Voronezh Students Critique Plan to Ban Homework Answer Sites
The Ministry of Education has proposed blocking websites in Russia that provide ready-made homework assignments and solutions for the OGE, EGE, and academic olympiads. Education officials believe such resources are destructive, and to shield the educational process from abuse, the telecom regulator Roskomnadzor should crack down on homework help portals. The Ministry also contends that blocking answer sites will motivate students to tackle problems independently and improve their studies. It suggests making the blocking of such resources extrajudicial, meaning a site could be shut down immediately without a trial if it is merely suspected of hosting assignment answers.
Meanwhile, Anton Gorelkin, first deputy chairman of the State Duma committee on information policy, IT, and communications, shared his view on the matter in a Telegram channel. The deputy said equating school cheat sheets with, for instance, extremist literature is clearly excessive.
«Moreover, the practice of »working through« past exam papers has emerged as a natural response to the system the ministry has built over years. And until that changes, no blocks will work—they will likely just push students to the darknet and scammers,» Gorelkin argued. «That»s why I personally don«t support this initiative from the Ministry of Education. We need to lighten the school load, so exam prep doesn»t make kids want to cram or cheat. Extrajudicial site blocking is a tool against socially dangerous information. Using it to boost motivation is questionable: by that logic, we could ban crossword answer sites too.«
We asked schoolchildren for their thoughts on the ministry«s initiative.
«Actually, homework help sites are very useful when you don»t know how to solve something, or to check your work. Yes, some just copy. But for those who aren«t taught properly in class—and there»s plenty of that, like when a teacher rushes through a lesson and no one gets it, but there«s a test tomorrow—or when there»s no one to help, these sites are an option. They have video solutions for almost every task where someone explains their reasoning. I don«t think these sites ruin education; it depends on how you use them. I use them to see if I solved something correctly and to watch explanations,» said a 10th-grade student from a Voronezh school.
«My child is in first grade, and I use these sites to check if I understood the assignment right. In modern textbooks, basic tasks are often worded so poorly that you can»t tell what to do,« admitted a first-grader»s parent.
«Well, if they block homework sites, you can actually solve tasks with AI now. Those who want to learn will learn anyway,» remarked an 11th-grade student. «And those who need to copy will find a way.»
