EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session
)
S E N A T E  
s. No. 9 1 )6
»cuate
'© n irr of lljt ^ n rttn rp
’19 
AUG 27 P4 55
Introduced by Senator Grace Poe
RECl '.D&i;
AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A 
NO-HOMEWORK POLICY FOR ALL PRIMARY AND 
SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN  THE COUNTRY
Explanatory Note
According to Francesca Borgonovi, one of the authors of the study titled, 
"Does Homework Perpetuate the Inequities in Education?', there is an advantage for 
putting extra hours in homework. She noted that when you look within countries at 
students who are learning in the same educational system and do more homework, 
those students do much better in school.1 However, data shows that there are 
diminishing marginal returns to homework after several hours of it.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Program for 
International Student Assessment (OECD PISA) found in 2009 that after around four 
hours of homework per week, the additional time invested in homework has a 
negligible impact on students' performance.2 Further, it looked at homework hours 
around the world and found that there wasn't much of a connection between how 
much homework students of a particular country do and how well their students 
score on tests.3 The best example of this is Finland. Finnish students do only about 
three (3) hours of homework per week yet in 2012 they scored sixth highest in the 
world in reading and 12th highest in Math on the OECD' international test, PISA.4
https://www.usnews.eom/news/articles/2015/01/05/study-homework-matters-more-in-certain-
countries
2 OECD (2014), "Does Homework Perpetuate Inequities in Education?", PISA in Focus, No. 46, OECD 
Publishing, Paris, httDs://doi.ora/10.17R7/5ixrhahtx2xt-en
3 https://www.usnews.eom/news/articles/2015/01/05/study-homework-matters-more-in-certain- 
countries
https://www.usnews.eom/news/articles/2015/01/05/study-homework-matters-more-in-certain-
countries
1


Finland is also known to rank high in the international rankings for education 
systems.
Not only that more homework does not translate to better student 
performance, it also gives additional stress to students, teachers and 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.
Later on, OECD also found out that whatever benefit homework has is 
relevant only for measuring student achievement within each country, and that it 
tends to reinforce the achievement gap between the rich and the poor.5 Specifically, 
in all 38 countries included in the OECD study, they discovered that homework hours 
vary by socio-economic status. According to the study, it is not just poor kids are 
more likely to skip their homework or do not have a quiet place at home to complete 
it, schools serving the poor kids also do not assign as much homework as the 
schools for the rich. Often, poor students also have limited access to resources 
necessary to complete their homework.
Hence, this bill aims to limit the homework given to students from Kinder to 
Grade 12 during weekdays and prohibit the same on weekends to safeguard and 
promote the welfare of teachers and school children, 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.
This bill, when enacted into law, will institutionalize and expand the 
Department of Education (DepEd) Memorandum Circular No. 392, s. 2010 which 
advised teachers to limit the giving of homework to public elementary school pupils 
on weekdays and to refrain from giving homework on weekends.
In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of this measure is earnestly 
sought.
/  ^R A C E  POE
5 https://www.usnews.eom/news/articles/2015/01/05/study-homework-matters-more-in-certain-
countries


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE 
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session
)
S E N A T E  
S. No. 9 G G
tlif & rtr'tn rp
•19 AUG 27 P4 55
Introduced by Senator Grace Poe 
Rtcti -
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AN ACT
ESTABLISHING A 
NO-HOMEWORK POLICY FOR ALL 
PRIMARY AND 
SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN  THE COUNTRY
Be it enacted by the Senate and House o f Representatives o f the Philippines in 
Congress assembled:
SECTION 1. Short Title. -  This Act shall be known as the "No Homework
Law".
Sec. 2. Declaration o f Policy. -  It is hereby declared the policy of the State to 
safeguard and promote the welfare of teachers and school children, 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.
Sec. 3. Scope. -  This Act shall apply to both public and private primary and 
secondary schools.
Sec. 4. No Homework on Weekends. -  All primary and secondary schools in 
the country shall not allow teachers to give any homework or assignments to 
students from Kinder to Grade 12 on weekends. Assigning homework to students will 
only be allowed on weekdays; Provided, that such homework shall be minimal and 
will not require more than four (4) hours to be completed.
Sec. 5. Implementing Rules and Regulations. -  Within ninety (90) days from 
the date of effectivity of this Act, the Department of Education (DepEd) shall 
formulate the rules and regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this 
Act.


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Sec. 6. Separability Cause. -  If any portion or provision of this Act is declared 
unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act or any provisions not affected thereby 
shall remain in force and effect.
Sec. 7. Repeaiing Cause. -  Any law, presidential decree or issuance, 
executive order, letter of instruction, rule or regulation inconsistent with the 
provisions of this Act is hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Sec. 8. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following its 
complete publication in a newspaper of general circulation.
Approved,