EDITORIAL – Reframing the GE curriculum

Under fire from education stakeholders, the Commission on Higher Education announced yesterday the deferment of its planned pilot this school year of the reframed general education curriculum.

CHED set off a firestorm with its planned rollout of the reframed GE curriculum, which critics saw as overly focused on producing college graduates who will meet the manpower needs of various industries.

With many educational institutions as well as teachers’ and student groups up in arms, CHED officials initially clarified that the plan was not yet final. This was amended later to the deferment of the implementation to 2028.

Under the reframed curriculum, mandatory GE units will be cut from 36 to just 18 units, although autonomous universities may retain up to 36 GE units.

Proposed to be scrapped are mostly standalone humanities courses in philosophy, literature, art appreciation and general Philippine history.

These will be replaced with five mandatory core subjects: Professional Communication; Global Trends and Emerging Technologies; Data, Evidence, and Ethics in a Knowledge Society; Rizal and Philippine Studies, and Labor Education.

Business groups have long cited the difficulty of finding enough skilled workers for various industries, including the business process outsourcing sector.

Part of the reason for this lack is the continuing exodus of skilled workers for jobs overseas. Another reason is what labor industry players have cited as a mismatch between the graduates churned out by higher education institutions and the skills required by various industries.

While the reframed GE curriculum apparently aims to address this education and jobs mismatch, opponents have lamented the undue emphasis on market-driven skills and “flexible labor” training at the expense of the critical and ethical thinking derived from the humanities.

Both concerns can be addressed through a reworking of the plan. CHED will also have to address a valid point raised by the critics – that there may not be enough educators at this time with the training required to implement the envisioned reframed GE curriculum.

The deferment should allow for full consultation with the concerned sectors to produce meaningful reforms.