SENATOR Sherwin Gatchalian has filed a bill proposing a shortened three-year college program in the Philippines, aiming to align the country’s higher education system with global standards practiced in many developed countries.

Gatchalian explained that the measure would reduce the current four-year college program to three by moving general education subjects—such as math, English, and science—to the senior high school curriculum. This would enable college students to focus immediately on their major subjects.

“From the first year, students will dive directly into their major courses. The general education subjects will be taken in senior high school,” Gatchalian said, noting that this model is already implemented in Commonwealth countries like the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.

He emphasized that the proposal is based on research on global education trends. Of the 214 countries studied, all but one—Singapore—have adopted the K-12 system. Singapore, instead, uses a “junior college” model.

“In other words, the entire world is now K-12. To be consistent with the global standard, we filed this three-year college education bill,” he said.

The proposal is expected to spark broad public and academic discussions, signaling a major shift in the Philippine higher education system.