Ministry of Education Bans Assigning Homework via WeChat

This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.

By Yuzhou Hu

During the past weekend, an announcement from the Ministry of Education forbidding teachers from assigning homework via WeChat, QQ and learning apps went viral, reports Shine.

The declaration was originally a reply to a proposal by a political adviser back in October last year. For some reason, it didn't catch much attention until last week, triggering heated discussion. The notification also prohibits teachers from asking parents to sign off the assignments.

Parents in China have always held mixed feelings towards parents' WeChat groups. On one hand, they get to learn more about their little ones' performance at school. On the other hand, more and more schools choose to assign homework through WeChat groups or learning apps. 

In consequence, parents end up completing the homework with their children and grading them, as is required by schools. It's not hard finding parents complaining about their suffering on social networks.

READ MORE: 4 Things We Hate about Parents' WeChat Groups

Image via Pexels

Surprisingly, teachers themselves are not big fans of parents' WeChat groups, either. "As a teacher, I can't agree more with the new regulation," writes one on Weibo. "We used to assign homework at school. However, there were always parents asking for the assignments for their forgetful kids."

Suffice to say, most netizens support the latest regulation, saying it will do good to both parents and kids. An expert even suggests to legislate against teenagers under 16 using cell phones, claiming it will distract students from study and affect their eyesight.

That being said, opposition against the prohibition still exists. "Why do they have to act like ostriches?" argues one on Weibo. "Putting their heads in the sand when things don't suit them."

READ MORE: Chinese Children Given Dirty Joke to Read as English Homework

[Cover image via ifeng]

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).