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- The burden of knowledge: the State Duma has decided to reduce the study load on schoolchildren
The burden of knowledge: the State Duma has decided to reduce the study load on schoolchildren
The teaching load on schoolchildren may be reduced. State Duma deputies have decided to take up this issue. Parliamentarians intend to consider the problem in 2025. However, even now it is not very clear at the expense of what it will be possible to reduce the workload of students, experts point out. The problem is much deeper and requires a change in the format of education. How intensive study affects the psyche of children - in the material "Izvestia".
A burning question
On the fact that the issue of excessive load on schoolchildren is included in the agenda of Parliament, reported in his Telegram-channel, the speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin.
He noted that on average children spend 8-10 hours studying. The issue is really burning. Over 50% of citizens confirmed the excessive load on students during the survey conducted by the deputy. In total, he was left more than 10 thousand comments on this topic.
Among the main causes of overwork Volodin singled out complex homework and its volume, overloaded schedule and a large number of subjects studied, extracurricular activities, a six-day school week and second-shift education.
"On the part of the government there is an understanding of the need to revise the teaching load in schools. We plan to include this issue among the priorities for 2025 and work out solutions together with the government," Volodin emphasized.
He noted the importance of preserving children's health while acquiring knowledge.
By the way, it is not the first time that the issue of excessive workload of schoolchildren is raised by the speaker of the State Duma. In November, he instructed the Committee on Education to work on the problem. The discussion was to be held jointly with teachers, parents, experts and the relevant minister.
The State Duma press release noted that the high school students' program is of particular concern in this situation. It, according to Nikita Rumyantsev, a member of the control committee, exceeds sanitary and epidemiological norms by 30%.
Volodin, for his part, pointed out that the issue of workload also concerns junior high school students.
"This is a problem that has become obvious to everyone. A child should be taken care of and everything should be done so that he or she is healthy, there was no excessive load, which is now ubiquitous in schools. [Children] come home exhausted, it affects their condition, nothing good comes out of it," said the chairman of the State Duma, adding that a reasonable approach is needed in the educational program.
Strict limitations
However, schools determine the program based not only on their needs. In the development of the schedule they are guided by the norms of SanPiN, fixing "the requirements for the conditions and organization of training in general educational institutions". This document regulates the maximum load on pupils and gives requirements for the organization of the school day.
In accordance with sanitary and epidemiological norms, all classes at school, including extracurricular extracurricular activities, are strictly limited in time. First-graders, in particular, must spend no more than 21 hours a week in lessons. High school students have a much higher workload - 34 academic hours in a five-day school week and 37 hours in a six-day school week.
The schedule for a day in schools is made taking into account the complexity of subjects. As a result, the main load falls on Tuesday and Wednesday. These days are usually the busiest in educational organizations - pupils are expected to study difficult subjects or easy ones, but in large number. But Thursday and Friday should become light days.
By the way, according to the requirements of SanPiNa, control and test works can be conducted only one per day. They should take place in the 2nd-4th lessons, which are the peak of children's working capacity.
Ambiguous issue
Children do spend up to 10 hours studying, which is harmful to their health, but it is not quite clear how to adjust the study load, comments Oleg Baksansky, Professor of the Department of Educational Psychology at the Institute of Pedagogy and Psychology of Moscow State University.
Among the possible ways that parliamentarians can follow, the expert emphasizes the reduction of the number of disciplines, the reduction of the amount of material studied, the number of lessons and the amount of homework.
- All this has already been discussed and done many times, and as a result the load has been increasing and is still increasing, but it is not being reduced," Baksansky points out.
He calls the proposed changes "cosmetic", pointing out that the problem is much deeper and requires changing the very format of education - from curricula to qualification requirements.
- And this requires changes in a large number of documents regulating the education system. And it is not about the load, but about the goals, objectives, principles, methodology and paradigm of education. Until a consensus is reached on these issues, all good intentions will lead to directly opposite results," the Izvestia interlocutor is convinced.
However, psychologist Yulia Bagan points out that the problem itself is long overdue. Heavy study suppresses interest, which is a natural support for the development of any child.
- Teachers do not have time to give and consolidate the material, to pass reporting, no speech about individual approach and attention to children in this case and can not be. School becomes a pain for children. According to psychologists' statistics, the most serious psychological traumas are inflicted at school," Bagan points out.
The current evaluation system also creates problems. As a result, the demand for child psychologists has increased tenfold, the expert emphasizes.
The school load, by the way, hits not only children. Teachers have to deal with an abundance of reports and other documentation, which leaves teachers with no energy to pay proper attention to children, the interviewee is convinced. Meanwhile, classrooms are full of highly sensitive, hyperactive children who need extra attention and help in mastering the material.
Preserve the fragile
A child's nervous system is more mobile and fragile, reminds acting psychologist Iya Kim. It is exposed to outside influences much more than in an adult. The advantage of this is that the child's consciousness is quicker to grasp and consolidate information. However, this is possible only if the child's psyche is not overloaded.
The daily regimen for a healthy child involves learning the material, not rote learning, the opportunity to ask questions, not the need to answer only when asked, constant movement, as well as activity and the opportunity to explore the world on the basis of personal experience, believes Julia Bagan.
The perception of students should be non-judgmental, because during the school years any negative comparison with peers hurts the most, says the expert. We need an approach that will help the child to accept himself with all the advantages and disadvantages.
- The current regime is reduced to the number of children in classes and the amount of information that must be given to students. Because of this, there is overload, which leads to negative consequences, up to suicide because of the results of GCSE and USE, - says the psychologist.
Several factors can help avoid overwork, says Iya Kim. First and foremost, the child must be enthused by the learning process. Everything that interests him will be developed without allowing physical and psychological overload.
Loads and rest should be alternated. Separately, it is important not to clog the child's schedule with electives, clubs, sections and tutoring sessions, leaving him time for childhood, believes the interviewee of "Izvestia".
A favorable environment at home has a huge impact on the psychological state of the child, the psychologist adds. A schoolchild will not be able to concentrate on lessons if he is surrounded by tension in the family. It is especially important not to shift responsibility for what is happening to the child, as his psyche is more fragile, emphasizes Iya Kim.
To maintain the student's emotional state, it is important to give him or her the opportunity to speak out, listen to how his or her day went, listen with interest and do not devalue his or her problems, even if they seem insignificant. Judgment and pressure of any kind are best avoided.
In addition, it is extremely important for all parents to realize that the child in front of them is a separate person who is not an extension and copy of them, Kim emphasizes.
- The State Duma's introduction of amendments concerning the amount of information consumed, the format of exams and the form in which the education system is organized raises big questions, but also gives great hope. This is a relevant step by which all participants in the educational process will have to make sense of the so-called new time, because the old way is no longer possible," summarizes the psychologist.
