RGEP STAND

A revision of the current General Education program of the University of the Philippines was proposed and it is being circulated system-wide to further improve the core curriculum of the university.

The Revitalized General Education Program (RGEP) is a plan of the UP administration to convert the current GE program from structured to semi-structured and learner-customized system. Instead of requiring the students to take the prescribed GE subjects, they would be allowed to choose what subject they want to take as long as they will get 15 units in each of the fields, namely: Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences and Philosophy, and Natural Sciences and Mathematics. In short, the whole GE program will be composed of 45 units. The administration proposes the requirement of six (6) units of Philippine Studies from any of the clusters in the 45 units of the proposed RGEP. In other words, it does not explicitly require a student to take History, Filipino, or Philippine Literature subjects.

According to the administration, being a semi-structured and learner-customized system, it means that it will also be applied to students who passed the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) but did not make it to the cut-off grade in Mathematics and/or English. The affected students will be required to take the Summer Bridge Program (SBP). They have to pass the program in order to be admitted in UP. Furthermore, senior faculty is encouraged to teach GE subjects.

The GE program was intended to include a core of general education studies in all curricula regardless of the students' profession. This is what makes a UP student a well-rounded individual. It gives all students a strong basic foundation and develops certain intellectual skills in contrast to their specialized courses.

There were already many reviews done on the GE program of UP that resulted in the modification of subjects until the administration felt the need to reconstitute the GE Council to lead the plan for RGEP. The GE Council consists of the Vice President for Academic Affairs (VPAA) as ex-officio chair, a retired University Professor/National Scientist, and eight members of the faculty from Music, Political Science, Sociology, Economics, English, Law, Medicine and Biology.

The RGEP as a whole is in favor of the students' attitude in taking subjects which are not appealing to them. A lot of students feel that they are forced to take these "boring" subjects only to graduate. It becomes an obligation for them to take and pass it. Through RGEP, the students will have their discretion to choose the subjects which they ONLY want to take. As long as they fulfill the required number of units, the hassle, pressure, and burden of taking subjects that they do not really like will be minimized, or better yet, removed from them. For instance, if a student's major requires him to take Math which he is not good at, he will now have the option to change his Math subject to a Science subject as long as it is under the College of Science. Through this, students will not have a hard time to pass the course and will not feel very awkward and obliged to take it. Normally, when students feel this way, they tend to drop the subject, or worse, fail it. A perfect example of this is the required Math 11 subject to Communication Research students in the College of Mass Communication. This is the only course in the college which requires its students to take two Math subjects (one is Math 1, and the other one is Math 11). On the average, Communication Research majors take Math 11 three times in order to pass the subject. One could not ever imagine taking a subject three times only to pass it because it is required. For a student, it is really a burden and it is one of the major causes of delay. Not only time and effort are lost, but also the expenses that the students have to deal with.

A point in the RGEP that is not agreeable is the proposed Summer Bridge Program (SBP). Why cannot the administration stick to the standard way of admitting students? Another step further is just a waste of time, effort, and money instead of letting the students find another potential school that will admit them for their college education.

Admittedly, RGEP still has a lot of things to talk about. Changing a GE program cannot be done overnight. The administration must respect the voice of the students and other junior faculty who will be affected by the proposed revision. They too, must exhaust all measures to be able to come up with a desirable output.

The most debatable part here is that the students were not consulted in the plan. Although the students will benefit from it, it is but proper to inform them the proposed revisions on the GE program of the university. Competition among the professors is acceptable as long as it will not exceed the boundaries of respect on each other. It will encourage them to improve their way of teaching, especially the boring ones in order for them to be marketable. Of course, students want professors who are not only competitive but also have the sense of humor, and most especially, knows how to handle students' needs and wants in class.