c 2012 Ateneo de Naga University

ISSN 1655-7247

Gib
on vol. IX (2011) pp. 8196
General Article

Position Paper on the General Education

Curriculum: Concerns and Proposed Remedies
Rebecca C. Torres
Academic Vice-President
Ateneo de Naga University

Lydia T. Goingo
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Ateneo de Naga University
Abstract
In 1996, the Commission on Higher Education created a General
Education Curriculum. In 1997, it renamed this as GEC-A and created an alternative curriculum it called GEC-B. Since then, there
have been concerns in implementing these two sets of GEC requirements: the effects on the teaching loads of departments servicing
general education courses, the variations in the GEC-B implementations of technical panels for various programs, the non-delivery
of expected outcomes, and the poor computational and English
language skills of high school graduates. We present some recommendations to address these issues.

The higher academic programs in the country have two main

components, namely, the General Education Curriculum and the
Professional Education Curriculum or Specialized Education Curriculum. Being the agency statutorily created to advance the promotion of quality education, the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) issued CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) no. 59, s. 1996
or the New General Education Curriculum (GEC) (CHED, 1996)
(henceforth called CMO 59). Such issuance set the minimum re

A position paper drafted by the authors in response to a request of the Bikol

Foundation for Higher Education board members

82

General Education Curriculum

quirements for the mandatory General Education Curriculum for

undergraduate degrees to 63 units.
In 1997, CHED Memorandum no. 4, s. 1997 entitled Guidelines for Implementation of CHED Memorandum Order No. 59,
s. 1996 New General Education Curriculum (GEC) (CHED, 1997)
(henceforth called CM 4) revised CMO 59 by clarifying that the previous set of minimum requirements of 63 units stipulated in CMO
59 is to be known as GEC-A, and is meant for tertiary courses of
study in the Humanities, Social Sciences and Communication (HUSOCOM). The same issuance provides that [s]tudents majoring in
fields other than the Humanities, Social Sciences and Communication need not follow GEC-A but instead may follow another set of
minimum requirements known as GEC-B (CHED, 1997, Guideline
5). GEC-B as an alternative curriculum reduced the minimum requirements from 63 units to 51 units.
The distribution of the 12-unit reduction is as follows:

three units in Filipino Language;

three units in Literature;
three units in Humanities;
discarding of a three-unit Philippine History course.

While GEC-A has two subjects listed under Mandated Subjects Cluster, namely Rizals Life and Works and Philippine History,
in GEC-B, Philippine History was removed.
Both GEC-A and GEC-B have 15 units and 12 units for the
Mathematics and Natural Sciences Cluster and the Social Sciences
Cluster, respectively, and both sets of GEC require nine units of the
English Language (CHED, 1997).
This school year will be the twelfth year of implementation of
the CMO on the General Education Curriculum. Since its implementation, there have been concerns and issues in the course of the
implementation of these two sets of GEC requirements that beg for
attention and remediation. These are:

CM no. 4, s. 1997 is not to be confused with CMO no. 4, s. 1997 (Organization

of Philatelic Organizations in Higher Education Institutions).

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

83

I. The practical implications of the implementation of the two sets of

minimum requirements on General Education servicing departments,
particularly those under the College of Arts and Sciences
A basic reading of CM 4 which mandated GEC-B reveals a
lack of justification why [s]tudents majoring in fields other than
the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Communication need not follow
GEC-A but instead may follow another set of minimum requirements
known as GEC-B(CHED, 1997).
Based on the aim of general education, as stated in CMO 59,
the new GEC [...] would help the students see the human being as
an integral person living in both a national and a global community
(CHED, 1996). Such a statement implies that with the lesser units in
GEC-B, students taking non-HUSOCOM academic programs do not
need as much integral formation as that needed by students taking
HUSOCOM courses.
If the general education component of a course program refers
to a program of non-specialized and non-vocational learning, essential for all members of a free society, then we argue that all students,
irrespective of the chosen program, should have the same minimum
requirements for general education. The Association of American
Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) has defined general education
as the part of a liberal education curriculum shared by all students. It provides broad exposure to multiple disciplines and forms
the basis for developing important intellectual and civic capacities.
General education may also be called the core curriculum or liberal studies. (AAC&U, n.d.)
The National University of Singapore (NUS), considered as the
top university in the Southeast Asian region, asserts that underlying the General Education program at NUS is the concept of an
educated person. It believes that [r]egardless of the choice of the
major, there is a broad range of knowledge, abilities, predispositions
and attitudes that we expect of a university graduate, collectively
serving as the hallmark of higher education (National University of
Singapore, 2001).
The 12-unit difference between GEC-A and GEC-B has created
negative practical implications on the departments under the College
of Arts and Sciences as servicing departments. With the reduction of
units and required subjects for non-HUSOCOM courses, the loading
assignment of teachers has since been grossly affected. This phe-

