banning homework ireland

President Michael D Higgins says homework should be banned in Ireland

The country’s favourite leader believes that school activities should end at the school gate and students should be encouraged to engage in more creative pursuits

• 10:39, 21 JAN 2023

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President Michael D Higgins has called for homework to be banned.

The country’s favourite leader has given hope to a new generation of students that the bane of their afterschool evenings could be scrapped. President Higgins argues that this would make time for young people to engage in more creative pursuits outside school hours.

The former Arts Minister believes that school activities should end at the school gate. He was speaking to RTE’s news2day current affairs and news programme for children on the occasion of the programme’s 20th birthday.

Read more: Children being 'corrupted' by drug dealing situation in Oliver Bond flats, Dail told

When asked what his opinion of homework President Higgins said: “I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things.”

To mark the show’s two decades on air, students from St Kevin’s National School, Littleton, County Tipperary put questions from RTÉ news2day viewers to President Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin. In a wide-ranging interview, the children asked the President questions like, what was your favourite sport when you were in school?

When you were nine years old what did you want to be? And when did you decide you wanted to be President?

The students also asked the President about his dogs, his official trips abroad, his favourite subject in school, differences between now and when he was a child and his favourite book. The President also spoke to the children about his love of handball and the importance of friendship in their lives.

RTÉ news2day will broadcast some of the President’s interview as part of Friday afternoon’s birthday celebrations at 4.20pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ News channel and the full interview will be available later on Friday evening on the RTÉ Player. In a message to the children of Ireland and the viewers of RTÉ news2day, President Michael D. Higgins gave this advice: “To stay curious about everything and I think it’s important to make sure you don’t miss the joy of sharing information.

“And I think an important thing is friendship and to make sure that there’s no one left without friendship and that people belong. And we will all do individual things... but I think friendships that you make will in fact always be great memories and that is so important. And also have the courage to stand your own ground and let other children be allowed the space of standing their ground too because none of us are the same.

“We’re all unique but at the same time we have a lot going for us.” President Higgins also encouraged the children of Ireland to speak the Irish language.

He encouraged them to speak Irish in a fun way and to feel free to use whatever bits of the language that they have.

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Showing now | lifestyle.

Mary-Kate Findon | Saturday 21 January 2023 16:06 GMT

Irish president suggests schools should avoid setting children homework

Ireland's president has suggested that schools should avoid assigning children homework, leaving school at the gates.

Michael D Higgins shared his beliefs on the matter during a sit down with students that was broadcast on RTE.

"People should be able to use their time for other creative things," he told the children during his visit to Tipperary.

The 81-year-old also offered words of wisdom for the young people, urging them to "stay curious about everything."

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President Michael D Higgins has suggested homework should be done in school to allow time for creative pursuits

President Michael D Higgins

President Michael D Higgins and his dog

President Michael D Higgins has said he believes homework should be done in school, so children can spend more time pursuing creative activities.

The President said “time in school… should get finished in school.”

Mr Higgins weighed on the homework debate while speaking to pupils from St Kevin's National School, Littleton, Co Tipperary on a special, 20th anniversary, episode of RTÉ’s news2day programme.

“People should be able to use their time for other creative things,” he said.

“I think as much as possible that [homework] should happen in the school and I think it’s more relaxed than it used to be.”

President Higgins is due to complete his second term in office in 2025.

Speaking about his time in office, he said the week he spent in Creeslough, Co Donegal, following the explosion which killed ten people last October had been one of the most significant moments of his presidency.

“A very moving one for me was the week I spent with the people of Creeslough, with the people who had suffered that terrible damage in their community, and they had eight funerals and a great deal of grief,” he said.

Meanwhile, the President spoke about a number of different issues during the special episode.

He told how an “emotional” moment for him and his wife Sabina was his inauguration at Dublin Castle.

President Higgins also talked about his two dogs, Bród agus Misneach, and admitted that Bród is probably one of the most famous dogs in Ireland.

"He's probably a very famous dog now. He will be 11 in February, which is a very good age for a Bernese Mountain dog and Bród is wonderful,” he said.

"He came here at six weeks old, so he's lived all of his life at the Áras."

Mr Higgins also shared a special message with the children of Ireland, encouraging them to be kind to one another and to keep the Irish language alive.

“An important thing is friendship and to make sure that there’s no one left without friendship. We’ll all do individual things past that, but I think the friendships that you make will also be great memories,” he said.

“It’s also important to stand your own ground and let other children be allowed the space to stand their ground too. None of us are the same, we’re all unique but I would say, at the same time, we have a lot going for us.”

“The hope of the Irish language is with young people… Speak Irish in a way that gives you pleasure. Whatever bits of it you have use it, and don’t be worried. We’re not aiming for the Nobel Prize, we’re just saying the language that was our own language from the very beginning, thousands of years ago.”

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President Michael D Higgins calls for school homework to be scrapped

President Michael D Higgins stopped by St Kevin's National School in Tipperary where the pupils interviewed him about his dogs, his time in school and his view on homework

• 15:01, 21 JAN 2023

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President of Ireland Michael D Higgins has said he supports the scrapping of homework.

He addressed students of St Kevin's National School, Littleton, Co Tipperary, this week in an episode of RTE's news2day programme.

The President said that schoolwork should be completed in school time so children can use time after school to pursue more creative activities.

Read more: Ireland weather: Met Eireann pin point the end of the cold snap as temperatures skyrocket next week

“People should be able to use their time for other creative things,” he said.

"I think as much as possible that [homework] should happen in the school and I think it’s more relaxed than it used to be.”

He said that not all lessons are learned from books, but that the responsible use of phones is something that he hopes the younger generation will be acutely aware of.

The children of Ireland "have a great value of friendships" and this makes it even more tragic when there is an "abuse of phones for bullying", the President said.

The pupils were also curious about some of the other residents of Aras an Uachtaran - dogs Brod and Misneach.

"He's probably a very famous dog now," said President Higgins of Brod. "He will be 11 in February, which is a very good age for a Bernese Mountain dog and Bród is wonderful.

"He came here at six weeks old, so he's lived all of his life at the Áras..

As for Misneach, he said: "He came during Covid and because I couldn't collect him because of the ban on inter-county travel, he didn't come to me until he was five months old.

"He also didn't have a good journey here, so he's actually shy. He's a beautiful dog."

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The President Of Ireland Wants To Get Rid Of Homework & Honestly, He's Onto Something

“The time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school.”

Do you know who doesn’t like homework? Kids — and certain presidents. In an impassioned plea to the people of his nation, President Michael D. Higgins has called for a ban on homework across Ireland. And if small children were given the right to vote tomorrow, I feel fairly certain I know whose name they would be supporting on the ballot.

Higgins, who is himself a former Arts Minister of Ireland and therefore, in my opinion, knows a little about the subject, spoke to Ireland’s news program for kids RTE’s news2day at St. Kevin’s School in Tipperary about a number of subjects. What he wanted to be when he was a kid himself. What was his favorite sport in school, which he said was handball. When did he decide he wanted to be president. And then, the mutual bane of their existence — homework.

“I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things,” Higgins told his interviewers, four children hanging on his every word.

While it remains unclear if Higgins has begun any official paperwork to ban homework, which would ironically be homework for him, his sentiment resonated with his many fans. Children and social media users alike in fact. One person tweeted their appreciation of the fact that Higgins was “running his nation like the little Hobbit he is.”

Another social media user wondered if Higgins was really a “forest sprite.”

This social media user found the idea inspiring , writing, “We need a national conversation on how to bring more play, creativity, imagination, movement and positive experiences into our children’s lives. Banning homework would be a great first step.”

Higgins ended his interview with a message to children about the importance of fostering their friendships and telling them to “stay curious about everything and I think it’s important to make sure you don’t miss the joy of sharing information. And I think an important thing is friendship and to make sure that there’s no one left without friendship and that people belong. And we will all do individual things... but I think friendships that you make will in fact always be great memories and that is so important.”

I think he’s on to something.

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Michael D. Higgins Wants Homework In Primary School To Be Banned

Do you agree with him?

In Finland, children in primary schools across the country don't start school until they are seven years old – and they have no homework. And guess what? Finish students still come out with some of the best results in the world.

