Minister for Education Norma Foley has ruled out scrapping homework after the debate sparked by comments from President Michael D Higgins.
The President surprised the nation with calls for homework to be abolished. He told viewers of RTE's news2day, a current affairs programme for children, that he would like the school day to end for young people once they had left the building, allowing them to engage in more activities.
However, Ms Foley has ruled out a debate with the President on the issue. She reiterated that individual schools are responsible for their own homework policies in her statement.
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Ms Foley told the Irish Mirror: "It would not be appropriate for a Government Minister to engage in public debate with the office of the President. Schools are in of themselves places where creative pursuits are cultivated, nurtured and encouraged and that creativity may also be reflected in homework.”
Fine Gael's Minister for State Neale Richmond also asked Ms Foley in the Dail chamber if research would be carried out on the merits of terminating homework. Ms Foley confirmed that the Department of Educatioh had not commissioned research on the matter.
What do you think? Should homework be mandatory for school pupils, or should the school day end at the gates? Let us know in the comments.
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