MANILA -- The head of the Department of Education said Tuesday that she supports proposed laws prohibiting homework for students.
DepEd Secretary Leonor Briones said students lose time for rest and bonding with family and friends due to homework, which is sometimes completed by tutors or carers.
"Ang gusto natin, lahat ng pormal na pag-aaral, assignment, project, whatever, gagawin sa loob ng eskuwelahan. Pag-uwi nila, libre na sila, free time nila to be with their parents, friends," she told radio DZMM.
"Pagdating ko, ginawa na namin itong policy... Pero meron pa ring mga schools na nasanay talaga sa pagbibigay ng homework," she added.
(We want all formal study, assignments, projects, whatever, to be done inside the school. When the students get home, they will have free time to be with their parents, friends. When I arrived at the DepEd, we made that a policy. But some schools have been used to giving homework.)
Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas on Monday filed a bill seeking to prohibit homework during weekends. House Deputy Speaker Evelina Escudero, meanwhile, sought a no-homework policy for kinder to grade 12 students.
Teacher's Dignity Coalition rejected the proposed ban on homework, saying it "is not intended to make life difficult for our students."
"Our teachers are trained educators, we know the value of homework. It's about discipline, responsibility and continuity of learning," the group's chairperson, Benjo Basas, said in a statement.
Briones said she was also studying proposals to adjust the academic calendar to cover summer and prevent class cancellations during the rainy months.
Many classrooms, she noted, lack air-conditioning units to ease the sweltering summer heat. Students might also be exposed to hot weather diseases like sore eyes, and miss village fiestas usually celebrated during summer.