CHEd: Revised college curriculum to be implemented earlier

MANILA—The revised general education curriculum (GEC) for college students should be in place by 2016 because some private schools will graduate their first batch of senior high school students by then.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) said the new GEC will be implemented before 2018, when all high school graduates would have already undergone the added two-year senior high school under the K to 12 (Kindergarten to Grade 12) reform.

“In light of the transition models implemented by some private basic education schools where they re-label the grades such that students will graduate as early as 2016, the new GEC shall be implemented earlier than 2018,” CHEd said in a draft memorandum.

CHEd presented the new GEC to officials of higher-education institutions last August and September.

Another public consultation is scheduled on June 6 at the CHEd office in Quezon City before CHEd finalizes the memorandum prescribing the new GE curriculum.

CHEd has cut in half the number of GE subjects to just nine core subjects and three elective subjects, since some of the current GE subjects will already be taken up in senior high school (Grades 11 to 12).

But more importantly, CHEd overhauled the focus of the GEC from being a set of introductory and remedial subjects for college freshmen.

A shorter GE curriculum is also expected to shorten most college courses, which are usually taken in four years.

CHEd expects the technical panels from the various disciplines to finalize their respective new curriculum by October this year.

“The proposed GEC strips away remedial courses, those that duplicate subjects in Grades 11 and 12, and introductory courses to the disciplines,” it said.

The nine core GE subjects are Understanding the Self, the Contemporary World, Purposive Communication, Art Appreciation, Ethics, Readings in Philippine History, Mathematics in the Modern World, Science and Technology,  and Society, and the mandatory subject on the life and works of national hero Jose Rizal.

The students will be allowed to choose three elective subjects.

CHEd said the new GE subjects “extend beyond the orientation of specific disciplines and require higher level reading, research and writing competencies.”

“GE history for instance will not just entail factual knowledge but also critical competencies ranging from detecting bias, appreciating the effect of perspective on the construction and understanding of history, and interpreting facts,” it said.

In revising the GE curriculum, CHEd said there was a need for a “more holistic and less disciplinal program than what exists at present” because the current courses “tend to be taught as introductory or foundation courses of the discipline rather than as general education courses.”

“Moreover the present GEC requires remedial courses such as in math and communication that detract from the liberal education character of the program,” CHEd added.

With the K to 12 reform, high school graduates who will pursue college are expected to have acquired basic competencies and skills and would pass college readiness standards.

CHEd said the GEC “must broaden the student’s horizon for understanding humanity, life and the world today in all their diversity and complexity.”

“The GEC must make room for some flexibility (in contrast to its present fully-prescribed structure) so that students are able to adapt to changing conditions,” it added.

The GE courses need not be taken all in one year and can be scheduled across the years.

Prior to the implementation of the new curriculum, CHEd said the GE faculty should undergo orientation “to orient them toward the philosophy of liberal education away from the disciplinal and remedial thrust of current GE courses (and) enable them to teach the core courses using new material and new material.”