CEU president lauds DOST’s preparations for GE program

Dr. Maria Cristina D. Padolina, president and chief academic officer of Centro Escolar University (CEU), has lauded the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for its concern in the crafting of the General Education (GE) program.

She made the statement during a policy forum sponsored by DOST’s National Research Council of the Philippines (NRCP) in Intramuros, Manila recently.

“As in the implementation of any new program, there are controversies, there are problems. It is laudable that the NRCP is concerned about the conceptualization and implementation of the GE program,” said Padolina. She sits as member (consultant) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Technical Panel on General Education.

The educator acknowledged the NRCP members’ contributions in furthering the GE program.

“Your members can certainly lend support in its implementation, serving as resource persons in teacher training or even GE classes, if not as writers for textbooks and references. Some of you may even take interest in doing a research on the GE program, on the attainment of the objectives, on its strengths and weaknesses, on the best teaching practices, and many others,” Padolina suggested as quoted by NRCP.

She spoke at the policy forum dubbed as “Towards a More Relevant and Revitalized General Education Program” sponsored by the DOST-NRCP last October 19. Participants included, among others, around 100 members of NRCP’s Divisions of Humanities (XI), Social Sciences (VIII), and Governmental, Educational and International Policies (I).

At the forum, Padolina suggested that CHED release the new GE Curriculum (GEC) syllabi even before the completion of its Filipino versions.

“If you were to ask me, releasing (the syllabi) would start people thinking about how (the core subjects) would be taught in Filipino and would make the HEIs (Higher Education Institutes) prepare already for teaching these subjects,” the CEU president said.

Padolina also made clear that she was not speaking on behalf of CHED, where she is a consultant, but was merely releasing the complete GEC course descriptions that “do not preclude the preparation of the materials in Filipino.” She believes the country’s HEIs would then be prompted to plan for an implement accordingly the new GEC in their respective schools.