Valditara insists: new circular on homework and tests

No more homework set at 8 pm via the electronic register: the Minister for Education, Giuseppe Valditara, has addressed the practice of burdening pupils with last-minute homework assignments and, following the circular already issued last academic year, has promised another, stricter one, setting out the procedures for assigning homework.

“I’ve sent out a circular, but we’ll be sending out another, more stringent one, in which I’ll reiterate that homework cannot be set at 8 pm for the following morning; homework must be set and recorded in the paper diary,” he explains.

“The circulars must be followed,” Valditara emphasises once again, in response to those who point out that, despite last year’s guidelines, the habits of some teachers have not changed. The Minister of Education, based in Viale Trastevere, also urges teachers not to schedule tests and oral examinations on the same day: “It is clear that pupils will not be able to prepare for them with the necessary seriousness and composure.”

It was Professor Maurizio Parodi, a former headteacher and founder of the ‘No More Homework!’ movement, who had written an open letter to Minister Valditara calling for written rules against the setting of last-minute homework. Parodi, an educationalist, is also the author of a book published a few years ago, ‘Basta compiti! That’s Not How You Learn”, in which he explains that the school’s main task is not to ‘punish’ pupils by overburdening them with work outside the classroom, but rather to teach them the right study methods to learn effectively and to help each pupil’s personality flourish.