Today I bring a complicated issue that arouses debate among parents: duties. They are necessary for many, while for others they are harmful. Doubts or concerns cannot be answered in one line and it is a subject with many vertices.

Many studies talk about the influence of duties on students. Does Homework Improve Academic Achievement? A Synthesis of Research, by Cooper, Patall and Robinson, is one of the most important. This is a research directed between 1987 and 2003 on its incidence in academic results. The objective of this study is to determine the degree of relationship between domestic work and academic improvement and the achievement obtained, comparing the results with previous studies.

The study concludes that there is a correlation between household chores and academic improvement, although the improvement obtained varies significantly depending on the course observed: in the case of elementary school students (6-11 years), household chores have a negative impact on academic performance. In the case of high school students (12-18 years), on the contrary, a positive relationship is observed, so it is suggested that they improve final grades. According to the text, the differences may be due to factors such as the ability of young people to find or dispense with the necessary stimuli to perform these tasks and their learning capacity.

When we talk about this topic, it is essential to know how many hours of work for the home are necessary to get the best academic result. The research redistributes the efficacy of domestic work by age groups. Thus, he stresses that there is no positive impact in Primary. He concludes that the best of Compulsory Secondary Education is to send 7 to 12 hours a week. It is concluded that there are no significant improvements above 13 hours. In the same sense, according to the study, in the Baccalaureate (16-17 years) sending more than 2 hours a day does not affect the academic results.

It should be taken into account that these data provide global results that must be taken into account aspects such as territory (not the same Basque Country as Africa), age or family and social context.

It is also important to note that research ensures that the effectiveness of domestic work is zero or, worse still, harmful if the amount committed is exceeded.

Along with this work by Cooper, Patall and Robinson, there are dozens of reference publications in the field of scientific research, such as Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement, a book by John Hattie 2009 that refers to hundreds of previous studies and draws its conclusions. A very interesting statement stands out: “The really effective thing in education is a good teacher and not having much work for home.”

According to the OECD, duties affect school inequality and further mark the social and economic inequalities of students and their families, as the families' lack of resources is evident.

As international reports such as PISA and TIMSS indicate, it is clear that the Spanish State is one of the countries that dedicate most time to school duties. It is clear that such high time investments are useless, as the Spanish State has had negative results in recent years in the above-mentioned reports. Moreover, this does not mean that the performance of students in the Spanish State is higher than that of students in some countries who invest far fewer hours. France is also above the OECD average in domestic working hours.

Some speak, however, of the benefits of homework. In his thesis “School Duties, Learning and Performance in Primary Education Students” (2016), by Irene Pan through the Universality of A Coruña, he stresses the conclusion that the quantity and use of the time of the domestic jobs sent influence the academic performance in a positive and significant way, because they are beneficial, but the key is not the quantity, as the key is in the quality of the obligations and in the way in which the students perform their duties. Feedback from teachers is fundamental and parental help is important in domestic work, but it depends on quality.

The adequacy of domestic tasks and the lack of excessive time to accomplish them are the two keys to good domestic work. And through technological tools and innovation, we can make these goals possible. The use of social educational networks and virtual classrooms is a good idea to encourage housework with positive effects for children. But if the works are optional, better because many students will not have the resources to do what they have done, and as already mentioned, that would only increase inequalities.

As an optional reinforcement in class, gamification can be another interesting option, as it allows the student to consolidate or reinforce the learning through innovation and add a dose of play to the learning process. Logically, any of these measures must be adapted to the diversity of the classroom, either by age or by the identity of the whole or by the social elements.

In short, with less domestic work, better jobs for the home and taking advantage of the opportunities offered by new technologies and innovation, students can achieve better results. Let us therefore think about the purpose of sending out the work for home and whether it is really necessary.