{
  "id": 6088170,
  "title": "As UAE weighs ‘no homework’ policy, parents debate what children really need after school",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/07/as-uae-weighs-no-homework-policy-parents-debate-what-children-really",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-07T02:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Gulf News",
    "slug": "gulf-news",
    "url": "https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/as-uae-weighs-no-homework-policy-parents-debate-what-children-really-need-after-school-1.500665269"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The UAE is considering implementing a homework-free policy for students. Parents are divided on the matter, with some believing that homework is necessary to reinforce learning, while others argue it can cause unnecessary stress and strain. Katy Keenan, CEO of the British Chamber of Commerce Dubai, suggests that homework should be optional for students up until year 7, but necessary for older students to test their comprehension of the information they've learned throughout the day. Dr. Soumaya Askri, an Assistant Professor at the School of Management at Canadian University Dubai, believes that homework can contribute positively to a child's learning, but it should have a deeper educational purpose and not just exist for the sake of existing. Aliah Fareed Lutfi Harmouzi, a mother of three, emphasizes the importance of building independence and teaching children to work on their own once they reach middle school. For younger children, such as Marjie Mirabel Gawaran's four-year-old daughter, the question of homework is almost hypothetical, as she believes it would only become helpful when her daughter begins formal schooling. Regardless of age, parents agree that the quality of homework matters more than the quantity. Dr. Askri prefers shorter, focused tasks that require actual thinking over repetitive exercises, while also praising reading, reflection, problem-solving, creativity, and independent thinking as essential components of an effective homework assignment.",
  "summary": "\"I took away 25 ice-creams from Sam. How many ice-creams does Sam have now?\" \"I don't know,\" I would say, and dissolve into tears at the dinner table that was spread with addition and subtraction worksheets. It could extend into an hour-long ritual with my mother, as sometimes I really didn't know how to handle subtraction and the joy of \"borrowing,\" and just kept scratching out numbers, or…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}