Greens propose scrapping primary school homework in ‘bold’ education overhaul

The Scottish Greens have proposed scrapping homework for primary school pupils and a shift away from exams in secondary.

The party – as part of a “bold” proposed overhaul of the education system – argues that primary school homework provides “little, if any, proven benefit”.

The Greens’ manifesto for the upcoming Holyrood election will include a commitment to end the use of homework in primary school and an overhaul of the exams system in secondary.

The Scottish Government said it agreed with a recent review which recommended less reliance on final exams.

Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said: “Homework in primary school offers little, if any, proven benefit. In fact, the evidence suggests it can do more harm than good.

“It can dampen rather than encourage curiosity, turning education into something to dread rather than love.

“Children need time to play, to explore and to socialise with each other after school.

“Homework gets in the way of these learning opportunities.”

He said: “Everyone accepts that the primary curriculum has become far too cluttered.

“This puts pressure on teachers to issue more homework just to get through it all. That isn’t the solution though, fixing the curriculum is.

“We can’t just stick with homework because it’s what we’ve always done. We need to think big, be bold and embrace this chance to fix the system.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government agreed with the Hayward Review recommendation that the balance of assessment methods in the senior phase should change to have less reliance on high-stakes final exams.

“This means that, in the future, internal and continuous assessment will contribute to a greater percentage of a final grade.

“Indeed, written exams have already been removed from more practical courses, such as metalwork and woodwork, where coursework and practical assessment better reflect the nature of the subjects.

“The Government has been clear, however, that taking steps to rebalance assessment does not mean that exams will be removed.”

The spokesman added: “It is also appropriate that headteachers and teachers in our primary schools are empowered to make decisions for the children and young people they support every day, this includes decisions on the use of homework.”