ANN/PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER – A politician in the Philippines wants students to rest and recharge on weekends instead of doing homework, when they already spend some 10 hours in schools on weekdays.
To make that happen, a member of the Philippine House of Representatives for Tutok To Win Party-List Sam Versoza Sam Versoza, proposed a “No Homework Law”, which aims to ban teachers from giving homework to elementary and high school students on weekends.
In 2010, a memorandum circular by the Department of Education advised teachers to assign just reasonable quantity of homework to public elementary school students on weekdays. No homework should be given on weekends, said the circular.
Versoza’s proposed Bill aims to institutionalise this for all elementary and high schools across the country. Since the 17th Congress – from 2016 to 2019 – lawmakers have tried to institute a no-homework policy on weekends.
However, such measures are still pending before the House Basic Education and Culture Committee. In a privilege speech on Monday, Versoza said students work extra hours to accomplish their homework.
“The Filipino youth are overworked and yet the Philippines is trailing behind other countries,” Versoza said in his privilege speech. He cited recent reports that the average intelligence quotient (IQ) of Filipinos was 81.64, while the global average IQ was 100. The Philippines ranked 111th out of 200 countries in terms of average IQ.
“This is alarming and proves that the Philippines is in the middle of an educational crisis. If the system is not working, let us improve the system,” Versoza said.