84

General Education Curriculum

nomenon can be best illustrated at a rather greater magnitude with

the reduction of general education courses in Business programs
programs with the highest number of enrollees in the country.
CM 4 gave HEIs the freedom to choose what set of GEC to
use for courses of study outside of HUSOCOM, to wit: The choice
of whether to use GEC-A or GEC-B for any course of study other
than the Humanities, Social Sciences and Communication is left to
the discretion of the HEI (CHED, 1997, Guideline 7).
During the early years of implementation of CM 4, HEIs that
believe that Philippine History and some Humanities subjects are
important for the civic and moral formation of their students continued to include in their curricula these subjects, notwithstanding their
elimination as general education courses under the GEC-B. However,
the Technical Panels (TPs) for various non-HUSOCOM disciplines
continued to add professional courses as academic programs were revised in later years. Consequently, there was practically no room
for an inclusion of subjects beyond the minimum requirement of the
GEC-B. The semestral load of students also became heavier. On the
same account, the HEIs also had difficulty conceptualizing a highly
effective way of maintaining the formation subjects needed by the
students without the additional costs.
II. The implementation of GEC-B by the Technical Panels for various
non-HUSOCOM programs
The various TPs created by CHED have been mandated to
periodically review and revise policies, standards, and guidelines for
the various disciplines and course programs. These revisions are the
subject of CMOs periodically issued for implementation by HEIs.
There have been variations in how the GEC-B has been implemented by the various TPs. Table 1 lists 15 CMOs on various
non-HUSOCOM disciplines after the issuance of CM 4. Table 2 reflects how the TPs have implemented the GEC-B. (The Appendix
contains comments on Table 2.)
Despite the variations in the implementation of the GEC-B,
there seems to be a general observance and appropriation of the
minimum requirements of the GEC-B and even an inclination to go
beyond the minimum requirements, in effect, an attempt to approximate, if possible, the GEC-A requirements. Such an attempt can be
shown by efforts to retain Philippine History and other Humanities

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

85

Table 1
CMOs from 20012009 on Various Non-HUSOCOM Degree Programs
CMO no.
59, s. 1996
(GEC-A)
CM no. 4,
s. 1997
(GEC-B)
25, s. 2001
(ITE 1)
53, s. 2006
(ITE 2)
26, s. 2001
(BSA 1)
3, s. 2007
(BSA 2)
30, s. 2001
(BSN 1)
14, s. 2009
(BSN 2)
24, s. 2008
(BSECE)
29, s. 2007
(BSCE)
13, s. 2008
(BSCpE)
19, s. 2007
(BSMath)
24, s. 2005
(BSBio)
31, s. 2001
(BSTou)
39, s. 2006
(BSBA)
30, s. 2006
(BSTM)

17, s. 2005
(BSEntrep)

Title
New General Education Curriculum (GEC)
Guidelines for Implementation of CHED Memorandum
Order No. 59, 1996 New General Education Curriculum
(GEC)
Revised Policies and Standards for Information Technology Education (ITE)
Policies and Standards for Information Technology Education (ITE) Programs
Revised Minimum Curricular Requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Accountancy (BSA)
Revised Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in
Accountancy (BSA), as Amended
Updated Policies and Standards for Nursing Education
Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in Nursing
(BSN) Program
Policies and Standards for the Degree of Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering
Policies and Standards (PS) for the Degree of Bachelor of
Science in Civil Engineering (BSCE)
Policies and Standards (PS) for the Degree of Bachelor of
Science in Computer Engineering (BSCpE)
Minimum Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science
in Mathematics and Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics
Minimum Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science
in Biology (BS Bio)
Revised Minimum Curricular Requirement for the Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management (HM)/Tourism
Policies, Standards and Guidelines for Bachelor of Science
in Business Administration (BSBA)
Policies and Standards for Bachelor of Science in Tourism
Management (BSTM)/Bachelor of Science in Hospitality
Management (BSHM)/Bachelor of Science in Hotel and
Restaurant Management (BSHRM)/Bachelor of Science
in Travel Management (BSTrM)
Minimum Curricular Requirements for Bachelor of Science
in Entrepreneurship (BS Entrep)

