six years ago, the nemenzo administration came up with an “innovation” on the u.p. general education –a new framework that the g.e. council called the “revitalized general education program” or rgep. the new feature was to make the program consist of five courses (or fifteen units) each from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. the students had the free choice and mix of any five courses from each domain , or from a menu of old and new courses to be offered as g.e. subjects. in effect, the original 66 units of “tatak u.p.” liberal education would be reduced to 45 units; and the liberal education became equated with the students’ liberality and liberty of subject choice. the move spawned great opposition from various quarters. but admin had its way and in june 2002 implemented what was to become a problematic legacy of dodong nemenzo and maris diokno.
can you imagine what the implications of the rgep have been? a u.p. student could graduate without having taken any communication skills or art and literature appreciation course; without any math or natural science course; without any philippine history or asian history! because each campus had its own set of g.e. courses, the “tatak u.p.” liberal arts program from u.p. diliman to u.p. mindanao became a hodge podge of electives from various colleges. because the non-engineering and non-science degree programs do not require any math or natural science course, their students glided on carpeted paths, spared the peyups experiences in math and nat sci! meanwhile the eng’g and science majors have to struggle with the most diificult courses!
five years after rgep, we reiterated our previous requests to review the program, but admin is taking its sweet time. ania metten!
2 Comments
Thank you for expressing this. I share the same problem and worry for undergraduates who complete their degrees without getting GE courses which were once required. I was fortunate enough to take my undergraduate degree in UP following the GE programme prior to RGEP and as it is I feel inadequate in the area of natural and social sciences and maths (mainly because of how I treated them as an English major who felt I wouldn’t need these courses later in life).
I strongly suggest that we revert back to the “unrevitalized” GE programme and strengthen it by making the undergrads aware of the relevance and benefits of such a well-rounded approach to general education.
Maybe we need to gently remind the administration of how necessary it is to un-revitalize GE.
thanks too for supporting us (former g.e. coordinators). most alumni and retirees (especially former pres. abueva, and venerables, like dr. eugenio, and elmer ordonez) can hardly believe what’s happened, what is happening to the g.e. program, to the foundation of one’s u.p. education.
we’re still awaiting the admin officials’ action. at least, upd vcaa lorna paredes shares our views…meanwhile, the “damage” continues.
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