By Merlina Hernando-Malipot  Before banning homework among learners, a federation of teachers on Wednesday urged Congress to focus first on the thorough review and comprehensive assessment of the “problematic” K to 12 curriculum. Alliance of Concerned Teachers (MANILA BULLETIN) For the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines, homework has become an “inevitable part” of teachers’ and students’ work due to the “unrealistic” K to 12 curriculum. “ K to 12 was an experiment that tried to integrate a little bit of everything in a complicated manner, while leaving no ample time for mastery of subjects and development of critical thinking,” said ACT National Chairperson Joselyn Martinez. Furthermore, Martinez added that the “range of topics and competencies set by the K to 12 curriculum are impossible to cover within formal class hours, resulting to added and beyond-school hour work for both teachers and students.” Given this, the group strongly pushes for the review of the entire K to 12 Program to “address the program’s many problems.” ‘Demanding’ and ‘unrealistic’ curriculum For ACT, the K to 12 program is quite “unrealistic” for both teachers and learners. Since it follows an outcome-based education (OBE) framework “where students’ learning is measured by their outputs,” Martinez noted that the K to 12  curriculum makes banning of homework close to impossible. Martinez explained that the K to 12 Program “demands that students produce several and varied forms of outputs for the assigned topic of the day” while “teachers are required to design and facilitate via their daily lesson logs (DLL).” For instance, Martinez explained that the teacher’s DLL should indicate that a certain topic should be covered for a specific period of time. “Such should entail a discussion or input part from the teacher and multiple activities to ensure learners are engaged, like reporting, skits, writing, poster-making, and many others,” she added. Research work, she said, is also done outside of class hours. This, she added, “became heavier on both teachers and students under K to 12 due to the still severely lacking learning materials” despite its years of implementation. Martinez noted that the K to 12 program – in general – has been taking its toll for both learners and teachers. “Students have more than one class and therefore are required to cover several topics and competencies daily,” Martinez noted. “No amount of ‘budgeting of work’ can force students and teachers alike to accomplish more than what is realistically doable in a set period of time, hence the need to take home their school work,” she added. For the part of teachers, Martinez said that they, too, are “pressured” to issue homework to ensure the completion of their DLL since this is a part of their performance evaluation. “It is this context that forces teachers and students alike to render overtime school work,” she added. No Choice Given all these issues raised on the implementation of the K to 12 Program, Martinez maintained that teachers have “no choice” but to give homework to learners. “So hear us when we say that we are not issuing homework to burden our students,” Martinez said. “It is demanded of us by the K12 program, so much that our performance evaluation system ensures its implementation,” she added. Meanwhile, ACT slammed the Department of Education (DepEd) for “discouraging” giving of homework to learners. “It is therefore unfair for DepEd to claim that they are ‘discouraging homework’ through several policies, because the agency’s main curriculum is the culprit behind this added work,” Martinez added. Two solons have filed bills related to banning homework for students in both public and private schools. Sorsogon representative Deputy Speaker Evelina Escudero filed House Bill (HB) No. 3611 which seeks to remove homework as a class requirement and limit school activities to the campus noting that “homework assignments can deprive students and parents precious quality time for rest, relaxation and interaction after school hours and even on weekends.” Likewise, Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas filed a proposal through HB 3883 which focuses on stopping teachers from giving assignments or homework on weekends. In his bill, he noted that “violators” will face a fine of P50,000 and up to two-year jail sentence. ACT strongly denounced Vargas’ proposed bill which will penalize teachers should they give their students homework. This, Martinez said, “only passes on the blame to teachers who are as much a ‘victim’ to the faults of K to 12 as students.” Martinez maintained that the K to 12 curriculum is “impractically-paced and does not serve the needs and aspirations of not only our students but of the nation.” This, she added, is at the “heart of the problem when we talk about quality education.” Given this, ACT urged Congress that “more than the homework issue,” it should do a comprehensive assessment and review of the K to 12 program including its curriculum to see its many “flaws” – which are seen “to cause further decline” in the quality of education in the country.