French president's plan to write off homework draws criticism

[TechMan]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/12/03/french-solution-to-excessive-homework-surrender/

Socialist President Francois Hollande is stating that homework should be eliminated from elementary and jr high schools.  He says that homework is giving an unfair advantage to the rich.  The reasoning is that wealthy families

are more likely to have the time and ability to support and supervise their children's after-school efforts.

  Evidently France is falling behind other industrialized nations (including the US) in reading and science.  The President has decided that they need to make primary and secondary school more enjoyable and the homework elimination is part of that.

Surprisingly poor people are against this as they know that education maybe the only way for their children to get out of poverty.

 

[Ron]

Evidently France is falling behind other industrialized nations (including the US) in reading and science.  The President has decided that they need to make primary and secondary school more enjoyable and the homework elimination is part of that.

Surprisingly poor people are against this as they know that education maybe the only way for their children to get out of poverty.

The animals on the farm are only to be on a need to know basis.

[Viking]

Brilliant, really. Keep the proles and permanent welfare class uneducated, and they're far more likely to vote socialist in the future.

[longeyes]

Anyone who's been following the cultural unraveling of France knows why they are lagging in science and technology.  France is being eaten up from within.

[RevDisk]

Sounds like a good way of shooting yourself in the foot.

OTOH, my school district went nuts with homework. 2-4 hours of homework every night is also not necessarily a good idea.

Anyone who's been following the cultural unraveling of France knows why they are lagging in science and technology.  France is being eaten up from within.

And yet their nuclear program is decades ahead of our's. Not sure if it says good things about them, or bad about us. Both, I suspect.

[longeyes]

That was the Old France.

[HankB]

. . .  And yet their nuclear program is decades ahead of our's.

I recall it was Jimmy Carter who killed breeder reactor research in the US, making him - as one wag opined - "The best US President that France ever had." (His daughter was worried about nuclear weapon proliferation, so she took her concerns to her Daddy, the President. He acted on her concerns by altering US nuclear policy. Amy Carter was about 11 at the time.)

[AJ Dual]

Sounds like a good way of shooting yourself in the foot.

OTOH, my school district went nuts with homework. 2-4 hours of homework every night is also not necessarily a good idea.


And yet their nuclear program is decades ahead of our's. Not sure if it says good things about them, or bad about us. Both, I suspect.

Nothing to do with technical ability.

That's just their socialist/leftist politics picking different "winners & losers" than ours does. 

I suspect we could have sold nuclear power as a big pro-union/pro-green initiative sewing up lots of leftist support in the late 60's, however that ship sailed long ago.

[Ben]

Nothing to do with technical ability.

That's just their socialist/leftist politics picking different "winners & losers" than ours does. 

I suspect we could have sold nuclear power as a big pro-union/pro-green initiative sewing up lots of leftist support in the late 60's, however that ship sailed long ago.

Yup. It's no different than chemical dispersants used for oil spills. It's the number one recommended "environmentally sound" cleanup method by enviros in Europe, but enviros here constantly sue to stop its use because it's a "detriment to the environment". Just goes to show what a crock their "settled science" is. It's always about politics and money.

[brimic]

Socialist President Francois Hollande is stating that homework should be eliminated from elementary and jr high schools.  He says that homework is giving an unfair advantage to the rich.  The reasoning is that wealthy families
are more likely to have the time and ability to support and supervise their children's after-school efforts.

Whoa there. That statement seems to have multiple logical errors.... though I sense a mixture of ill intent- the leftist is actively promoting mediocrity.

Rich/wealthy/up and coming  families don't necessarily have more time than poor families to be a part of their children's academic lives, they simply make it their priority over other things.