As an OECD think tank recently wrote on the matter: "One of the most striking facts about Finnish schools is that their students have fewer hours of instruction than students in any other OECD country."

It continued: "But when it comes to the international Pisa tests, Finland is in sixth place and the UK is 23rd in reading; and Finland is 12th and the UK is 26th in maths."

Finland is now hoping to share what works in its schools with other countries.

However, here in Ireland, homework is still a thing – and the bane of so many children – and parents' – lives.

But the debate has definitively started, and last week, even Michael D. Higgins seemed to weigh in, when he was interviewed by children, and revealed that he reckons school activities should be left at the school gate.

President Higgins argues that banning homework would make time for young people to engage in more creative pursuits outside school hours.

The former Arts Minister was speaking to RTE’s news2day current affairs and news programme for children on the occasion of the programme’s 20th birthday.

'Children Should Be Able To Use Their Time For Other Creative Things”

When asked what his opinion of homework, President Higgins said: “I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things.”

To mark the show’s two decades on air, students from St Kevin’s National School in County Tipperary put questions from RTÉ news2day viewers to President Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin.

In a wide-ranging interview, the children asked the President questions like: What was your favourite sport when you were in school? When you were nine years old what did you want to be? And when did you decide you wanted to be President?

The students also asked the President about his dogs, his official trips abroad, his favourite subject in school, differences between now and when he was a child and his favourite book. The President also spoke to the children about his love of handball and the importance of friendship in their lives.

A Message To The Children Of Ireland

In a message to the children of Ireland, President Michael D. Higgins gave this advice:

"Stay curious about everything and I think it's important to make sure you don't miss the joy of sharing information.

"I think an important thing is friendship and to make sure that there’s no one left without friendship and that people belong.

"And we will all do individual things… but I think friendships that you make will in fact always be great memories and that is so important.

"And also have the courage to stand your own ground and let other children be allowed the space of standing their ground too because none of us are the same.

"We're all unique but at the same time we have a lot going for us."

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Banning homework: Norma Foley won't debate homework issue with President Michael D. Higgins

Michael D Higgins suggested that school activities should end at the school gates

• 08:28, 27 JAN 2023
• Updated 13:12, 20 JUL 2023

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Minister for Education, Norma Foley, has said she won't debate the homework ban issue with President Michael D Higgins.

School policy on homework

Last week, Higgins told the nation's children that he was against schoolwork continuing beyond the school gates, in an address broadcast on RTÉ's news2day.

Foley said it was up to schools to decide on their homework policy.

She told The Irish Mirror that she wasn't going to get into it with the president.

"It would not be appropriate for a government minister to engage in public debate with the office of the president," she said.

"Currently schools are free to have their own policy on homework and these policies are created in conjunction with senior management and staff, the boards of management, parents and the pupils.

"Schools are in of themselves places where creative pursuits are cultivated, nurtured and encouraged and that creativity may also be reflected in homework."

Support for banning homework

Meanwhile, a government minister has said that it is "important" to include children in discussions about homework policies in schools.

Irish Mirror readers were also overwhelmingly in favour of banning homework, with 98 per cent of readers voting in favour of a ban.

In a landslide decision, 57,440 readers voted yes, while just 1,211 voted no.

Speaking on RTÉ last week, Higgins argued that getting rid of homework would allow young people more time to engage in creative pursuits outside of school hours.

The president was asked for his thoughts on homework and responded that he wasn't in favour of it.

"I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things."

Benefits of homework

Minister Foley recently said that her department doesn't "issue any guidelines relating to homework being given in schools.

"It is a matter for each school, at local level, to arrive at its own homework policy".

It followed a question from Fine Gael's Neale Richmond who asked if research has been carried out by her department into the benefits of ending the provision of homework for primary school pupils.

He told The Irish Mirror that children should be involved in conversations about their schools homework policy.

Minister Richmond said: "I submitted the Parliamentary Question following a visit to one of my local primary schools.

"The pupils were genuinely interested in the policy relating to homework going forward and I agreed it's an important discussion to involve pupils in."

Foley told her government colleague that the Department of Education has not commissioned research on the matter.

