Private schools also want

homework ban, says DepEd

chief
Published September 27, 2010 1:51pm
By KIMBERLY JANE TAN, GMANews.TV

Private schools are also supporting a Department of Education (DepEd)

memorandum prohibiting public elementary school teachers from giving
their pupils homework to do over the weekend, Education Secretary Bro.
Armin Luistro said Monday.

"Our memo was meant for public schools but we get so many inquiries
from private schools asking if they were covered by the order, saying
that they are in support of it," Luistro said after the Senate hearing on
the proposed DepEd budget for next year.

Luistro added that some private schools are in fact, already

implementing the so-called homework ban. "Ang alam namin yung iba
ganoon na din [ang] ginagawa (From what we know, that's what some
private schools have been doing)," he said.

Luistro, however, did not identify the private schools supposedly in

favor of the homework ban on weekends.

DepEd Undersecretary for Programs and Projects Yolanda Quijano

earlier explained that Memorandum No. 392 was issued due to various
complaints to the department that school children have been receiving
"too many" assignments.

Luistro said the memorandum will allow pupils and students to spend
more quality time with the family, time they would have previously spent
on doing homework.

"Alam ninyo lahat ng studies nagpapakita na kapag ginawa natin ito..

pagpasok nila ng Lunes, mas attentive sila (Studies show that when you
do this, the pupils are [more] attentive when they come to school on
Monday)," he said.
Senator Edgardo Angara, chairman of Senate education committee, had
earlier backed the DepEd memorandum. (See: Angara backs DepEd's
homework ban)

But Senator Pia Cayetano, chairperson of the Senate on youth, women

and family relations, said that teachers should be "critical" of the
memorandum because without homework to do on weekends, students
might forget their lessons.

She likewise suggested that teachers should still "encourage light and
creative" home assignments on weekends, which could include lessons
on music and the arts.

"This way, the students will get to develop their creative side, even as
they continue to learn and enjoy their weekends and bond with their
parents at the same time," she said.

Still, Cayetano said the classroom teacher is in the "best position" to

decide the most appropriate teaching methods based on their students'
learning capacities.

"The memorandum is recommendatory and only meant as a reminder to

educators of the value of balancing time between study, play, and family
time, especially for grade school pupils," she said.

Meanwhile, Luistro said the DepEd is "very happy" with their budget
allocation of P207 billion. "In fact both in the House and in the Senate
we've gotten a lot of support for the budget for education," he said after
the Senate hearing.

But he said that given the "overall shortages and challenges," they

DepEd ban on
could always ask for more.

weekend homework draws

flak
 ABS-CBN News
Posted at Sep 20 2010 10:27 AM | Updated as of Sep 20 2010 06:27 PM

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MANILA, Philippines - A controversial Department of Education

memorandum ordering all public elementary school teachers to refrain from
giving their students take-home assignments on Fridays is drawing flak from
public school educators.

DepEd Memorandum No. 392, signed by Education Secretary Armin Luistro

last September 16, advises teachers to limit the giving of
homework/assignments "to a reasonable quantity to give their pupils ample
time to rest and relax at home for the rest of the day."

"Therefore, no homework/assignments shall be given during weekends for

pupils to enjoy their childhood, and spend quality time with their parents
without being burdened by the thought of doing lots of homework," the memo
states.

Teachers' Dignity Coalition president Benjo Basas said the memorandum is

unnecessary and actually violates the academic freedom of educators to give
their students the best education possible.

"We know our students' capacity and how long it would take them to finish
their homework. It's not to make their lives harder. Homework can be used to
teach them self-discipline, time management and how to become responsible
students," he said in an ABS-CBN "Umagang kay Ganda" interview.

He said that teachers give more homework on Fridays because students have
more time during the weekends. He noted that homework can actually be
used by parents to spend more quality time with their kids.

"There are 2 purposes for giving homework. One is to review the past lessons
and two is to prepare for the next lesson. It would be a waste if elementary
students spend their entire weekend on play and not spend even one hour on
study before Monday," he said.

Yolanda Quijano, director of the DepEd Bureau of Elementary Education, said

the department passed the order after receiving complaints from some
parents that teachers were giving their kids too much homework.

She said the memorandum is part of the DepEd's initiative to create a child-
friendly school system that also encourages play and leisure time for kids
especially during weekends.

"All we want is that the kids should also enjoy their time during the weekends
with their parents without the problem of having too much homework. We are
not limiting their time to study. It should actually be a habit. They should study
even without any homework," she said.

Quijano said the DepEd wants to test the new system for the next 6 months to
see how it will affect the performance of elementary school students.

Basas said the department should qualify the ban on homework on weekends
because it could have the opposite effect of giving kids a good education.

"It should be qualified. If [homework] is too long and kids have to work all night
to finish it, then parents have every reason to complain," he said.