CHED mulls two-year pre-university education

CEBU, Philippines - In order to improve the quality of college education in the country, the Commission on Higher Education is up to some strategic plans that seek to transform the education system to conform to the global standards.

CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles told the heads of colleges and universities in Central Visayas the direction that the agency wants to take in the next six years.

Among them is the plan to adopt the 15-year educational system or the Bologna process which is now being implemented in 46 European countries and Malaysia and Thailand in Asia. The process would require students to take a two-year general education curriculum or a pre-university before taking major courses in college.

After completing the two-year preparatory period, an aptitude test similar to that of the Cambridge scholastic aptitude test will be conducted to determine the readiness of the student for admission to the university or colleges.

CHED is proposing this after observing a lot of students entering college and were accepted by schools only for their money even if they are not yet ready.

Those who will not qualify will have to shift to polytechnic courses which is competency or skill-based for industry work.

CHED is also proposing for a five-year curriculum in nursing and teacher education because at present, only 20 programs with five to eight years duration are compliant with the Bologna process.

These are the Engineering courses, Architecture, Accountancy, Physical or Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Dental Medicine, Optometry, Veterinary Medicine, Law and Medicine.

Other courses apart from nursing and education will also be changed gradually to cope with the international demand.

Within the next six years CHED is also targeting to train 20,000 faculty members to earn Masters and Ph. D.

Angeles said the commission will allocate P2 billion for the scholarships of 10,000 teachers while the rest will be supported by their universities and colleges.

He said that later on, CHED will no longer allow faculty members in college without a masters’ degree.

Higher education faculty members effective this year must undergo 36 hours of Continuing Professional Education (CPE) training prior to renewal of Professional Regulation Commission license which must be renewed every 3 years.

CHED will also work hard to provide scholarships to 520,000 poor, bright and deserving students per year. CHED has provided scholarships to 636,581 college students with a total cost of P6.5B.

Angeles said that quality education is not attainable only by changing the curriculum but improving the facilities of at least 50 percent higher education institutions through foreign loans.    (FREEMAN NEWS)