Whose homework is it anyway?

In a guiding document issued on Oct 26, the municipal education bureau of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, banned schools from asking students' parents to check and correct their homework.

Parents of primary or middle school students know how their children's homework often becomes theirs. If a child has math homework, the parents are asked to check the answers and correct them if they are wrong. If the child writes an essay, the parents have to polish the language. And if the child is given a craft-making assignment, the parents end up doing everything.

Many schools shift such burdens onto parents, with the document saying some schools even ask parents to help their children do cleaning work for the school.

Once children enter a schools' gate, they are totally at the mercy of the teachers. By being cold to children, teachers can destroy their confidence, whereas by being warm and patient, teachers can boost their morale and shape their character and future. As there is no way parents can sue teachers even if they are treating their children badly, parents are forced to do whatever the teachers or schools ask them to, in order to ensure their children are in their teachers' good books.

Not surprisingly, the Taiyuan municipal education bureau's move has been widely welcomed on social networking sites. Such intervention and regulation from higher authorities are badly needed to balance the power schools and teachers wield on children.

Of course, this does not mean teachers have poor moral standards. On the contrary, teaching requires patience and in-depth knowledge. However, teachers wield huge power and, as it should be, such power must be put in the cage of rules.

Some parents in Chongqing have said their municipality issued a similar ban in 2018, prohibiting schools from giving homework that requires parents to check. We hope that more cities follow the example and free parents of a burden that is not theirs.