THE pending bills banning homework could help improve the family life of students, according to an official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
CBCP-Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education (ECCCE) Chairman Bishop Roberto Mallari said he supports the bills since it could help students spend more time with their family at home.
“It creates opportunities for children and their parents to do things together in the name of holiness, such as sharing stories, playing, celebrating occasions and attending church, among others,” Mallari said.
“Schools should design academic and nonacademic program schedules in a way that will not affect family time, and that includes no assignments on weekends so students can balance responsibilities and be more accountable as learners,” he added.
The Bishop of San Jose, Nueva Ecija also said schools should provide holistic learning to their students, focusing not only on academics but also on values formation.
There are two bills at the House of Representatives—House Bill (HB) 3611 of Sorsogon representative Deputy Speaker Evelina Escudero and HB 3883 Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas—which aim to ban teachers from assigning homework to their students.
The Department of Education (DepEd) backed the proposal seeing it as the institutionalization of its existing policy to discourage public school teachers from giving homework.
Some teachers groups opposed the said bills, since they claimed it may weaken the discipline of students when it comes to their academic responsibilities.