Parents need to help children with homework – stakeholders

SOME parents and teachers in the South-South have justified parents’ assistance to children in doing their take-home assignments, saying it is not a transfer of responsibilities from teachers to parents.

The parents made the justification in a recent survey carried out by the News Agency of Nigeria in the region.

They observed the practice would help parents assess the teachers’ performance, as much as help boost the bond between parents and children, whilst keeping a keen eye on the children’s academic performance.

A Calabar-based teacher, Margaret Ada, said that parents assisting their children and wards do take-home assignments helped to create a bond between the pupils and their parents.

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“Teachers are not transferring their responsibilities to the parents by giving them take-home assignments as some people think.

”The practice ensures that parents get really involved in their children’s education,” Ada stated, adding that some schools had realised that some parents had no knowledge of the activities of their children in school.

She continued, “Education is a collaborative effort between teachers, parents and children. Parents just have to be involved and that is why assignments are given,” she said, but, however, noted that some parents ”felt the assignments were sometimes far above the understanding of the child”.

According to her, in such situations, parents could call the attention of the teachers, which would help boost the bond among the parties.

A parent, David Akpan, said that take-home assignments, no matter how difficult, were part of the teaching techniques to help pupils understand better.

“It is necessary for the parents to assist the children in their take-home assignments. It is only a lazy and irresponsible parent that sees it as a burden,” he noted.

In Yenagoa, a parent and teacher, Jonathan Epegu, said, ideally, such assignments were designed to ensure that children recalled what they were taught in school, and to make them execute the assignments on their own.

“Parents are supposed to supervise their children and not do the assignments. The education of children should involve parents as well as teachers,” Epegu said.

She, however, said that at times, students were given take-home assignments beyond their range of knowledge.

“I agree it happens. My children bring such assignments that are beyond their scheme of work,” she said.

According to Maduabuchi Eziukwu, some teachers usually overwhelmed children with assignments on a daily basis and thus overburdened parents who were increasingly finding it more difficult to eke out a living.

“I only assist when children have difficulties because when you do the assignments, the children do not learn anything.

Eziukwu said that parenting required a lot of commitment and advised that parents should create time and have an interest in the educational development of their children.

Some teachers in Benin told the NAN that take-home assignments were meant for students and pupils to master the topics taught in class.

Blessing Emmanuel, a teacher at a private school in the Edo state capital, opined that no teacher would give students assignments on topics not treated in class.

“I understand the fact that some parents see the assignment given to their wards as bulky whereas it is not, she said.

Treasure Emokpahe, a teacher, noted that assignments were given to students to ensure proper comprehension of the topic, disagreeing with the notion that homework was a ploy to shift responsibility away from the teachers.

In Asaba, the proprietor of African Elite International School, Ikenna Okafor, said that the academic growth of children fell on the shoulders of both teachers and parents.

Okafor said giving children assignments to do at home did not amount to transferring responsibilities to parents.

“It helps the child to play less and study at home. It also helps parents to find out if the teachers are teaching their children well.

“It helps parents find out whether their children are serious with their studies and makes the children open up to their parents about their teachers’ bad behaviours.

“When both teachers and parents join hands together to help the child, you will find out that the child is always the best,” he said.

PUNCH NEWSPAPER