Sen. Grace Poe, chair of the Senate public services committee, presides over the hearing on Metro Manila traffic issues on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2019. (Photo from an INQUIRER.net video)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Grace Poe has filed a bill that would prohibit teachers from giving pre-school to senior high school students homework on weekends.
Poe said Senate Bill No. 966 “aims to safeguard and protect the welfare of teachers and students.”
The bill, dated Aug. 27, 2019, “would 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.”
If enacted into law, teachers from all primary and secondary schools across the country would not be allowed to give any homework to students from Kinder to Grade 12 on weekends.
“Assigning homework or assignments to students will only be allowed on weekdays; provided, that such homework shall be minimal and will not require more than four hours to be completed,” Poe’s bill read.
The senator cited data 2009 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (OECD PISA) which showed that “after around four hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a negligible impact student’s performance.”
Poe further noted that “more homework does not translate to better student.”
She said more assignments would also give additional stress to students, teachers as well as 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,” Poe added.
Similar bills have also been filed at the House of Representatives.
/atm