The French President is suggesting doing away with homework for French students all together, as part of an overhaul of France's education system. Today, we're adding up the pluses and minuses of homework on this side of the Atlantic. Does homework help students achieve better results? Is it a baseless boredom for kids and their parents? And is it even fair?

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France proposes homework ban, should Canada do the same?

If kids could vote, French President Francois Hollande might have the job for life after announcing plans for a ban on homework. As part of his education overhaul, President Hollande wants to end the dreaded spelling lists and long division that torment many children every night.

And it's not just the kids who think it's a good idea. We heard from Jean Jacques-Hazan, the President of the French Parents' Association with what he had to say.

Here in North America, homework remains the subject of ongoing dispute among educators, parents, and students. And not everyone is as sure as the French President that closing the book on homework is the best policy. We heard from Diana Mancuso, a primary school French teacher in Toronto.

Well Harris Cooper is chair of the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University and is a homework expert. He was in Durham, North Carolina. And Linda Cameron is an associate professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. She was in Toronto.

This segment was produced by The Current's Shannon Higgins, Ellen Saenger and Ben Edwards.

Other segments from today's show:

Hacktivism: Going after Amanda Todd's tormenter

Counting the polar bears of Baffin Bay

Checking-In: Listener Response