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President of Ireland calls for homework to be banned

President of Ireland Michael D Higgins. (Source: Getty)

The President of Ireland has made his thoughts known about homework, saying it should be left at the gate and children should be able to use their leisure time for "creative things".

Speaking to RTE’s news2day - a current affairs and news programme for children, Michael D Higgins answered questions on a wide range of topics, the Irish Mirror reports .

When pressed on his views about homework Higgins said: “I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things.”

Higgins, a former arts minister, told children “to stay curious about everything and I think it’s important to make sure you don’t miss the joy of sharing information.

“And I think an important thing is friendship and to make sure that there’s no one left without friendship and that people belong. And we will all do individual things... but I think friendships that you make will in fact always be great memories and that is so important.

“And also have the courage to stand your own ground and let other children be allowed the space of standing their ground too because none of us are the same.

“We’re all unique but at the same time we have a lot going for us.”

Higgins also encouraged the children of Ireland to speak the Irish language.

While the role of president in Ireland is mainly a ceremonial one, it does have some sway over how the government operates.

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'Please enjoy' - Taoiseach cancels homework for all children in Ireland on March 24

Mary McFadden

23 Mar 2022 6:01 PM

Children in Ireland have been excused from homework tomorrow by Taoiseach Micheál Martin as part of National Confidence Day. 

The Taoiseach announced he had cancelled homework for one day in a special message sent to Ireland from Washington DC, and encouraged acts of kindness instead.  

He said, "I’ve been speaking to your teachers, and they’re happy to let you off your homework for one day. All you have to do is one kind deed instead of your homework. That could be looking out for a friend, looking after someone in your family, it’s up to you, you choose. So please enjoy." 

The message is part of a special show created by Starcamp called 'I BELIEVE IN ME', which will be shown in all classrooms across Ireland tomorrow (Thursday March 23). 

It was created in the wake of a Starcamp survey which found almost 50% of parents feel their children are less sociable since the introduction of restrictions, with 43% experiencing new anxieties, fears or worries. 

The Taoiseach's message is one of several, including messages from Rory O'Connor from Rory's Stories, comic books artist Will Sliney and and magician Keith Barry. 

As part of his message, Mr Martin asked children to believe in themselves and their abilities and thanked them for all their hard work.

He said, "There is so much more we can all achieve if we believe in ourselves more and I’m asking you to believe in yourself today and every day." 

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'Why I believe homework should be banned', by one primary school student

As the discussion around state exams through the Covid-19 shutdown continues, a separate debate about the very need for homework itself rumbles on. Over the years, many have argued that homework for students in busy modern-day family structures is no longer workable.

This year, the Green Party sought to open a discussion about the banning of homework in future. Here, primary school pupil Misha McEnaney, a fifth class student from Dublin, outlines why he believes homework is more of a hindrance than a help.

IRISH CHILDREN SPEND around 274.5 hours on homework in a year. Is it a waste of time? Generally speaking, homework does not improve academic performance among children, although it may improve academic skills among older students especially lower-achieving kids. Homework also creates stress among students who could be doing other things.

I think it is a waste of time. Here’s why I think so. 

Many students think homework is extremely boring and hard so it increases our stress levels. You might fight with your family or friends and that gives the impression you are angry and irritated when often it’s just because your homework is increasing your stress.

Also, a study by scholar Denise Pope at Stanford shows that out of 4,300 students at high-performance schools, 60% stated that their homework was their primary source of stress.

Movement is more important

I believe that homework eliminates time when you could be exercising, playing sports, carrying out hobbies, reading etc. So when your friends are playing outside or something exciting or important is happening you can’t go out because you’re stuck inside doing your homework. 

Homework messes up your sleep cycles and it causes you to be more tired. After school when you’re tired from working you still have to do your homework, so you don’t deliver your full concentration and that makes your performance not as acceptable as it should be. This can cause your grade to go down and so that defeats the whole point of education to become better and smarter. 

A study from teenink.com shows that students perform best in school when they receive 10–12 hours of sleep each night, while only 15% of teenagers in America reported themselves sleeping eight hours or more on school nights, according to the national sleep foundation of America. Sleep disruption is very bad for our health.

