No need to legislate ‘no homework’ policy – teachers' group

A teachers' coalition on Sunday pointed out that there was no need to legislate a prohibition against giving students take-home assignments.

In a Dobol B sa News TV interview, Teachers Dignity Coalition National Chairperson Benjo Basas argued that lawmakers, instead of focusing on homework, needed to spend their time resolving more pressing education problems.

"Hindi namin nakikita na yung pagsasagawa ng ganitong batas ay makakaresolba ng mga problema at maaari pa nga itong magdulot pa ng ibang problema natin sa edukasyon," said Basas.

"Leave this particular matter to the Department of Education at hindi na dapat ito dalhin pa sa Kongreso at i-legislate na napakaraming mas importanteng bagay sa sektor ng edukasyon na dapat pagtuunan ng ating mga mambabatas."

At least three "no homework" bills were filed at the House of Representatives.

House Bill 3611, filed by Deputy Speaker and Sorsogon Representative Evelina Escudero, seeks to lighten the physical burden of kindergarten to Grade 12 students by prohibiting take-home assignments, as students would then no longer have to carry heavy bags to-and-from school.

Similarly, House Bill 3611 proposes that all kindergarten and Grade 6 students would deposit and leave their textbooks in school. Leaving textbooks in school would "prevent the adverse effects" of carrying heavy bags to-and-from schools.

Meanwhile, House Bill 3883 filed by Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas, prohibited giving homework to elementary and high school students during weekends.

Discipline, time management, responsibility

However, Basas countered that homework was integral in teaching school children the value of discipline, time management, and responsibility.

"You can just imagine kung ikaw ay nagtuturo ng literature, kasi ang sinasabi ni Ma'am [Leonor] Briones noong nakaraang araw, lahat ng bagay na may kinalaman sa pag-aaral ay sa school gagawin. Hindi yun pwede," he reasoned.

"Importante ang disiplina, mukhang yan ang kinakalimutan natin, at ang pagiging responsable."

Basas added that these bills did not guarantee that students would use their free time to bond with their families.

"Kapag ang bata ay walang ginagawa, kapag walang assignment, ano yung katiyakan sa panukala na ay magiging mabuti ang kanyang oras sa kanyang pamilya o makakapaglaro siya? Hindi natin nakikita," he said.

"Huwag na tayong mag-aksaya ng panahon, ng oras ng mga kongresista para sa isang bagay na pwedeng-pwede namang ayusin na pwedeng gawin ng Departamento ng Edukasyon."

Vargas generally agreed with Basas, as he himself was not completely opposed to homework.

"Ang hiningi lang natin, weekends lang, Fridays lang, sana maibigay na ito para sa ibang bagay," he said.

Vargas also agreed that there was no guarantee that schoolchildren would spend their time productively if they didn't have any homework.

"Same reason na hindi tayo makakasiguro kung anong iniisip ng bata during classes. Lumilipad ba utak nila? Nagdo-DOTA ba sila habang nagka-klase? There are no guarantees," he said.

"There is no perfect policy. Pero at least we can try because we can base this on actual empirical research. Lalo na rin napatunayan ito sa Pilipinas. Napatunayan na rin sa ibang bansa na very, very successful," the representative added. — Erwin Colcol/DVM, GMA News