In a bold move that’s sparking both curiosity and concern, the Department of Education (DepEd) has proposed a significant shift in the Philippine college curriculum. The suggestion? Transfer three general education subjects—Art Appreciation, Contemporary World, and Ethics—from college back to senior high school. While this may sound like a streamlining strategy, it raises crucial questions about academic depth, curriculum integrity, and the overall readiness of students for higher education.
📘 Rewriting the Academic Map: Why DepEd Wants These Subjects Back in SHS 🏫
The DepEd’s proposal is rooted in curriculum efficiency. According to Assistant Secretary Janir Datukan, these college-level general education subjects are already deeply embedded in the Grades 7 to 12 curriculum, particularly within subjects like Araling Panlipunan, GMRC (Good Manners and Right Conduct), and Values Education. This overlap, he says, leads to redundancy, unnecessarily stretching out the college learning path.
From a practical standpoint, removing these three subjects—each typically worth 3 units—could lighten a student’s college load by up to one semester, translating to 24 fewer units overall. This adjustment aligns with efforts to make college education more targeted and cost-efficient, especially for students from economically vulnerable backgrounds.
📚 But What’s at Stake? The Other Side of the Classroom Door 🚪
While the DepEd's goal may be efficiency, not everyone sees it as academic progress. Critics, including Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, a former professor from the University of the Philippines Diliman, fear that this move might weaken college-level education, especially for students in specialized tracks like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics).
Without these key foundational subjects, students might enter college lacking critical exposure to core humanistic, cultural, and ethical perspectives. Ethics, for example, is more than just a high school concept—it evolves with maturity and is essential in preparing students for professional and societal responsibilities. Similarly, Art Appreciation and Contemporary World encourage the kind of interdisciplinary thinking that benefits both liberal arts majors and future scientists.
🧭 The Revised SHS Curriculum: A New Direction or a Detour? ➡️
Set to roll out in School Year 2025–2026, the new SHS curriculum offers students greater freedom through elective clusters: Academic for those aiming for college and TechPro for immediate employment. While flexibility is a welcome feature, it also opens up the risk of students bypassing critical subjects—such as Trigonometry in STEM—which could lead to serious learning gaps by the time they reach college.
Quimbo highlighted this loophole, stressing that not all schools have guidance counselors, and even when available, these advisors can only suggest, not enforce, course selections. This could result in students sidestepping essential prerequisites, ultimately undermining the very purpose of pre-college education.
🛠️ A Call for Balance: Streamlining Without Sacrificing Substance ⚖️
This debate underscores a larger issue: how to modernize education without compromising on its holistic value. Removing general education subjects from college may save time, but it could also strip students of the chance to explore diverse fields that nurture critical thinking, empathy, and global awareness.
Rather than complete removal, a middle-ground approach might be more beneficial—integrating these subjects in both SHS and college but with differentiated depth and perspective. High school can provide an introduction, while college can offer more analytical and applied versions of these disciplines.