Teacher trust

If you’re completely booked up for the day doing sports or other activities you have no time to do your homework. Your teachers start to trust you less and less and this develops a bad view of you when it’s not entirely your fault. 

It’s also repetitive so you’re doing the same work at school and there’s no effectiveness, it’s not going in. So all that homework becomes a waste because you have already completed it at school. You can also easily get distracted.

Homework takes away revision time for tests and that can affect the test scores. That develops a bad reputation for the student and for the school. The parents then assume that the teaching at the school is bad and they might move school. So the kid might lose friends and over time the school becomes less liked and popular.

All because there is too much homework. 

Bad for the mood

If you don’t sleep enough it can cause mood swings which can affect students’ performance and relationships. To think we can stop all of this by just banning homework makes me wonder why schools still give out homework at all.

People who believe that homework should not be banned have reasonable points and arguments. They believe that doing homework at home can be better for the students and they would receive higher results. 

They also think the parents of the students will have an idea of what type of work they are doing in the classroom, at what scale the student is doing their work and how the student is doing that work. There is absolutely no reason why parents shouldn’t know what the student’s work is like. 

Some people believe that homework boosts interaction between a student and his or her teacher. Homework might develop their presentation skills. They believe that homework is “a remedy against weaknesses”. These can all be done at school. They believe it teaches the students responsibility because they have to make sure that they do their work and not lose it or destroy it. 

They think the students learn much more new information as well as in school. So people think it teaches the students important life skills. They also think it keeps the students busy and entertained. I would argue that these should all be the responsibility of parents, not school.

A shift in the debate

The Green Party in Ireland has promised to explore the banning of homework for primary school children. They also vow to review primary and secondary schools curriculum “to meet the needs of the 21st century”. Catherine Martin, deputy leader of the Green Party, said that “the phasing out of homework is something that definitely should be explored”. 

“This isn’t new, this has been on our policy for the past several years. And I think we really need to have a conversation on how best to develop the creative juices of our children, or really change how we do homework, homework could be, ‘go home and draw a picture of something that means a lot to you’,” she said.

“They’re so young, especially up to the age of seven or eight, it’s a conversation that we need to have”. 

She used the example of Loreto Primary School in Rathfarnham, Dublin, which is currently trialling a “no-homework” programme for all classes except sixth. Ms Martin said that they had found the pilot scheme “amazing” and children were spending a lot more time with their families as a result. 

Mental health considerations

Psychotherapist Mary McHugh believes that we are reducing children’s natural “curious, imaginative and creative” tendencies by “pressuring them to conform”. 

“Our children from the age of three, are being trained to sit still and from five upwards, it’s expected that this is the norm.” McHugh also says that “stress is showing up at an alarming scale and we’re still applying more pressure academically younger and younger”. 

Let’s look at Finland. In Finland, there is no homework in all schools. Finland agrees that there should be no homework because it increases stress, it wastes time etc. Finnish students regularly top the charts on global education metric systems.

Some 93% of Finnish students graduate from secondary school compared to 75% in the USA and 78% in Canada. About two in every three students in Finland go to college which is the highest rate in Europe. The students’ test scores dominate everyone else.  These are the scores for the PISA test (Program for International Student Assessment) 2006.  There are other reasons why Finland’s education system is so good but no homework is definitely an important one. 

Homework increases stress levels among students. It replaces time for hobbies and sports. It messes up your sleep. It can’t always be done and that causes trouble. It’s repetitive. You can develop health problems from lack of sleep.

It takes away time for studying and also when you don’t get enough sleep you can get mood swings and that can affect performance and relationships. There are reasonable arguments for why people who believe that homework shouldn’t be banned are wrong.

We have seen that the Green Party also thinks that homework should be banned and that some schools have already trialled it. We have looked at Finland banning homework and we have seen the impact it has made compared to other countries. This is why I think homework should be banned, not just in my school but in all schools. 

Misha McEnaney is a fifth class student at St Mary’s College, Rathmines, Dublin.

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Call for children to be 'involved' in discussions around homework as President speaks out against it

It comes days after President Michael D Higgins called for homework to be banned at home and for all work to stay in the classroom. Irish Mirror readers were also overwhelmingly in favour of banning homework, with 98% of our readers in favour.