English

9
9
67
612
914
919
925
925
925
632
632
632
938
632
632

CMO

GEC-A

GEC-B

ITE 1
ITE 2
BSA 1
BSA 2
BSN 1
BSN 2
BSECE
BSCE
BSCpE
BSMath
BSBio
BSTou
BSBA
BSTM
BSEntrep

6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

Filipino
12
(6 Lit, 6 Hum)
6
(3 Lit, 3 Hum)
94
94
98
98
915
620
926
926
926
94
94
94
926
940
926

Literature and
Humanities
15
(6 Math, 9 Sci)
15
(6 Math, 9 Sci)
15
15
159
159
1716
2221
1527
1527
1527
1533
1533
1536
1539
1541
1539

Mathematics and
Natural Sciences

12
12
1210
1210
1517
1522
1228
1228
1228
1234
1234
1237
1228
1242
1228

3
3
3
3
3
623
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3

545
546
5111
5113
5918
6424
5429
5430
5431
5135
51
51
54
5143
5143

51

33

12

63

62

121

Total

Mandated
subjects

Social
Sciences

Table 2
Summary of GEC-B Requirements as Implemented in Selected Non-HUSOCOM Degree Programs Based on CMOs
from 20012009 (number of units)

86
General Education Curriculum

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

87

1. Basic Economics (w/Taxation & Agrarian Reform); General Psychology; Politics & Governance (w/Philippine Constitution); Society & Culture (w/Family Planning)
2. Life & Works of Rizal; Philippine History
3. Life & Works of Rizal
4. Literature; Arts; Philosophy
5. Code of Ethics
6. Professional Ethics
7. Communication Arts (CA) 1 (Study Skills); CA 2 (Writing in the Discipline)
8. Philippine Literature; Arts; Philosophy (Logic)
9. Algebra; Math of Investment; Physical Science; Biology; Information Technology (IT)
10. Philippine History, Politics & Governance; Sociology; Psychology; Economics
11. Speech & Oral Comm. (under Accounting Educ.); no specified Ethics subject
12. CA 1 (Study Skills); CA 2 (Speech & Oral Comm.)
13. Additional GE courses: 6 units (Math [3 units]; Humanities [3 units in Fine
Arts, World Culture, or Foreign Language]); Additional GE courses under Basic Business
(Business Comm.; Good Governance & Social Responsibility); Ethics under Acctng. &
Finance Educ. (Assurance Principle [6 units]; Prof. Ethics & Good Governance [6 units])
14. CA 1; 2; & 3
15. Introduction to Literature; Philosophy of Man; Logic
16. Algebra; Chemistry; Biology/Earth Science/Geology; Physics; IT
17. Psychology; Sociology; Philippine History; Politics & Governance with Philippine Constitution; Asian Civilization
18. Bioethics; Science, Technology, & Society; Health Economics (under Associate
of Health Science Educ.)
19. English 1; 2; & 3
20. Philosophy of Man; Logic & Critical Thinking
21. Algebra; Biostatistics; Chemistry; Biochemistry; Physics; IT
22. Psychology; Sociology; Basic Economics; Humanities (World Civilization &
Literature); Bioethics
23. Life & Works of Rizal; Philippine History, Government & Constitution
24. CMO reports 87 but already includes health core courses such as Anatomy,
Physiology, and even PE and NSTP
25. CA 1; 2; & 3 (Technical Comm.)
26. Humanities 1; 2; & 3
27. Algebra (part of Technical Courses); Chemistry; Physics
28. Social Science 1; 2; 3; & 4
29. With ECE Laws, Contracts, Specifications, & Ethics
30. With CE Laws, Contracts, Specifications, & Ethics
31. With Engineering Ethics & Communication Laws
32. CA 1; & 2
33. Math (6 units); Natural Science (6 units); IT (3 units)
34. any 4 from the GEC list
35. Free electives (6 units)
36. Algebra; Math of Investment; Introduction to Natural Science; General Chemistry [3 units]; Basic Computer
37. Philippine History with Government & Constitution; Basic Economics; General Psychology; Sociology
38. English 1; English 2 (Oral Comm.); English 3 (Business Comm.)
39. Math 1; Math 2 (Statistics); Natural Science 1; & 2; Basic Computer
40. World & Philippine Literature; Arts; Philosophy (Logic)
41. Business Math; Basic Statistics; Environmental Science; Principles of Safety,
Hygiene, & Sanitation; Basic Computer
42. Philippine History with Government & Constitution; Basic Economics; General Psychology; Cultural Anthropology
43. Business Core: Business Comm.

