growth and education and is thus of paramount importance as it does more good than harm.

Firstly, assigning daily homework is essential in a student’s education journey, as it serves as a platform for effective consolidation of knowledge. By allowing students to continuously practise and sharpen their content knowledge and answering techniques through daily homework, they will then be kept on track and excel in their academic spheres. Even though this may potentially lead students to wrongly opine that academics is the “most important in life”, assigning a small or reasonable amount of homework nevertheless does not overemphasise the importance of academics. Instead, it serves as a timely reminder that academics is important but does not overstate it. Thus, assigning homework on a daily basis does more good than harm.

In addition, doling out daily homework to students helps them grow and improve not only in their cognitive abilities, but also in their values and habits. Students learn to become more “independent, self-disciplined and responsible” through constant studying and completing homework, as stated by the American Academy of Paediatrics. Even though some argue that daily homework may rob students of their leisure time to engage in outside-of-academia activities and learn life skills, students are nevertheless still able to nurture essential self-disciplinary skills through the systematic process of doing homework. Such skills are definitely important in the real world and are hard to come by during leisure moments. That being said, it is still important that a balance is struck in the quantity of homework assigned, to allow students to get the best of both worlds in academics as well as leisure aspects, while mitigating any harmful effects of assigning daily homework.

Hence, I disagree with the viewpoint of these education experts, and believe wholeheartedly that assigning daily homework does more good than harm and should thus be embraced.