• 18:37, 25 JAN 2023

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A Government Minister has said that it is “important” to include children in discussions about homework policies in schools.

In a landslide decision, 57,440 readers voted yes, while just 1,211 voted no.

READ MORE: President Michael D Higgins calls for homework to be banned in Ireland

In an interview with RTÉ’s News2Day, President Higgins said that he believed that time at home should be spent doing more creative activities,

He said: “I think myself, really that the time at home, and the time in the school is an educational experience and it should get finished at the school and people should be able to use their time for other creative things."

Education Minister Norma Foley recently said that her Department does “not issue any guidelines relating to homework being given in schools. It is a matter for each school, at local level, to arrive at its own homework policy”.

It followed a question from Fine Gael Minister of State Neale Richmond who asked if research has been carried out by her Department into the benefits of ending the provision of homework for primary school pupils.

He told the Irish Mirror that children should be involved in conversations about their schools homework policy.

Minister Richmond said: “I submitted the Parliamentary Question following a visit to one of my local primary schools.

“The pupils were genuinely interested in the policy relating to homework going forward and I agreed it’s an important discussion to involve pupils in.”

Minister Foley told her Government colleague that the Department of Education has not commissioned research on the matter.

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Why did Poland get rid of homework in primary schools?

Eastern Europe Reporter

Nine-year-old Franek Duś from the southern Polish town of Tarnowskie Góry loves Real Madrid and wants to be an engineer when he grows up.

Franek used to spend two hours per evening doing his homework but, since the start of this month, he is one of 3.1 million primary school pupils in Poland who no longer has to open his books when he gets home from school.

That is because the Polish government has dispensed with compulsory homework for primary schools.

"It's just cool and you have more time for your hobbies, like playing football and meeting friends," Franek told RTÉ News.

His mother, Ewa Duś, is relieved too.

"I think it’s a great idea because we had already discussed during meetings at school that there was way too much homework," said Ms Duś.

"He seems more happy and I see that the atmosphere at home is way better," she said.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's centre-right Civic Coalition, which makes up the largest group within a four-party pro-EU coalition government, had promised to scrap homework at primary school level during last year’s general election campaign.

Critics of the current curriculum argue that it is overloaded with content and that homework was taking up too much of children's free time after school.

Four months after the government’s formation, the party followed through on its promise to cut homework.

Education minister Barbara Nowacka said, in March, that the new rules will give students "more time to consolidate their knowledge, prepare for tests, read books, and, more importantly, pursue their passions and rest".

Ms Nowacka also said that the new rules will create a "level playing field" for students.

"It is very common for children to do homework with their parents. Not all parents have the competence to learn mathematics, chemistry and physics with their children," she said in February.

Children in Poland attend primary school from ages seven to 15, after four years of preschool which begins at three years of age.

The new regulations mean that homework is now off limits for grades one to three when pupils are aged seven to 10.

For grades four to eight, when students are typically 11 to 15 years old, teachers can continue to issue homework but it cannot be graded, and it is not compulsory for students to complete the tasks either.

Exercises that improve fine motor skills such as painting and hand-writing practice are still compulsory.

Poland’s ministry of education issued schools across the country with guidelines on how to implement the changes but, coming in the middle of the academic year, the change still took many teachers and parents by surprise.

"The decision to limit homework was done too rashly," Slawomir Broniarz, the President of the Polish Teachers Union (ZNP), told RTÉ News.

The union, which represents more than 200,000 Polish school teachers, is not against the decision to stop homework for the first three years of primary school, but still sees benefits in assigning children practical tasks at home such as improving their writing skills.

However, Mr Broniarz believes that homework should still be given to older pupils in grades 4 to 8.

"Homework teaches responsibility, commitment and teaches how to plan your own time. It is also a way for teachers to observe what students learn from their classes," he said.

A number of education experts in Poland view the government’s decision as a first step towards rebalancing a curriculum that is already overloaded with a lot of content.

Some teachers, often short of time to teach everything on the syllabus within class hours, were using homework as a way of covering material.

Another Polish student I spoke to, 13-year-old Tomek Dzieciolowski from Warsaw, was not so thrilled about the new no-homework policy.

