'No-homework'

Policy Bill

September 4,2019

Razzele Loraine Ayad

12- AB122
Abstract
In this report, you will see many information about ‘No homework’ Policy Bill. You will see what
the bill is all about and how does it help the students. You will also see the reaction of the
teachers about it. You will also know here the DepEd’s statement about here. Evelina Escudero
will explain here why this bill is happening.
Introduction
The No homework bill started in 2019, where the DepEd supported it and some people didn’t.
The purpose of this report is to help the readers to fully understand the No homework bill. Also,
to know who is against and why are they against. The objective of this report is to help others
and to help also myself to understand why are they implementing this Bill and what can it helps
to me as a student. My objectives in this report is to give information to my readers and to
myself, to know how will the bill help the students, to know who is against, and to know the
comments of a lot of people about the ‘No Homework’ Bill.
Body
The Department of Education (DepEd) has expressed its support for the no-homework policy
bills proposed by lawmakers at the House of Representatives. DepEd, in a statement released
on Wednesday, August 28, said the measures would “enable learners to have more quality time
with their parents, family, and friends by limiting the homework [and] assignment to a
reasonable quantity on school days and by eliminating the same during weekends.” It said the
policy would allow students to “find balance between their academic development and
personal growth by having ample time for enjoyable activities with family.” House Deputy
Speaker Evelina Escudero and Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas filed separate bills in
August.
Escudero filed House Bill (HB) No. 3611, which seeks to remove homework as a requirement
and have Kinder to Grade 12 students do academic activities solely within school premises.
“Homework assignments can deprive students and parents [of] precious quality time for rest,
relaxation, and interaction after schools’ hours and even on weekend,” the bill’s explanatory
note reads.
The bill also seeks to prohibit students from taking textbooks home in order to “lighten the
physical burden of schoolchildren,” who, Escudero said, often have to carry heavy bags due to
schoolwork that has to be done beyond the school. This will apply to Kinder to Grade 6
students. Vargas filed HB No. 3883, which seeks to eliminate homework on weekends for all
elementary and high school students. This is so that students can “enjoy their free time from
the precisions of school during weekends and to be able to have a quality time with their family
and friends.” Vargas, in his proposal, also cited a 2018 study that featured discussions on a
similar policy in a public school in Western Cape province in South Africa. Vargas said scholars
in South Africa had argued “that homework is a burden for children and parents,” has caused
the decline of family time, and even undermines learning interest. HB 3883 seeks to “promote
and protect the physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual, and social well-being of the youth.” While
DepEd welcomed the proposals, teachers’ groups have slammed the proposed measures. The
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) in a statement told Congress to instead focus on
reviewing the K to 12 curriculums. “We are not issuing homework to burden our students. It is
demanded of us by the K to 12 programs, so much [so] that our performance evaluation system
ensures its implementation,” said ACT national chairperson Joselyn Martinez
Many people have comments about this including the penalty that they made if you, a teacher
made assignment for kids. But there was this news that they had a mistake in planning for the
penalty. Rep. Alfred Vargas said Thursday he made an "honest mistake" when his proposal to ban
homework during weekends accidentally included a provision on penalties for teachers. The proposed
law seeks to ban elementary and high school teachers from giving assignments over the
weekend. Violators will face a fine of P50,000 and jail time of up to 2 years. The penalty
provision was for another bill that Vargas's staff prepared at the same time as the homework
ban proposal, he said. "It was a legislative mistake. Honest mistake po iyun na pinaninindigan
ko naman po. Hindi naman kasi iyan criminal law. Hindi 'yan dapat lagyan ng penal [aspect]...
Para po iyon sa isang bill kong inihahanda. Nalito lang po kami," Vargas told radio DZMM.
I saw a website that state their reason why they do not like the No homework bill. In the
website of the Manila times, their opinion was “WE do not agree with the position of the
Department of Education (DepEd) that a “no homework” policy, prohibiting teachers from assigning
academic work to be completed by students outside of regular school hours, is beneficial to Filipino
students. Education Secretary Leonor Briones recently engaged in a public pitch for the policy,
which is now the subject of a couple of pending bills in Congress. We have a great deal of
respect for Secretary Briones’ knowledge and experience as an educator, and her arguments in
favor of the policy should be given careful consideration. Doing just that, however, leads to the
conclusion that a solution other than what she and supportive legislators are proposing is in
order. The arguments for a “no homework” policy ostensibly take into account the welfare of
students, their families and teachers. Excessive homework — or to state the argument more
accurately, any homework at all — is physically taxing on students, many of them very young,
after they have already spent a full strenuous day in the classroom. Projects that students are
expected to complete at home often pose a burdensome expense on parents, who may not
have a ready budget for the last-minute purchase of needed materials. Assigning homework
also adds to the workload of teachers, who must grade these assignments in addition to their
everyday work of preparing lessons.”
Conclusion
I therefore conclude that we should study the topic more before the bill became a law because
there are advantage and disadvantage about this bill. Because the bill is about a teacher who
give assignment on students. This law will help the students to have more time for their family,
but the question is, will the student will really have time with their family? But sometimes yes,
we student tend to forget our assignments because it is really a family time on weekends and
we also tend to have a stressful Sunday because we are having a family time and we are loaded
by assignments. That’s why we should study more to know what will do.
Reference List
The information about the No homework bill, the people who are against and why are they
against, and about the penalty are from:
PhilStar website - https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/08/28/1947149/no-homework-
policy-bill-filed-senate
The Manile times website - https://www.manilatimes.net/2019/08/31/opinion/editorial/no-
homework-policy-is-no-good/608789/