The Alliance of Concerned Teachers–Philippines (ACT) has raised alarm over a proposal by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to significantly reduce General Education (GE) units in universities, warning that the move could result in widespread job losses and undermine the country’s higher education system.

CHED is reportedly considering cutting GE units from the current 36 to as low as 18. The proposal would compress existing courses in humanities, social sciences, ethics, and communication into a smaller set of integrated, skills-oriented subjects. 

But for ACT, the proposal signals deeper structural consequences for universities and their workforce.

“Many part-time and contractual instructors in the humanities and social sciences are at risk of losing their jobs due to non-renewed contracts, reassignments, or even outright displacement,” said Prof. Carl Marc Ramota, ACT Vice Chairperson and former UP Faculty Regent.

“This could lead to a staggering 90,000 job cuts, which would significantly undermine the quality of university-level instruction and jeopardize careers in these important disciplines,” he added.

Ramota warned that the plan could amount to what he described as a “wholesale gutting of the Philippine university system,” arguing that core GE subjects are essential in developing critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement among students.

He also criticized the policy direction as part of a broader neoliberal approach to education, which he said prioritizes efficiency and labor-market alignment over the broader social role of universities.

“The proposed GE cuts are part of a neoliberal approach to education that prioritizes efficiency, cost-cutting, and marketable skills over universities’ broader mission of fostering critical inquiry,” Ramota said, adding that such reforms could reduce universities “to mere labor production and placement agencies.”

CHED has justified the proposal as a continuation of earlier reforms following the implementation of the K to 12 system, which already shifted many foundational subjects to senior high school and reduced college GE requirements from earlier levels of over 60 units to 36 units. 

The agency has argued in previous curriculum reforms that GE subjects were “repetitive” of senior high school content and that restructuring is intended to allow universities to focus more on specialization and discipline-based training.

But Ramota further warned that diminishing GE courses could weaken the role of universities as spaces for social critique.

“This approach will undermine the university’s role as a hub for social critique, which is crucial in light of widespread corruption, rampant human rights violations, and the decline of democracy,” he said.