88

General Education Curriculum

subjects, despite the pressure of increasing the number of professional

subjects. The consequence of this, however, is that the additional
unit requirements result in onerous academic load and an increased
expense on the part of the students.
The initiative of the TPs to add subjects that properly belong
to the GEC, albeit classified under the Professional Curriculum, is
an indication that the general education curriculum is recognized as
an invaluable component of the course program. It also indicates a
recognition that the GEC complements the professional or specialized
curriculum. Concrete examples of these subjects include three units
of Business Communication as replacement or equivalent to Writing
in the Discipline for the BS Accountancy program, and Health Economics which replaced Basic Economics for the BS Nursing program.
However, the addition of these subjects that properly belong to
the GEC but were classified under Professional or Specialized Curriculum had a negative ramification on the academic loads of faculty
in the servicing departments. Since these subjects are no longer part
of the GEC component of the course program but are listed under
Professional or Specialized Curriculum, these subjects are required to
be handled by the professional departments. Consequently, such subjects are already required to be handled by faculty qualified to teach
professional or specialized courses, thereby creating major problems
for the servicing departments in optimally loading their teachers.
The variations in the laboratory unit requirements across the
courses also posed practical problems especially for smaller colleges
with just enough laboratories to serve the various requirements of
the science courses under the GEC.
Based on the trend lengthily discussed above and in due consideration of the negative impact of such a trend on the servicing
units, we argue that there should only be one set of minimum requirements on general education for all students, regardless of their
chosen academic program.
III. The impact of the General Education Curriculum
Various stakeholders have their respective expectations in
terms of the knowledge, skills, competencies, values, and attitudes
that the General Education Curriculum envisions to develop and
strengthen. These skills and competencies have been associated with
the relevant cluster of subjects identified in the CMO on GEC. The

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

89

Language cluster seeks to develop communication skills; the Mathematics and the Natural Sciences cluster aims to develop and improve
computational skills, problem solving, and scientific inquiry; and the
Social Sciences and Humanities cluster strives to instill values and
create a strong sense of a guided ethical behavior, citizenship, social responsibility, personal integration, and appreciation of human
experiences.
Unfortunately, prospective employers continue to lament the
deteriorating communication skills of graduates, particularly in the
use of the English language. Further, teachers of professional subjects complain of poor foundational skills of students in both language and computational skills.
Teachers, in general, also complain of low motivation and of
the easy way out attitude of students. Parents and adult members
of the community worry about the pervasive corruption and deteriorating moral fiber of the country. Students themselves do not see
the relevance of Literature to their Business course; or of Algebra to
their Communication course, or of Philosophy to their Computer or
Information Technology course.
These actual and perceived failures of the General Education
Curriculum to deliver the expected outcomes are justifications for a
serious review with the intent of revitalizing the General Education
Curriculum in terms of content, teaching methodology, and assessment of outcomes. The review is timely, considering that the GEC
has been around for a decade.
IV. The lack of readiness of high school graduates for serious and indepth college level work, in general, and poor English language and
computational skills, in particular
A national figure that played a major role in the development
of the existing GEC admits that much of what the GEC offers should
be given more appropriately to the high school (Cruz, 2009).
The results of various national achievement tests from the earlier National Secondary Achievement Test (NSAT) to the current
National Achievement Test (NAT) show consistently low levels of
achievement of high school graduates in the areas of English, Mathematics, and Science. CHED (1997) recognizes this profile of college
bound students, as reflected in the provision for a bridging course in
English intended for those who do not pass the English Placement

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General Education Curriculum

Test. It is to be noted that even the Level 3- and Level 4-accredited

colleges and universities in the country run a Bridging Program particularly in the areas of English and Mathematics (Ibe & Coronel,
n.d.).
This lack of readiness in the language and computational skills
of incoming freshmen college students is not unique to the Philippines. The AAC&U (2002) reports that 53% of freshmen college
students do remedial work.
Based on the experience of Ateneo de Naga University, despite
the Remedial Programs in English and Mathematics, these two subjects continue to be the subjects with the highest failing grades in
the first two years in college. It is not completely baseless to state
that the same concern is also experienced by other schools in the
country. The deficiency in these tools for learning, among other reasons, would account for the low completion rate of 30% for higher
education.
This situation calls for a clear articulation of the level of accomplishment in the relevant high school subjects particularly in terms
of communication and computational skills that are appropriate entrance requirements for college.

