Come 2018 when the transition for the
implementation of the K-12 is completed, and colleges all over the country will
once again welcome freshmen enrollees – from the first batch of graduates of
the K-12, a new general education (Gen Ed) curriculum will greet them in their
classes.
In preparation for SY 2018-2019, teachers from
higher education institutions (HEIs) from Region IX are being trained to
prepare to implement the new Gen Ed curriculum. Changes in society such as the massive
explosion of knowledge brought about by technology, among others, have prompted
the revision of the present GenEd program, making a broad understanding of the
world a must.
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University, in
coordination with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), kicked off the National
General Education Core Course Training 2.0
aka NGECCT 2.O on May 8, 2017, at the CDCH, Salvador
Campus in La Purisima.
The activity is organized by the School of
Liberal Arts, under the deanship of Dr. Robert V. Panaguiton, NGECCT 2.O Overall Program Chairperson, with
Jayson V. Sabdilon, NGECCT 2.O Program
Coordinator. It will be spread out in three weeks/17 days of training til May
27, 2017.
The training comprises of five of the nine
CHED-prescribed general education core courses namely, Ethics, Life and Works
of Rizal, Mathematics, Understanding the self, and Arts appreciation. The other
four subjects are on Readings in Philippine History, the Contemporary World,
Purposive Communication, Science, Technology and Society.
AdZU President Fr Karel San Juan SJ, in his
welcome address, emphasized the need for openness among teachers to the
transition to interdisciplinarity of higher education, as part of CHED’s
strategic direction. An open disposition, he said, would be very helpful in
welcoming the change in the curriculum and in “psyching” themselves for its implementation
in 2018, in order to ensure its success.
Dr. Panaguiton oriented the participants with an
overview of the training, its objectives, history, rationale and program
specifications and logistics of the core courses. He reiterated the need for a paradigm
shift into Interdisciplinarity of Higher Education, in order to form
well-rounded and competent students, capable of coping with the demands of a
changing world with an orientation of liberal education. For this, he said that,
in order to produce competent students; first, there is a need to train
competent teachers.
Also present during the opening program was CHED
representative, Dr. Rody P. Garcia, who posed a 21st century
challenge to the participants: how to teach a new breed of millennials comprising
the pioneer batch of the K-12. He also commended AdZU for facilitating the
training, and congratulated the University for its recent success in the Bar,
with a 100% passing rate, and described AdZU’s graduate programs as “the pride
of higher education in the region”.
