It’s almost manna from the heaven for children, as Bangalore schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) are planning to end the burdensome system of homework from school curriculum.Most children and parents DNA spoke to welcomed the news.“It’s a good news,” said Vedika Bajaj, a class X student of Delhi Public School (DPS), South, which is affiliated to the CBSE. “I am happy. Now, I can come back home and leisurely revise my lessons. I don’t have to worry about homework any more.”Vedika’s friend Priya Kumar said homework put a lot of unnecessary stress on children. “Homework is an extra burden every student carries back home from school. Most of the time, homework is quite voluminous and students end up spending a lot of time doing their homework. They are left with no time to revise their lessons,” she said. It’s not just students, even parents greeted the latest CBSE move as a ‘revolutionary’ one. “It’s quite a revolutionary step initiated by the CBSE,” Mandira Agarwala, a mother of two school-going children, said. “I welcome the news. Homework is a painful exercise for every child. Homework is nothing but repetition of classwork.”Echoing Mandira, Sunil Patnaik, an IT-professional and father of an eight-year-old son, said that homework was the most boring part of the Indian educational system. “I congratulate the CBSE for taking a bold step. As a parent, I welcome it. In fact, the decision must have been taken a long time ago. But, as they say, better late than never,” said Sunil.Most of the stakeholders, including parents, teachers and children, feel that homework leads to no real learning, as homework is, most of the time, done by either siblings or parents. The CBSE, under the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) scheme, recently issued instructions to all schools to minimise homework and tests in the school curriculum for classroom assessment of students. The circular was issued by the CBSE after it received feedback from various stakeholders, including parents and students, to lessen the burden of homework and tests for students. The circular sent by the CBSE suggested that schools motivate children to indulge in self-learning and make project works and assignments more interactive.However, there are schools and parents who doubt if the move will do students any good.“What is wrong in giving homework to children?” Meena K, a school teacher, wanted to know. “Homework is the best way for children to revise lessons. Now, students will develop a more casual approach and will neglect their studies.” Sonal Shah, the mother of a five-year-old boy, said her kid hates to study. “If there is no homework, he will never study at home,” she said. “My son is very naughty and he hates to study. Now, if school will have no homework, then, I wonder, how I will convince my boy to study.”“Homework is a boring process, where students are forced to repeat their classwork,” Archana Vishwanath, principal, Jain Heritage School, which is affiliated to the CBSE, said. “In the process, parents are also burdened by the rigours of homework. The CCE scheme stresses on group participation by students while working on their assignments and projects. The very idea of the CCE is to make sure students learn at the classroom itself and not take the burden of studies to home. Students can revise their studies at home and parents can play the role of a motivator,” she said.

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