Banning Homework

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Education authorities in Seoul have decided to ban elementary schools from giving homework to first and second graders starting next year. But teachers some teachers are unhappy about the decision.

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The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has decided to prohibit assigning homework to students in the first and second grades at elementary schools in the city starting in March next year. The decision is aimed at easing academic pressure on children. Under the new regulation, schools will be banned from inciting pre-studying and forcing homework on students. Teachers will also be prohibited from discriminating against students for not doing their homework. Education authorities believe that play-based learning can be more effective than repetitive learning.

[Soundbite] Cho Hee-yeon(Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education) : "We want to boldly eliminate factors that increase academic pressure on young students. We will create a play-based learning environment and guarantee the right to play for all students."

However, teachers are opposed to the decision, which they claim violates their autonomy and will only push more children to seek private tutoring.

[Soundbite] Kim Dong-seok(Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations) : "Students from low-income families and those who need teachers' help will lose the opportunity to improve their academic performance through homework."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that it has set up six research teams to develop teaching methods that exclude homework, and that it will collect public opinions by next year to be reflected in the final decision.