Up Ge Cut in the Context of the Neoliberal Education

UP GE Cut in the Context of the Neoliberal Education

For the past decades the University of the Philippines’ General Education (GE) program has been seamless in promoting a holistic education to its students throughout its 8 constituent units. In order to act upon issues and matters at present time it is part of UP’s customs to provide students a perspective beyond their specializations and this is the whole initiative of the university’s GE program (UP GE Program Proposal as cited in UP GE Task Force, 2015). The UP GE program aims to broaden intellectual and cultural horizons, hone critical and creative thinking, develop a passion for learning and scholarship, cultivate a high sense of intellectual and moral integrity, and foster a commitment to service and social justice. This program is based on the hallmarks of a UP education, which are integrity and honor, excellence in scholarship, and public service (UP GE Task Force, 2015).

Recently the university’s president, President Alfredo E. Pascual (PAEP), proposed a UP GE cut. PAEP’s proposal with regards to the GE program imitating international template in order to allow foreign students to effortlessly move to the Philippine academic takes away the standpoint of the GE programs where in it looks into the needs of the nation and the community. Although in conclusion, all that matters was the reduction of the number of units dedicated to GE rather than the content itself. This proposal is an all in all marketization of UP’s General Education in order attract the students and to get them to labour market as soon as possible (UP Kilos Na, 2015). However, despite the possible benefits of the UP GE cut in terms of specialization and the university’s budget this would hinder UP’s provision of quality education and a more holistic approach towards the problems faced in today’s society.

In line with the proposed UP GE cut is the neoliberal context. According to Bello (2009), “Neoliberalism is a perspective that champions the market as the prime regulator of economic activity and seeks to limit the intervention of the state in economic life to a minimum” (¶ 1). The state, while paying lip service to the importance of our country’s education, moves forward in promoting neoliberal reforms and policies which trumps the local needs of the country. Slowly, the state decreases its support on education to give way to private investments in order to make education profit-oriented to cater the needs of transnational companies (UP Kilos Na, 2015).

International economic organizations, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), are the promoters of the neoliberal program which obstructs the progressive realization of every individual’s right to education and that education is one of the important instruments of the society in order to conquer future obstacles (Devidal as cited in Hill and Kumar, 2009). In support with this,