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Cristina Chi - Philstar.com
May 28, 2025 | 7:13pm
MANILA, Philippines — College could be shortened by one semester under changes being proposed to the new senior high school curriculum, education officials told lawmakers on Wednesday, May 28.
A semester's worth of general education subjects, equivalent to 24 units, could be taken out of the college curriculum by "downloading" or aligning these with five existing core senior high school subjects, while three would be removed, Department of Education (DepEd) Assistant Secretary Janir Datukan said during a House basic education committee hearing.
This is the recommendation that DepEd came up with in consultation with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority for the House panel's inquiry on the revised senior high school curriculum.
Since 2016, educators and students themselves have criticized the disconnect between senior high school and college curricula, with some universities still requiring bridging programs despite the additional two years of high school.
The House committee hearing on Wednesday focused on DepEd's and CHED's planned changes following two main goals set for them by the panel: to reduce the number of years in college and scrap bridging programs that subject senior high school graduates to additional coursework.
It was not immediately clear when these changes would take effect as a select number of schools are already set to implement the revised senior high school curriculum this school year, which will start June.
What are the planned changes?
Five core senior high school subjects would be renamed and aligned with existing college General Education courses, Datukan explained.
"The new proposal is to adapt the GE courses titles in our SHS core subjects," Datukan said. "We're moving toward renaming our core subjects as they are named in the GE subjects."
According to a presentation shown during the hearing, the five core SHS subjects would be renamed to follow CHED's GE subject titles:
- Effective Communication/Mabisang Komunikasyon becomes Purposive Communication
- Life and Career Skills becomes Understanding the Self
- General Mathematics becomes Mathematics in the Modern World
- General Science becomes Science, Technology and Society
- Pag-aaral ng Kasaysayan at Lipunang Pilipino becomes Readings in Philippine History
The DepEd official said the renamed subjects would already reflect the "updated competencies" that have been "worked on between DepEd and CHED."
Besides these, DepEd is recommending the removal of three college GE subjects — art appreciation, contemporary world, and ethics — because they are already covered in the revised senior high school curriculum.
Levi Elipane, member of the Commission on Higher Education's technical panel for secondary education, confirmed that overall, 24 units would be permanently removed from college — 15 units from the five "downloaded" subjects and nine units from the three subjects completely removed.
"Wala nang 15 units, sure na kami diyan. Currently, pinapakita lang namin with finality sa commission na mawawala yung nine," Elipane said. "So mawawala ang 24 units."
(There will no longer be 15 units, we’re sure about that. Right now, we’ll be showing with finality to the commission that the nine will be removed. So 24 units will be removed.)
"So one semester would be removed?" House basic education panel chairperson Rep. Roman Romulo (Pasig City) asked.
The CHED official answered in the affirmative.
"The purpose is to lessen the number of units so we can shorten the years (in college)," the CHED official said. "So we are looking at each of the courses to see what can be merged and ensure there are no redundancies."
The changes also seek to do away with bridging programs — classes that universities require students to take before or alongside regular college subjects — which persist nearly a decade after the introduction of grades 11 and 12.
CHED data from the Visayas region shows 8.2% of higher education institutions require comprehensive bridging programs for all incoming students, regardless of how they performed in the admission test, Elipane said.
A large number of schools also implement select bridging programs for students who fail specific components of entrance exams, particularly in communication skills, mathematics and science.
Some universities have gone further, with some engineering departments or colleges refusing to accept applicants who did not complete the STEM track in senior high school, Romulo said.
Different electives for senior high students
Whether bridging classes can be removed entirely, for House appropriations committee chairperson Rep. Stella Quimbo (Marikina City, 2nd District), will depend on how schools assess applicants.
The problem with the new curriculum, Quimbo said, is that students can choose their own electives instead of being limited to strands.
The lawmaker noted that, unlike the current curriculum, where all STEM students must take the same advanced mathematics classes, the new curriculum allows students to choose different electives.
Hypothetically, a student can choose to avoid all math electives, Quimbo said.
When asked about how this would impact colleges, CHED said it would need to review degree program requirements, especially the technical panels.
"Because when senior high school was introduced, we had a short runway to check the alignment of the requirements of the disciplines in CHED vis-à-vis senior high. Now, we have a better space," the CHED official said. "We can review the requirements of each discipline and what is laid out in the core subjects. So that there will be no repetitions, and there will be no bridging."
