Parents’ perspectives on the National Homework Policy in Maltese primary schools

Abstract

The quantity of homework given to primary school students in Malta has been the subject of ongoing debates. In 2018, the Ministry for Education and Employment introduced The National Homework Policy to act as a guide on the quantity and the quality of homework that should be assigned to learners. While previous studies on homework generally focus on their impact on learners and teachers, this dissertation aims to give importance to parents’ perspectives in light of this new policy. Since this policy has been in action for the past three years, this study aims to analyse whether the guidelines have been correctly implemented in state schools, especially the timeframes allocated to each year group. As this study obtains the views of a substantial amount of parents, a quantitative research approach is preferred. Data collection consists of questionnaires containing both open-ended and close-ended questions to parents/guardians who have their child attending a primary state school in Malta or Gozo. The findings show that the personal views of parents are in line with the policy and generally in favour of the National Homework Policy. However, this study finds that the policy has not been entirely adhered to. Results show that almost half of the learners spend more time doing homework than is recommended by the policy.