What numbers say?

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Data from the India Time Use Survey 2019 shows that Indian students spend an average of 2.5 hours each day on school-related work at home. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 has given importance to reducing rote learning and introducing homework that promotes experiential learning for younger students.

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According to a 2022 EdTechReview survey, 62% of teachers in private schools reported having no system to coordinate homework with their colleagues. This lack of communication often leads to students receiving multiple assignments on the same day which can become overwhelming. The NCERT study (2021) noted that 48% of students in Classes 6 to 10 struggled with unclear end dates and inconsistent instructions.

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What should school management do?

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Hence, schools must enable better coordination among teachers. Teachers should be able to see the homework already assigned to a class before adding their own. This would ensure that assignments are distributed more evenly across the week, making it manageable for students. A digital dashboard that lists subjects along with submission dates will be useful for students, teachers, and parents.

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Schools that adopt an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system/School Management Software can centralize homework communication and assign class teachers to monitor daily homework load.  The goal should be to assign homework that will be meaningful and manageable.