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”.
