Concerns were raised about the proposal to remove most General Education (GE) subjects, including ethics, from the college curriculum.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has proposed a major overhaul of the college GE curriculum, reducing it from 38 units to 18 units, with implementation targeted for academic year 2027–2028.
The proposal also removes ethics as a standalone GE subject, instead integrating ethical concepts across multiple courses.
It will likewise apply to other subjects such as philosophy, literature and history, which will be folded into broader skills-based courses.
Under the proposal, standalone courses in philosophy, ethics, literature, art appreciation and Philippine history, subjects currently included in the curriculum, will no longer appear as required subjects.
This marks the first major overhaul of the college GE curriculum since 2013, when CHED last restructured it following the introduction of senior high school under the K to 12 program.
RELATED: Faculty groups reject CHED’s proposed GE overhaul, warn of staff displacement
The proposal sparked concerns that college students may become “less humane,” as subjects like ethics and philosophy would no longer be taught as standalone courses.
“Kakatanggal niyo ng GE and Humanities subjects sa mga eskwelahan, nawawalan mga estudyante ng kakayahang mag-isip at magpakatao,” an online user wrote in response to the reports.
“It ain’t higher education if you lower the standards of foundation,” another commented.
“Baliw ba ang mga nasa CHED? Dapat inviolable ang mga GE courses na ‘yan. Mas lalong mawawalang ng sense of direction, decorum, or rigidity ang mga bata. Gusto ninyo maging mangmang ba ang mga bata?” a different Facebook user wrote.
“Gusto lang nila ng mga kabataan na magtatrabaho lang na walang isip at puso,” another Pinoy said.
“Reducing units is efficient, pero risk ang pagkawala ng focus sa ethics. Corruption is everywhere nowadays, much more kung aalisin pa ito,” a different Facebook user wrote.
A Facebook user who described themselves as an ethics professor also gave a scenario to illustrate how important the subject is in decision-making.
“You’re a doctor, then, one time, natapat ka sa isang pasyente na sikat sa pagiging serial killer. If gagamutin mo siya, maliligtas mo ang buhay niya. Kaya lang, may problema, kapag naman nabuhay siya, papatay siya ng 50 innocent children. What would you do sa situation na ito?” the Facebook user posted.
“Ang tama o mali ba ay nakadepende sa situation or sa kalalabasan ng action? O baka naman may iba pang batayan ang morality. This is how important Ethics is in our curriculum. So, please don’t remove it,” the Facebook user added.
Some institutions also issued statements regarding CHED’s proposal.
The University of Santo Tomas’ Creative Writing Department said that the removal of such GE subjects could translate to the possible removal of humanities.
“Hindi lamang mga kurso ang tinatanggal kundi mga tinig at alaala, maging ang pag-unawa sa sarili, sa lipunan, at sa kapwa. Ang humanidades ang pundasyon ng edukasyong dulot ng unibersidad, nagpapaalala sa ating pag-iral bilang tao at hindi turnilyo ng makina ng kapital, nagpapaunawa sa mundo at sa kapwa,” it said in a statement.
“Sa mga asignaturang tulad ng Pagpapahalaga sa Sining, Etika, Pag-unawa sa Sarili at sa Kasaysayan, natututuhan nating hindi lamang magbilang o magtantiya o magkamal ng pera, kundi makiramdam,” the department added.
It also stressed the importance of the humanities, especially in today’s landscape shaped by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
“Sa panahon ng AI, ang pure technical training ay simbilis ng paglipas ng teknolohiya. Ang pagiging malikhain at makatao ay panghabambuhay. Kung ang edukasyon ay ihahain lamang bilang paghahanda sa merkado, ano ang silbi ng talino kung hindi marunong umunawa? Ano ang halaga ng husay kung hindi marunong magtanong kung para kanino?” the department said.
The Ateneo de Manila University also said that CHED’s plans to reduce the GE subjects “moves the lever away from holistic human development.”
“Are we really educating people or are we just training them for the world of work whose landscape is quite unstable [or] volatile?” it said in a statement.
“What kinds of citizens are we producing?” the Ateneo added.
“What sustains people in the workplace is the formation of their own persons — education that a strong foundation in the liberal arts has been proven to offer. There are long-term benefits for this,” the university said.
“And yet, the ‘Reframed GE’ seems to lack this essential background thinking as shown in the mandated course offerings, which, among others, need teachers who are practitioners in their fields of technology-driven work and don’t have to be university-based, by implication,” it added.
CHED said the reframing was to avoid subjecting students to the same classes they had already taken in senior high school.
Moreover, it is the commission’s way of modernizing and streamlining general education.
Edizon Fermin, chair of CHED’s Technical Panel for General Education, said the commission is shifting focus from “stand-alone subjects” toward broader learning outcomes and interdisciplinary instruction.
“We’re not operating in this context on stand-alone subjects because we’re working on outcomes,” he was quoted as saying.
Jonathan Macayan, co-chair of the CHED Technical Panel for General Education, also said that outcomes-based education does not sideline content.
He added that content experts from relevant disciplines would be brought in to shape each course before the curriculum is finalized.
CHED said that consultations with stakeholders are ongoing and that the draft curriculum remains under review.
— with reports from Philstar.com/Cristina Chi