Recommendations
On the basis of the foregoing, the Bikol Foundation for Higher
Education hereby submits the following recommendations:
1. Creation of a Technical Panel for General Education Curriculum that would include experts in the disciplines on core subjects
such as English and Filipino Languages, Humanities (including Philosophy and Ethics), Mathematics and the Natural Sciences, and the
Social Sciences whose mandate is to review and craft a revitalized
General Education Curriculum.
2. Such revitalized GEC shall determine and prescribe a minimum set of requirements for all, regardless of the major field of study;
such GEC shall be taken during the first two years in college.
3. In crafting the revitalized GEC, we recommend that the
following be considered:
It shall be guided by the philosophy of liberal education
which enables students to acquire the following attributes: breadth

CHED figures on Student Flow by way of survival and graduation rates,

as cited in Ibe and Coronel (n.d.)

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

91

of knowledge and capacity for lifelong learning; abilities to analyze,

communicate, and integrate ideas; and effectiveness in dealing with
values, relating to diverse individuals, and developing as individuals (AAC&U, 2004a, as cited in Gaff (2004)). It shall also take
into account the invaluable contribution of liberal education in developing among students the ability to: apply knowledge and skills
in real world settings; conscientiously appreciate and respond to ethical issues; recognize and give value to various cultures; and actively
contribute to society as socially responsible citizens;
The learning competencies that are consistent with the goals
and philosophy of liberal education should be well articulated as basis
for determining the content of the courses or modules; the levels of
exit competencies should be determined as standard for a students
accomplishment; and authentic and relevant assessment procedures
should be used for assessing what has been learned;
A prior determination of a reasonable semestral workload
for students should be made before setting the number of minimum
units required for the GEC. We recommend that the 24-unit load
per semester for a 2-semester per year scheme be considered as a
reasonable maximum load that will enable students to balance classroom attendance with independent work and study outside of the
classroom. Of these 24 units, we recommend that the minimum
unit-requirements for GEC be a total of 15 units per semester or a
total of 60 units (which approximates the existing GEC-A minimum
unit-requirement) for GEC for the first four semesters of higher education. This will leave room for the other requirements such as
Physical Education and the mandated NSTP subjects. We recommend that HEIs be given free hand to add subjects that will realize
their peculiar mission of formation of students but only within the
24-unit workload per semester. This is in respect of the mission of
the various sectarian colleges and universities considering that they
comprise a big percentage of private tertiary education in the country. Furthermore, it is also in due recognition of their track record
in providing quality education;
Filipino and English Language courses should reinforce each
other in the development of oral and written communication and
analytical and integrative thinking skills; and
Issues and themes that affect national unity and global survival should be addressed in the GEC, particularly, but not limited

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General Education Curriculum

to, the Social Sciences and Humanities clusters, for example, justice
and peace issues, gender, and cultural diversity, among others.
4. We recommend that selective admission to college be legislated. Only those who pass a National College Entrance Examination or a National Secondary School Leaving Examination shall be
admitted to college. This admission test in college should be able
to measure accomplishments on knowledge and intellectual skills important in higher education.
5. We recommend further that higher education, through a
process of wide consultation and close coordination with the Technical Panels for GEC and other disciplines, articulate the level of
readiness required of the students in terms of communication and
computational skills, reading comprehension skills, and other intellectual skills important for college work. This level of readiness must
also be communicated to providers of basic education for the purpose
of bridging levels of learning.
6. We also recommend that higher education and basic education be put in one government agency so that these two levels of
education can work together on the reforms needed in these levels
and consequently bring about the closing of gaps in learning as college bound students become more ready for college work.
7. We recommend that the TP for GEC validate with the TPs
for the other disciplines the learning competencies that the GEC
hopes to develop and seek commitment to a shared responsibility in
accomplishing the goals of both the GEC and the Professional Curriculum. A specific skill for concrete collaboration between the general education faculty and the professional education faculty would
be the writing skill. A semester or two of courses in writing are not
enough to fully develop students writing skills. Professional courses
are in the best position to reinforce this skill by providing opportunities for writing in their courses. The courses in the other clusters
under GEC are also potential avenues for developing writing skills.
Writing should be a major activity of students academic training.
8. We further recommend that curriculum review and mapping for all degree programs be done alongside the GEC review. We
recommend that the review be made the basis in conceptualizing a
well-thought-out set of professional courses that would fit into a 24unit load per semester. Such academic load can reasonably ensure
that the students have the space to be fully engaged in their studies

