Concerned UP profs, students move to save General Education

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MEDIA ADVISORY
January 18, 2016

WHAT: Press Conference on General Education to coincide with the opening of classes at UP Diliman

WHERE: Palma Hall lobby, UP Diliman, Quezon City

WHEN: January 19 (Tuesday), 11:30 a.m.

PHOTO OPS:

  • An Oblation statue with a heart to symbolize the need to develop the hearts and minds of the iskolar ng bayan.
  • Three students in business attire with the backdrop of Uncle Sam behind them to symbolize the “internationalization” of higher education.
  • Placards denouncing commercialization of education.

Media coverage is requested.

Concerned UP profs, students move to save General Education

Where is the love in January?

As classes open this week at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman, concerned faculty members and students wear “hearts on their chest” to stress the need to retain the hearts and minds of the students in making changes to the university’s general education (GE) program.

They are scheduled to launch on January 19 (Tuesday) the UP Sagip GE movement to oppose the proposal that the minimum number of units in the GE curriculum shall be 21. At present, there are 45 units of GE subjects in the undergraduate degree programs of the UP Diliman.

According to the UP Diliman General Catalogue 2014, GE subjects aim to “give students knowledge and competencies that will better prepare them for the basic understanding of various ways of knowing.” Adopted in 1958, the GE program underwent what was described as a major revamp in 2001 with the introduction of the Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP) which was “premised on freedom of choice and no prerequisites.” Another revision called “hybrid” RGEP was done in 2012 “such that certain courses were prescribed under each domain” of arts and humanities; social sciences and philosophy; and math, science and technology.

At present, there are proposals from the administration to reduce the number of GE units from the current 45 units to a minimum of 21. This means that colleges now have the option to include only 7 GE subjects (from the current 15 subjects) in their undergraduate degree programs.

In a statement, the UP Sagip GE movement stressed that there is no scientific basis for reducing the current requirement of 45 units of GE subjects. “It is not true that this is related to the implementation of the K to 12 program at the elementary and high school levels nationwide. Other countries also have a 12-year basic education program and, even then, the five highest ranking universities in Asia have 36 to 54 units of GE subjects – The National University of Singapore (NUS) has 36; The University of Hong Kong, 54; Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), 36, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, 36; and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 36.”

UP Sagip GE also debunked arguments that the reduction of GE subjects had to do with the need to add major subjects in natural sciences and engineering. “If there was benchmarking done on the content of the courses in natural sciences and engineering at universities like NUS and KAIST, then there should also be benchmarking on their GE programs.” UP Sagip GE said that the GE and major subjects are integral to each other which explains why these universities deny that they are just technical colleges, adding that they give high importance to the GE subjects that help increase the students’ skills and knowledge.

When the UP Diliman University Council – composed of assistant, associate and full professors – meets on January 25 to discuss the proposed changes to the GE program, UP Sagip GE is calling on the faculty to vote no to reducing the GE subjects to a minimum of 21 units. As an alliance, the movement offers as an alternative a minimum of 36 units instead.

UP Sagip GE is composed of UP faculty from various colleges who believe that the university’s GE program should be holistic, critical, nationalist and service-oriented.

For verification and more information, please call Associate Professor Danilo A. Arao (0908-866-2726).

One thought on “Concerned UP profs, students move to save General Education”

  1. Today’s education is very stressful. GE is very nice program for grooming students mind and removing the stress.

    Reply: Thank you for your comment. Much appreciated!

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