MOE homework policies: ask the school what was assigned, and what it took

If you want to raise homework volume, the first thing to settle is where the decision sits. In a parliamentary reply published on 4 February 2026, the Ministry of Education said it does not dictate the proportion of schoolwork to be done in school or at home. Teachers decide, based on their professional judgement and students' learning needs, whether class work is completed as part of a lesson or taken home. Every school holds a homework policy, and that reply tells you where to start. ^[1]

So a useful conversation is with the school concerned, and it begins with a description rather than a verdict. A separate MOE reply, published on 22 November 2021 during extended Home-Based Learning, names the thing no fixed number can capture: different students take different amounts of time and effort to complete the same piece of homework. What follows is what each dated reply does and does not establish, then a plain way to record one week's work for your own child. ^[2]

What the two dated MOE replies actually say

The 2026 reply is precise about the mechanics. Teachers may include class work as part of a lesson, or assign work to be done at home to reinforce learning, and schools have homework guidelines to keep homework purposeful and manageable. MOE monitors the implementation of these guidelines at the system level. Based on its findings, all schools have a homework policy which articulates the objectives of homework and how homework load is monitored and regulated, and schools review their homework guidelines regularly to calibrate homework load, with due consideration for student learning and well-being. ^[1]

Note what kind of document that is: a school-level statement of purpose and monitoring, not a schedule written around an individual child. The 2021 reply adds a different point. Written when students were learning at home, it said educators were mindful of keeping homework load manageable so children had time for personal interests, family and rest, and that every school had an established policy with measures to manage and coordinate the amount given out. It also encouraged parents and caregivers to provide feedback on homework to the school concerned, so that it can be looked into directly. It does not explain the 2026 position; the two replies answer different questions. ^{[1] [2]}

Assigned work is not the same as time taken

Split the complaint in two. What was assigned is a school decision you can read off the work itself. How long it took, and what it asked of your child, is theirs. A hypothetical example: a Primary 4 child is handed three worksheets on one Monday. The assigned amount is three sheets. In that same household, completing them might take twenty minutes of steady work split across two sittings, plus fifteen minutes spent re-reading one instruction and asking for help with a word problem. Both statements are true at once, and only the second describes this child. ^{[2] [1]}

An optional record, if you want one, can stay short. For each item, note the task as written, the day it was set, roughly how long your child was actually working, when that happened, what interrupted it, and what help you gave. This is editorial preparation, not an official form or a required format. Two limits are worth keeping in view: a time figure is not proof that a load is too heavy, and the record does not establish what any teacher or any school should change. ^{[2] [1]}

Ask the school two separate questions

Suggested questions, offered as preparation rather than an official sequence. On the school homework policy: what is homework meant to achieve in this school, how is the load monitored and regulated, and how often are the guidelines reviewed? On your child: what was expected this week, and how is it going? Keeping the two apart matters, because the first is a question about a document every school is said to have, and the second is about one child's week. ^{[1] [2]}

A suggested note, offered as a starting point rather than a template: "This week, work set for [name] was [describe the task]. Getting through it took about [time], across [when], with [what help or what got in the way]. Could you tell us what homework is meant to achieve here, and how the load is monitored?" Ask the school concerned, as MOE encouraged in 2021, and leave the response with them. Short version: read the school homework policy, describe what was assigned and what completing it actually involved, and let the school decide what that means. ^{[1] [2]}

Sources

EduNanny Editorial · AI-assisted research and writing, reviewed by our automated editorial team. Sources checked 2026-10-09. Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration.