Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Every time it's my turn to make general comments, the Premier says detail.
---Laughter
I think I am becoming too sensitive. Mr. Chairman, when we talk about Education, Culture and Employment, I understand that it covers a very broad range of topics, programs and services. This is quite a comprehensive department in terms of the number of things it covers. But, Mr. Chairman, I want to narrow some of my general comments down to education and how we educate our
children here in the North. Maybe it wouldn't be fair to say we are in a rut, but there is something about our education system that I have been thinking about and I have heard some commentaries on not so long ago on CBC. Maybe not everybody will agree with me on this subject, but I think when we think about the success of our children in school, we need to change the way we do things. For one thing, I think there is too much emphasis in our school system put on homework. I think we are trying to turn parents into teachers and sometimes teachers into parents and social conveners. I think we need to, as a system, and I don't know how much the Minister can bring to bear in terms of the way we go about educating our children, but there is so much pressure on kids these days in many areas and not the least of which is to succeed in school. I would like to see an education system where everybody puts in a good solid day's work, 8:30 to 5:00, if necessary, but I don't think kids should have to go home in young grades or even in older grades with a great big stack of books and homework.
Most people work a regular day, why should kids go to school and then have to go home and work at night as well? By assigning these volumes of homework, you don't only assign the kids to work in the evening, you also dictate the schedule of the parents. Again, there are a lot of stresses these days. Maybe they don't want to spend their evening doing homework.
I think that we would take a lot of pressure off of students and families if we could get the work done during the day. Get the education done and if the kids need to learn how to study on their own independently in some fashion, have some kind of a study program that takes place between 3:30 and 5:00. People say maybe the school day should end at 3:30, well maybe in some places it should, but there is another complicating factor for parents. School gets out at 3:30. How many parents get off at 3:30 if they are working parents? Parents get off at 5:00. Why not have the school day coincide when parents are finished work? Why not do the homework between 3:30 and 5:00 instead of sending it home and expecting the parents to grind on the kids all evening to get their homework done? Anyway, I have some issues about homework.
---Laughter
In fairness to the teachers though, I don't think teachers should have homework either. I really don't. I think teachers should put in a day like any other kind of employment that maybe starts at 8:30 and ends at 5:00, but they shouldn't have to take home homework either.