In Russia, they're planning to increase the minimum workload for high school students. Parents and the students themselves want to know what that means in numbers and how it'll affect their schedules.
The official minimum teaching hours have been increased, but that doesn't mean all schools will immediately add classes - a lot depends on how each individual school distributes those hours. Homework will most likely increase precisely because schools will need to fit in the new workload somewhere if there are more in-person lessons. I'd suggest keeping an eye on your kid's specific school's schedule and asking the administration how they plan to implement the changes, rather than going by what's in the news.
The key thing here is that increasing hours could happen by reshuffling the existing schedule rather than just adding new lessons. For example, a school might cut back on certain subjects in elementary grades or rethink time spent on extracurricular activities to redirect resources toward high school. That doesn't necessarily mean your kid will come home later or get a pile of extra homework.
As for homework - it all depends on the philosophy of the specific school and teachers. Some institutions prefer intensive classes with heavier workload during lessons but less homework. Others, on the flip side, go deeper into the material at home. So if you're worried about how it'll affect your kid specifically, it makes sense to talk with the school's administration - they'll be able to explain how they're planning to roll out these changes at their institution.
There's no need to panic just yet. First see what exactly changes in your school's schedule, then assess the actual workload.
It all depends on the specific school - some schools will add hours to the schedule, others will just rearrange the existing ones. I know kids in different schools, and at one they simply shifted subjects around in the timetable, while at another they actually added a couple of extra classes per week. Homework will probably increase everywhere - that's a separate issue, unfortunately. The thing is, an increase in minimum hours doesn't necessarily mean a more demanding school day, but nobody's going to lighten the workload either.
In my circle, there are several parents with kids in school, and so far I haven't heard any major complaints about homework - the real issue is that schools are still figuring out how to organize all this.
The main thing to understand is that increasing the minimum workload doesn't necessarily mean adding new subjects or hours to the schedule. A school can simply go deeper into existing subjects, add electives, or shift time toward practice instead of extra theoretical material. There could be more homework, there could be less - that depends on the school and teachers. Some places will redo their schedule, some will cram everything into one schedule, some will add Saturday classes.
My tip: if your school announces changes, try talking to the teachers and administration. Often they're willing to discuss how not to overload students with extra work at home, especially since that's on trend in education right now.
Have you gotten any information from the school yet about how exactly this is going to work? Because in practice everything turns out way more confusing than it sounds in the news.
My neighbor's son just moved into tenth grade, and when she went to clarify about these hours, the school told her they'll be added by expanding some subjects, but there won't be new full classes - more like extra sessions and consultations. Homework obviously wasn't canceled, but that's nothing new for high schoolers, they had plenty of it before anyway. The main thing is that the workload got distributed pretty evenly instead of all landing in one quarter.
It seems like the real story is that schools are still figuring out how to roll all this out without totally messing up the schedule. Some seem to be leaning toward online learning for certain subjects, others just reworked their timetables. It depends on what the actual school can manage and how ready it is to change its system. So talk to your teachers and homeroom teacher - they usually already have a specific plan for your school.
My acquaintance was complaining recently that at her daughter's school they literally just added two hours a week of Russian and math straight into the schedule - no redistribution, all above board. Her daughter leaves later now, but homework has definitely gotten heavier, because the teachers think that if there are more hours, they can crank up the workload. So yeah, it looks like it'll depend on how exactly the school decides to implement it - could be a redistribution of existing hours, or an actual expansion of the school day.
Log into answer.
