MANILA, Philippines—The revised general education curriculum (GEC) for college students should be in place by 2016 because some private schools will be graduating their first batch of senior high-school students by then, according to the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).
The CHEd said the new GEC will be implemented ahead of 2018, when all high-school graduates would have already undergone the additional two-year senior high school under the K to 12 (kindergarten to Grade 12) reforms.
However, some private schools have been implementing transition models in which they relabel the grade levels so that their students will graduate as early as 2016, which is why the new GEC will have to be implemented earlier than 2018, the CHEd explained in a memorandum.
The CHEd presented the new GEC to officials of higher education institutions last August and September.
Another public consultation is scheduled for June 6 before the CHEd finalizes the memorandum prescribing the new GE curriculum.
CHEd has cut by 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, it 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 usually take four years.
CHEd expects the technical panels from the various disciplines to finalize their respective new curricula by October.
“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 the national hero Jose Rizal.
Students are allowed to choose three elective subjects.
The 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 explained.
In revising the GE curriculum, the CHEd said there was a need for a “more holistic and less disciplinal program than what exists at present.”
At present, GE “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 go on to pursue college education are expected to have acquired basic competencies and skills and would pass college readiness standards.
The GEC “must broaden the student’s horizon for understanding humanity, life and the world today in all their diversity and complexity,” the CHEd said.
“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.