Senator Grace Poe filed her version of No-Homework Law thru Senate Bill No. 966 -An Act Establishing A No-Homework Policy for All Primary and Secondary Schools in the Country. It was read on First Reading and Referred to the Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture last August 28, 2019. Legislative status: Pending in the Committee (8/28/2019).
According to her:
Not only that more homework does not translate to better student performance, It also gives additional stress to students, teachers and parents. More homework gives additional workload to our already overworked teachers and takes away valuable time that could have been spent with family and other activities.
Hence, this bill aims to limit the homework given to students from Kinder to Grade 12 during weekdays and prohibit the same on weekends to safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, protect them from conditions that may adversely affect their health and their right to a balanced life, and uphold equality among students across different socio-economic backgrounds.
This bill, when enacted into law, will institutionalize and expand the Department of Education (DepEd) Memorandum Circular No. 392, s. 2010 which advised teachers to limit the giving of homework to public elementary school pupils on weekdays and to refrain from giving homework on weekends.
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE
REPUBUC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE
S. No. 966
Introduced by Senator Grace Poe
AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A NO-HOMEWORK POLICY FOR ALL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY
Explanatory Note
According to Francesca Borgonovi, one of the authors of the study titled, “Does Homework Perpetuate the Inequities in Education?”, there is an advantage for putting extra hours in homework. She noted that when you look within countries at students who are learning in the same educational system and do more homework, those students do much better in school.1 However, data shows that there are diminishing marginal returns to homework after several hours of it.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (OECD PISA) found in 2009 that after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact on students’ performance. Further, it looked at homework hours around the world and found that there wasn’t much of a connection between how much homework students of a particular country do and how well their students score on tests. The best example of this is Finland. Finnish students do only about three (3) hours of homework per week yet in 2012 they scored sixth highest in the world in reading and 12thhighest in Math on the OECD’ international test, PISA.Finland is also known to rank high in the international rankings for education systems.
Not only that more homework does not translate to better student performance, It also gives additional stress to students, teachers and parents. More homework gives additional workload to our already overworked teachers and takes away valuable time that could have been spent with family and other activities.
Later on, OECD also found out that whatever benefit homework has Is relevant only for measuring student achievement within each country, and that It tends to reinforce the achievement gap between the rich and the poor.5 Specifically, in all 38 countries included in the OECD study, they discovered that homework hours vary by socio-economic status. According to the study, it is not Just poor kids are more likely to skip their homework or do not have a quiet place at home to complete it, schools serving the poor kids also do not assign as much homework as the schools for the rich. Often, poor students also have limited access to resources necessary to complete their homework.
Hence, this bill aims to limit the homework given to students from Kinder to Grade 12 during weekdays and prohibit the same on weekends to safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, protect them from conditions that may adversely affect their health and their right to a balanced life, and uphold equality among students across different socio-economic backgrounds.
This bill, when enacted into law, will institutionalize and expand the Department of Education (DepEd) Memorandum Circular No. 392, s. 2010 which advised teachers to limit the giving of homework to public elementary school pupils on weekdays and to refrain from giving homework on weekends.
In view of the foregoing, the Immediate passage of this measure is earnestly sought.
GRACE POE
EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE
REPUBUC OF THE PHILIPPINES
First Regular Session
SENATE
S. No. 966
Introduced by Senator Grace Poe
AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A NO-HOMEWORK POLICY FOR ALL PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE COUNTRY
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “No Homework Law”.
Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is hereby declared the policy of the State to safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, protect them from conditions that may adversely affect their health and their right to a balanced life, and uphold equality among students across different socio-economic backgrounds.
Sec. 3. Scope. – This Act shall apply to both public and private primary and secondary schools.
Sec. 4. No Homework on Weekends. – All primary and secondary schools in the country shall not allow teachers to give any homework or assignments to students from Kinder to Grade 12 on weekends. Assigning homework to students will only be allowed on weekdays; Provided, that such homework shall be minimal and will not require more than four (4) hours to be completed.
Sec. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days from the date of effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education (DepEd) shall formulate the rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act.
Sec 6. Separability Clause. – If any portion or provision of this Act Is declared unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provisions not affected thereby shall remain in force and effect
Sec. 7. Repealing Clause. – Any law, presidential decree or issuance, executive order, letter of instruction, rule or regulation Inconsistent with the provisions of this Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Sec 8. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following Its complete publication In a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,
Copy of Senate Bill No. 966
An Act Establishing A No-Homework Policy for All Primary and Secondary Schools in the Country.
