Teachers, groups ask CHED to junk proposed GE curriculum overhaul

MANILA, Philippines – Teachers, students, and advocacy groups filed petitions with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on Tuesday, May 12, seeking the scrapping of a proposal that would significantly trim general education (GE) units in the tertiary curriculum.

Aside from submitting separate position papers, they filed a consolidated petition that listed 13 demands and gathered around 2,000 signatures, according to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) Philippines. 

Carl Marc Ramota, vice chairperson of ACT Philippines, said the petition is primarily asking CHED to stop the implementation of the proposed reframed GE curriculum and conduct a “wide, democratic, participatory consultation” with various education stakeholders.

“‘Wag madaliin, pakinggan pa ‘yong marami pang petisyon,” Ramota said. “Umaasa tayo na sa pamamagitan nitong collective filing at ensuing dialogue with the CHED leadership na magkakaroon ng maayos na resolusyon.”

(Don’t rush the process and take into account more petitions. We’re expecting that through this collective filing and ensuing dialogue with the CHED leadership, there’ll be a proper resolution.)

For them, the main issues with CHED’s proposed GE overhaul are the seeming market-driven direction of higher education in the country and what would be the resulting displacement of teachers.

After the petition filing, 19 representatives, including members of some faculty unions, discussed their demands with CHED Chairperson Shirley Agrupis and other commission officials in a consultative meeting.

The meeting also came as ACT Teachers Representative Antonio Tinio filed a House resolution seeking a congressional investigation into CHED’s proposal.

“We are assuring you…we listen and we collect data and validate,” Agrupis said during the meeting.

She said that at least 8,000 teachers may be affected by the proposed revised GE curriculum, based on reports submitted by over 200 higher education institutions (HEIs) to CHED.

Agrupis said receiving more petitions and position papers in the coming days is “crucial” to finalizing the curriculum.

So what happens next?

Asked whether CHED would suspend the pilot testing scheduled for school year 2026-2027 pending a “refined” version of the proposal, Agrupis said, “I cannot give you a categorical answer right now.”

“We will make sure that whatever the final decision of CHED, all your inputs will be considered,” she added. 

The petition filing came a week after CHED conducted a public hearing last May 5 to present its proposal to reduce GE units to 18 from 36.

The 36-unit GE curriculum, which was set in CHED Memorandum Order No. 20 in 2013, was implemented starting 2018. – Rappler.com