An abhorred burden yet a necessity in the Turkish education system that long imposed outdated methods on millions of students, the practice of assigning homework comes to an end. National Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz told Anadolu Agency (AA) yesterday that teachers would not assign homework to students "from now on" and instead, the education would focus on what "students learn in the classroom."
In the past decade, Turkey saw a major overhaul of its education system, from more online access for schools and the landmark FATİH project where students were handed tablet computers for the reduction of overcrowded classrooms. Nevertheless, a system valuing memorizing subjects and handing out grades based on how well students fare in memorizing, has long hindered progress in education according to experts.
Yılmaz says they wanted students to focus more on lessons taught at the classroom, by removing homework. "We believe children will study more at home by themselves [without the need for homework]. We ended the practice of memorizing the subjects and other old methods," he said.
The move follows a landmark ban on homework over the two-week midterm semester break which was first implemented two years ago. Turkey is gradually rolling out a new education program based on the overall academic performance of students rather than grades tied to exam scores.
