A member of the far-right League party, Bussetti on Monday announced he would send a circular letter to schools across the nation this week to relay his request.
“Homework weighs on family commitments and so I’d like to give a signal,” he said.
“I’m thinking of these days of festivity and the children and their families wanting to spend them together.”
Italian students are among the hardest workers in the world when it comes to homework, with teenagers completing more than eight hours a week, compared to six hours in Australia and just three hours in Finland and South Korea, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
However, Busetti believes it’s time they had a break.
“We have an excellent standard of teaching, but sometimes capacity is measured according to workload, and this is a mistake,” he argued.
“I believe the Christmas holiday should be a time in which children should be allowed to spend time with their loved ones and friends and to dedicate time to reading, to hobbies, to visiting exhibitions and to physical activities.”
While Busetti’s comments are in line with the coalition government’s push to preserve traditional family values, not everyone is on board with the idea.
Former prime minister Matteo Renzi criticised Bussetti’s proposal.
“Homework helps children to grow, study and better themselves,” the Democratic Party (PD) senator said.
“And maybe it can be done together with parents. But to say that a child must do less homework in order to have more free time seems extravagant to me.”
