No More Homework ! Please……

प्रिय पाठकों ,
यह ब्लॉग मैंने अपनी माँ, श्रीमती ज्ञानवती सक्सेना 'किरण' जी, की रचनाओं को आप सभी के सामने प्रस्तुत करने के लिये बनाया था ! उनकी कविताओं की दो पुस्तकों, 'उन्मना' तथा 'सतरंगिनी', की लगभग सभी रचनायें मैं यहाँ इस ब्लॉग पर आपके सामने प्रस्तुत कर चुकी हूँ ! माँ की रचनाओं को आपने जिस तरह से सराहा एवँ पसंद किया उसे  देख कर मैं अभिभूत हूँ तथा आप सबकी हृदय से आभारी हूँ ! माँ की रचनायें उचित समय एवँ सन्दर्भ के अनुकूल मैं आपको इस ब्लॉग पर भविष्य में भी पढ़वाती रहूँगी ! लेकिन फिलहाल इस ब्लॉग पर मैं कुछ अनोखी सामग्री  आपके सामने रखना चाहूँगी ! आशा करती हूँ कि आपका स्नेह व तवज्जो इन रचनाओं को भी अवश्य मिलेगी !
इसी श्रंखला में आज यह आलेख प्रस्तुत है ! आशा है यह बच्चों व बड़ों सभीको पसंद आयेगा !

No More Homework   !  Please…… 

Excess load of homework is the biggest problem of the students these days. No doubt homework is an essential part of our teaching system but given indiscreetly it certainly tends to distract students' focus from the subjects which really need more concentration and real hard work.

There are so many subjects in the curriculum and each subject is taught by different subject teacher in the class. Every teacher finds it his or her fundamental right to give homework to the students in substantial amount unaware of the fact that how much the students have already been burdened by the homework given by other teachers. The pressure of homework is so much that at least 3 to 4 hours are fixed in daily routine of a student to wrestle with the books of different subjects.

After school hours a child requires at least two hours to reach home, to freshen up, to have lunch and to relax for a while and that too if he lives in a close proximity of the school. For the students who live in distant areas one can easily double up the time I stated before. Consequently they require further more time to reach home and finish their daily chores. Immediately after that again they are glued to the study table without wasting a single moment in any kind of extra activity like outdoor games or watching informative or entertaining programs on TV. Neither can they devote some time in chiseling their hobbies or in satisfying their urge of creativity. Instead they are forced to finish the non productive homework having left no stamina for actual and most essential studies. It should certainly be given a thought that the children are human beings, they are not robots. If the child fails to finish the homework he gets scolding and punishment in the class in front of his friends and classmates. This kind of treatment disheartens and demoralizes him immensely resulting in his disinterest in studies and disrespect for the teacher concerned.

Then how to get rid of this problem! I think there is one logical solution to solve this problem amicably. The teachers should assess the strength and weaknesses of their students in each class. For example if a student is weak in Physics but is strong in Literature he should be exempted from the burden of the homework in Literature. If another student is weak in Mathematics and is doing well in Chemistry why should he be forced to waste his precious time on the homework of Chemistry while he needs more time to concentrate on Mathematics? A student weak in Physics needs more time to clear his concepts on the difficult numerical of the subject instead of writing the essay on the topics like “How did he spend his summer vacations” or “ A boat ride on a full moon night” which already is his strong subject and he always scores good marks in it.

The capabilities, interests and the weak and strong points of the students should be valued and taken notice of. This consideration would leave them with a lot of spare time which will enable them to focus and concentrate on their weak subjects and this will definitely benefit them in their studies. The aim of homework should be to improve and increase their skills and speed, sharpen their imagination and memory and develop their interest in studies. But these days the pattern of homework is casting a negative effect on the psyche and mental health of the students as well as on their studies. Just think over it, is it justified that all the students are loaded with the burden of homework on equal basis while they need to put more efforts on their weak subjects. No way sirs! This is an important matter of their studies. It is not the ‘Prasad’ of a ‘Mandir’ which is meant to be distributed among all the devotees in a uniform pattern and in the same amount and quantity. So this is my genuine request to all the teachers and the authorities concerned that please think over this problem and do something to save the children from this unhealthy trend of homework and please do come out with a logical solution to save their souls.

Students are over burdened with the homework system prevalent in schools these days. They do not have enough time to concentrate on their weak subjects. Do you have any logical solutions?

Sadhana Vaid