EDCOM 2: DepEd, CHED should review proposed SHS electives, college subjects to ensure they are implementation-ready

PHILIPPINES, May 8 - Press Release
May 8, 2025

EDCOM 2: DepEd, CHED should review proposed SHS electives, college subjects to ensure they are implementation-ready

As the Department of Education (DepEd) prepares to pilot the Strengthened Senior High School curriculum next school year, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, EDCOM Co-Chairperson, called for a comprehensive review of proposed SHS electives and college general education subjects to ensure a seamless transition between basic and higher education.

The new SHS curriculum, which will be tested in selected public and private schools beginning School Year 2025-2026, features a major restructuring of the program: reducing SHS tracks from four to two -- Academic and Technical-Professional tracks, and cutting down the number of core subjects from 15 to a more focused set of five core subjects. Aside from these, students will also be able to select from a number of electives to pursue their career interests. The goal, according to DepEd, is to decongest learning content and provide clearer, more practical exit pathways for students whether they pursue college or enter the workforce.

However, during a Senate Committee on Basic Education hearing on May 8, 2025, Senator Gatchalian, raised questions on whether the new structure would truly eliminate the need for bridging programs once students reach higher education and would be feasible to implement on-the-ground in light of the challenges surrounding SHS implementation since 2016.

"My question to DepEd is: aren't we going into the same problem [as the current curriculum] with the electives?," Senator Gatchalian asked. "Because while the electives and TechPro look good on paper, implementation is a different scenario", he continued. "We must think not only of the intended curriculum, but of the implemented curriculum, because everything we are discussing today will depend on the capacity of our schools to implement it on the ground."

Gatchalian flagged that, even if students take the electives, they may still not be college-ready because of resource limitations of schools. He stressed that the revised curriculum must be designed to ensure that students, regardless of school capacity or elective availability, can meet the minimum standards for college readiness.

EDCOM Executive Director Karol Mark Yee also explained how their analysis shows that 70% of standalone SHS are in fact small with less than 440 students. "Assuming 40 students per class, this means that you have 5 sections for Grade 12 only. How many electives can DepEd realistically afford to make available in small schools, which comprise the majority of our schools?".

"At the end of the day, what's important is they are college-ready. It should be designed in a way that whatever electives they take, they will be ready for higher education," Gatchalian added. "In small schools, they might not be able to offer all the electives for the Academic track, and that then affects their college readiness."

DepEd Undersecretary Gina Gonong acknowledged the challenges of implementing the elective component of the revised SHS curriculum. She clarified that the electives under the Academic and Technical-Professional track will serve as a menu of options, and that not all schools are expected to offer every subject. Instead, school heads will be guided in selecting and planning elective offerings based on their school's capacity, student interests, and local industry demand.

Gatchalian emphasized the need to ensure that such elective planning does not become a barrier to college readiness. He also urged CHED and DepEd to harmonize their standards and eliminate the need for bridging programs altogether. "We don't want a scenario where we reform the curriculum, but the end is the same, may bridging program pa rin. That's one of the things I want to flag: for DepEd and CHED to work together to ensure that the minimum qualifications for college readiness are truly met in our SHS program."

"It's time we eliminate the bridging programs and download these competencies down to basic education. When students leave senior high school, they should be able to focus entirely on their specialization in college," said Senator Gatchalian.

Senator Gatchalian recommended a focused review of the SHS electives system, urging DepEd to prioritize a strong core set of subjects that prepare all students for higher education, stressing the need to align these with CHED's college readiness standards, map teacher specializations, and to match elective offerings.

During the hearing Executive Director Yee also showed the proposed SHS electives versus the current CHED guidelines for nursing as an example: "We know that the top college courses are teacher education, business administration, criminology, nursing, but it is not very clear how the current set of electives would better prepare our SHS students to these programs for example. Thus, our question is, what are the assumptions that guided the determination of these courses and clusters?"

Dr. Marlene Ferido, Deputy Director of the Assessment, Curriculum and Technology Research Centre, echoed his sentiment, pointing out that the elective system may need further refining. "Looking at the menu of electives...now I realize that it's really more geared towards training engineers and scientists...[But] many of our students go into medtech, nursing, medicine...So now, I'm thinking, maybe we should cater to the people who go to the allied sciences", she said.

"While we have addressed the congested curriculum, my concern here is the implementation, especially on the electives as well as the TechPro. [The offering of] these electives will be hinged on the capacity of our principals and school heads and other resources. There are different realities we face on the ground and at the end of the day, sila ang implementors nito. Iba-iba ang mundo sa labas: iba sa rural, iba sa urban, at iba sa BARMM. We need to make sure that their capacities to implement this is taken into consideration," said Senator Gatchalian.

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