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

93

outside the classroom setting. The curriculum map should identify

professional courses where opportunities are present for the following: the strengthening of the skills in GEC which are required by employers or which can be applied in actual situations in the practice of
ones careeroral and written communication skills, and analytical
and integrative thinking skills; the integration of ethics in the professional courses; and the engagement of students in their immediate
community that would challenge the application of professional skills
to real problems and situations.
9. We recommend that CHED provide the opportunities for
training teachers along content, teaching methodologies, and assessment that the revitalized GEC requires.

Appendix: Comments on Table 2

While some programs keep the 51 units minimum requirement
as provided by GEC-B, some have more than 51. ITE 1, ITE 2, BSBA,
and BSTou have 54 units. Some other programs with more than 51 units
have included Math and Science core courses required by their respective
disciplines and not due to the prescribed General Education Curriculum.
For example, Nursing reports a total of 87 units under the GE Curriculum
but this total includes other subjects (such as Anatomy and Physiology)
in addition to the Natural Sciences subjects named in the GE curriculum.
These subjects should fall under professional subjects under a sub-category
such as Basic Science Courses (similar to the Basic Business Courses subcategory in the Accountancy and Business and Management Education
programs) and not under the GE Curriculum because these subjects are
requirements for Nursing students only and not for all students as asserted
in the General Education definition cited earlier.
Most programs observe the 9 units in English prescribed in GECB, but BSA 1, BSA 2, BSBio, BSMath, BSTou, BSTM, and BSEntrep have
6 units in English.
It is interesting to note that BSA 1, which has 6 units in English
under the GE Curriculum, has an additional subject, Speech and Oral Communication, but it is under the category Accounting Education. Obviously,
the TP that crafted BSA 2 realized that Speech and Oral Communication
is definitely not an accounting subject, and therefore should not be under Accounting Education category because BSA 2 retains the 6 units in
English, but 3 of these 6 units are now for Oral Communication. It adds
another 3 units of Business Communication, but under the Basic Business
Courses category.
It should also be noted that BSTou, BSTM, and BSEntrep have 6
units in English and 3 units in Business Communication under the Basic

94

General Education Curriculum

Business Courses category.

So far, it can be argued that the 3 units deficit in English is compensated by the 3 units in Business Communication. This is not, however,
the case for BSMath and BSBio which each require 6 units of English but
do not have provisions similar to the CMOs in Accountancy and Business
and Management Education programs, although each has 6 units in free
electives.
All CMOs have 9 units in Literature and Humanities except for
BSN 2 which keeps the 6 units prescribed in GEC-B. However, it has 15
units in Social Sciences instead of 12, with the additional 3 unit course
being World Civilization and Literature. BSA 2 has an additional General
Education requirement of 6 units but under the Accounting and Finance
Education component of the curriculum (p. 12). The 6 units consist of 3
units in Mathematics and 3 units in Humanities from any of the following
choices: Fine Arts (Visual and Performing Arts), World Culture, or Foreign
Language (p. 14).
Most CMOs keep the 15 units requirement for Mathematics and
Natural Sciences. Some CMOs have more than the minimum requirement,
for example, BSN 1 and BSN 2. BSN 2 includes Science Core subjects relevant to Nursing and allied Health Education courses like Anatomy, Physiology, and Biochemistry in addition to the introductory Natural Sciences
courses. Variations in the laboratory unit requirements are also noted. For
example, General Chemistry has 3 units lecture and 2 units laboratory in
most course programs, but in Engineering courses, it has 3 units lecture and
1 unit laboratory. BSTou has 3 units for General Chemistry with no laboratory component. These variations in the requirements for the laboratory
component create problems in terms of laboratory room assignments.
All CMOs keep the 12 units minimum requirement in Social Sciences, except for BSN 1 and BSN 2, each of which has 15 units. With the removal of Philippine History as a mandated subject in GEC-B, some CMOs
integrate it with Politics and Governance with Philippine Constitution under the course title Philippine History, Government and Constitution. For
the CMOs that do not specify particular Social Science subjects in the
program curricula, HEIs follow the subjects specified in the GEC-A Social
Sciences Cluster, namely, Basic Economics, General Psychology, Politics
and Governance with Philippine Constitution, and Society and Culture.
While most CMOs include Basic Economics in the Social Sciences
cluster, BSN 1 does not include it and instead has Health Economics with
Taxation and Land Reform, but lists it under the Associate in Health Science Education Curriculum. BSN 2, however, restores Basic Economics in
the Social Sciences Cluster.
Of the 15 CMOs in the list, only BSBio and BSMath do not include
Professional Ethics in the curriculum under the Professional subjects category. The CMOs that list Philosophy under the Humanities cluster have

