Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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742. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills the research that has been carried out by her Department into the benefits of ending the provision of homework for primary school pupils; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1028/23]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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I would like to thank the Deputy for his question regarding research on the provision of homework.

While my Department has not commissioned research on this matter, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) funded a report commissioned by the National Parents Council into parental involvement, engagement and partnership in their children’s learning during the primary school years at Parental Involvement Research Doc.qxp:Layout 1 (mie.ie). The research was undertaken by the Marino Institute of Education and was published in 2019.

While the broad focus of the report is on features of good parent-school partnerships there is also a focus on:

- The role of homework

- Homework in the Irish context

- Homework in the international literature

- Homework and achievement

- Parental involvement with homework

- Children’s voice on homework.

The report also contains recommendations regarding homework, based on the literature review undertaken.

The Department of Education does not issue any guidelines relating to homework being given in schools. It is a matter for each school, at local level to arrive at its own homework policy. In keeping with good practice, the process of drafting a homework policy should involve consultation with teachers, parents and students. Schools can also consider the recommendations from the research report in this regard.

I hope this information is of assistance to the Deputy.