Abstract

Mareva W. C.

The study sought to establish and compare the views of rural and urban primary school pupils on
homework in Zimbabwe, using six purposively sampled Masvingo rural and urban primary schools. The
inquiry employed a qualitative methodology in which data were gathered through semi-structured
personal interviews and document analysis. A sample of thirty rural and thirty urban Grade Five pupils
were interviewed. Forty-five homework exercise books were analyzed. The investigation established
that while in both rural and urban schools, there are some pupils who like homework while others
dislike it for various reasons; there are more pupils in urban areas who view homework in a positive
light than those in rural schools. The paper unearthed home and school factors as the causes of rural
and urban pupils’ different views on homework. The paper makes several recommendations. Firstly, the
government should endeavour to narrow the gap between the socio-economic statuses of the rural and
urban populace in Zimbabwe as it is a major contributor to pupils’ different views on homework. The
paper further recommends that rural schools be improved in terms of the quality of teachers and
teaching-learning resources. Also, parents in both settings need to be encouraged to take an interest in
their children’s homework. Moreover, teachers from both rural and urban schools need to take
homework more seriously as their attitudes to homework influence pupils’ views on it.