"In my opinion, it's a stupid idea because homework was a way of teaching kids," said Tomek, who used to spend around 30 minutes per day on his homework.

"It’s kind of a big change because now you can't get any grades also from projects."

Tomek’s mother, Justyna Rutkowska, said that the "whole thinking" towards education in Poland needed to change and felt that banning homework alone was not the solution.

"The compulsory material is overloaded, there is too much. Teachers have no time at school to fulfil it," she said, adding that reading material was skewed towards Polish classical literature that has little to do with children's experiences today.

Surveys show that teachers in Poland overwhelmingly favour retaining homework, though many agree that the volume of homework should be reduced in primary schools.

Tom McGrath, principal at the British Primary School of Wilanow in Warsaw and a native of Co Limerick, told RTÉ News that homework has a valuable role in "reinforcing" material taught in the classroom without it becoming "overly burdensome".

The new rules in Poland on homework, he believes, are "a signal of intent" from the Polish government of "a change in style and, eventually, substance" towards creating a skills-based curriculum, that is more holistic in its approach.

Poland’s education system is no stranger to sudden changes.

The country’s previous nationalist Law and Justice government, which ruled from 2015 to 2023, brought back the current 8-year primary school system from ages 7 to 15, which had been scrapped in 1999.

In the interim, a middle school system had been in place.

However, such changes to the school system do not appear to have had a negative impact on the performance of Polish primary school students, who score high on PISA tests, the international study used to assess the education levels of 15-year-olds in OECD countries.

The tests measure performance in maths, reading and science, and more students in Poland, than on average across OECD countries, were top performers in at least one subject according to data from 2022.

15-year-olds in Ireland also scored above the OECD average in all three subjects, and ace reading tests in particular.

In Finland, where children also start formal primary school at seven, teachers set very little compulsory homework. Yet, Finnish students are top performers on PISA tests.

There has been some discussion in Ireland in recent years too over whether homework is beneficial to children’s educational development.

Lorraine Harbison, an associate professor at DCU who focuses on primary school mathematics teaching, said that homework is used "for reward or punishment, which isn't good to even to begin with".

Ten years ago, she co-authored a limited study on the utility of homework in Irish primary school classrooms.

The study found that "homework that is too difficult and too long to complete, or is seen to be inappropriate or of no relevance to the child, may actually have an adverse effect".

Ms Harbison said she favoured more project-based homework that encouraged pupils to "work skillfully" and to "read for understanding".

The Department of Education does not issue schools with guidelines on how much homework is appropriate.

In a reply to TD questions in February 2021, at the height of Covid-19 pandemic, Minister for Education Norma Foley wrote: "It is a matter for each school, at local level to arrive at its own homework policy. In keeping with good practice, the process of drafting a homework policy should involve consultation with teachers, parents and students".

Taking those comments onboard, it seems that Irish schools have a lot of leeway to experiment with different approaches to homework, provided that parents are supportive of any plan.

In Ireland, pupils' views towards homework becomes more negative between 4th and 5th class, from ages nine to 11.

That is according to an ongoing study by UCD’s School of Education entitled the Children’s School Lives project, which is following the experiences of 4,000 children across Ireland as they progress through primary school.

Homework is one pillar of the study, which is expected to conclude in 2026.

By 5th class, about half of primary school students surveyed held a negative view towards homework.

This change in attitude occurs at a time - the end of the primary system in Ireland - when teachers also expect pupils to be capable of completing more homework tasks.

The same study found that parents of primary school pupils in Ireland hold overwhelming positive views towards homework.

"For parents, they see homework as an important indicator of how their children are doing in school," said Dympna Devine, Full Professor of Education at UCD's School of Education, who leads the study.

It is far too early to know if Poland's decision to limit homework will bring positive benefits for children.

"It is not an opportunity for children to sit down at the computer or a console with games," said Mr Broniaz, the president of the Polish teacher's union.

He thinks that schools could play a role in providing a space for children to use their free time.

Since the homework ban came into effect in Poland earlier this month, there have been reports of parents asking teachers to continue giving homework.

But most children are enjoying their extra free time in the evenings.

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Ban on homework in ireland