Rebecca Torres and Lydia Goingo

95

either Logic or Philosophy of Man. BSA 2 includes a total of 9 units of

subjects on civic responsibility and ethics under the professional subjects.
There is no variation among CMOs on the implementation of the
6 units minimum requirement in the Filipino language.

References
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (n.d.). What is liberal
education? Available from http://www.aacu.org/leap/What is
liberal education.cfm
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2002). Greater expectations: A new vision for learning as a nation goes to college. Washington, DC: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Commission on Higher Education. (1996, September 25). New general
education curriculum (GEC). Republic of the Philippines. (CHED
Memorandum Order number 59, series of 1996)
Commission on Higher Education. (1997, February 18). Guidelines for
implementation of CHED memorandum order no. 59, 1996 new
general education curriculum (GEC). Republic of the Philippines.
(CHED Memorandum number 4, series of 1997)
Cruz, I. R. (2009, April 12). Critic-at-large: Education reform in the Philippines. Available from http://criticplaywright.blogspot.com/
2009/04/education-reform-in-philippines.html (Published in
The Philippine Star, March 5April 9, 2009)
Gaff, J. G. (2004, Fall). What is a generally educated person? Peer Review . Available from http://www.aacu.org/peerreview/pr-fa04/
pr-fa04feature1.cfm
Ibe, M., & Coronel, I. (n.d.). Bridging programs and their impact on the
academic achievement of college freshmen: The Philippine experience.
National University of Singapore. (2001). What is general education?
Available from http://www.nus.edu.sg/gem/
Rebecca C. Torres (beck@mbox.adnu.edu.ph) finished her AB Psychology at Silliman University with a Magna cum Laude and was Class Valedictorian of her graduating class. She completed her MA in Education, major
in Guidance and Counseling in the same university and earned her PhD
in Social Psychology at Ateneo de Manila University. She joined Ateneo
de Naga in 1981 and held various academic and formation positions: psychometrician, guidance counselor, teacher, administrator. She was Chair of
the Social Sciences Department, Director of the Ateneo Social Sciences Research Center, Dean of the Graduate School, and is currently the Academic
Vice-President. She was the former editor-in-chief of Bikolnon, Journal of
the Ateneo de Naga University Graduate School and of Gib
on, Journal of

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Ateneo de Naga University. She chairs the Committee on Journal Publications of the Jesuit Higher Education Commission and sits as lay representative of ADNU at the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
in East Asia. Her research interests include education policy, governance,
and environment.
Lydia T. Goingo (lydia goingo@yahoo.com) earned her Master in Education major in Educational Administration in 1977 and her Doctor of Philosophy in Education major in Educational Administration in 1997, both
from the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City, with academic excellence awards. Since 1971, she has served as teacher, academic
leader and school administrator in various levels of education, from elementary to college and graduate school, and has occupied various posts
in the Council of Deans and Department Chairs of the Colleges of Arts
and Sciences (CODDCCAS) as well as in the Regional Council of Deans,
Inc. (RCDI) in Region V. She is currently the Dean of the College of Arts
and Sciences of Ateneo de Naga University and the Vice-President of the
Association of the Philippine College of Arts and Sciences (APCAS). Her
research interests are in the areas of education, psychology of learning and
sociology of education, specifically in identifying factors that explain human
behavior and learning.