Benedict Maravilla

“I'll be very realistic, Senator Win. The five proposed core subjects are not enough for students to be college-ready.”

This is the statement of Department of Education (DepEd) Undersecretary for Curriculum and Teaching Gina Gonong during the hearing of the Senate committee on basic education on May 8 in response to Senator Win Gatchalian’s query on whether the new senior high school (SHS) curriculum which reduced the current 15 core subjects to five will help students be equipped to proceed to higher education.

Photo Courtesy of Senate Social Media Unit.

Gonong said that in the new curriculum, students should take elective subjects that align with the degree program that they are aiming for to prepare and guide them to be college-ready.

“The core subjects are not enough. We need the electives to prepare our students for college, and the electives must be chosen very well, depending on the career path that they want in college,” the official said.

Gonong emphasized that they are closely communicating with the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to learn more about the prerequisites of college subjects that should be applied in planning for the new SHS curriculum.

Edizon Fermin, chairperson of the CHED Technical Panel for General Education, however, supported the implementation of five core subjects as it will help students to focus on certain competencies.

“It’s difficult for you to gain an appreciation of how competent and confident you are in doing something when you are actually attending to too many things," he said.

Against bridging program

Gatchalian also worries about the possible persistence of taking a bridging program between SHS and college to supply the learning gaps due to the current curriculum’s inconsistencies.

The senator sees this as an issue because there has been an existing challenge for DepEd and CHED to curb the number of students taking the bridging program, even when the core subjects sum up to 15.

“It (bridging program) is really a cost-burden for the families, and they don't understand it. They just take it kasi gusto talaga nila mag-college. How come, nagdagdag na tayo ng two years and then may bridging program pa,” he underscored.

“The senior high school curriculum should address the readiness of the learner so that no bridging program is needed anymore. Ready na siya kaagad pumasok. It has to be designed very well,” Gatchalian added.

Possible redundancies of courses

Gatchalian also asked how DepEd and CHED would ensure that the core subjects taken in SHS and general elective courses (GEC) in higher education institutions are not repeated.

Gonong assured that there is a ‘very good’ alignment between the DepEd SHS curriculum and the college GEC, as both agencies have been working hand-in-hand to match each other’s education outlines.

“Over the past months, we mapped the general education curriculum with the senior high school curriculum to check on redundancies,” she said.

Gonong said that they had an agreement with CHED that DepEd would focus on the essential competencies to prepare SHS students for college readiness or for apprenticeship in the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

CHED, on the other hand, will zero in on the development of higher cognitive skills, where students should become more critical thinkers to prepare them for their chosen careers.

It was in late 2024 when DepEd planned to revise the current SHS curriculum to reduce the subjects to let learners focus more on work immersion.

On April 4, 2025, the agency released a consultation packet of the strengthened program for Grades 11 and 12, which laid out the proposed curriculum, set to have its pilot implementation in the school year 2025–2026 and is expected to be fully operational in 2026-2027.