Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty says local school boards should decide on how much homework to assign students, not the government.
"I think it's a call for teachers and principals to make," McGuinty told reporters on Tuesday.
"We're very much focused on student achievement as a government and in order to help us arrive at that end we have put a lot more money into the system, (hired) thousands more teachers, we've reduced class sizes, we've got more textbooks than ever, more support workers than ever -- all this in the face of declining enrolment.
"So we'll stay focused on student achievement."
Toronto District School Board trustees and a committee will vote this week on a report that examines how much homework is being handed out to students in all grades.
The proposal has three recommendations:
- Students shouldn't be penalized for handing in assignments late or incomplete
- Students should not be assigned homework on scheduled holidays or other significant days
- The amount of workload should be broken down by grade: Those in Grades 1 to 6 should only get reading assignments, those in Grades 7 and 8 should get no more than one hour of homework a night and high school students should get no more than two hours.
Trustee Josh Matlow, who brought forward the proposal more than a year ago, says studies indicate homework at an early age is redundant.
The vote on the homework recommendations will take place Wednesday night. If the policies pass, they could be implemented by the start of the fall school year.
With reports from CTV Toronto's John Musselman and Galit Solomon
