The Communiqué
April 11, 2024
The current BA Journalism curriculum of Bulacan State University (BulSU) has been an integral part of the journalism program in the College of Arts and Letters, shaping the skills and knowledge of countless graduates since 2018.
However, it appears extensive on paper, with 173 credited units spread over four years. The curriculum comprises 49 units in the first year, respectively; 64 in the second year; 45 in the third year; an additional 6 units for internship; and another 9 units for the final year of the program.
While it may appear ostensibly straightforward to an observer—just 173 total units for a college program that is wide and all-encompassing unlike others—for a student of journalism at BulSU, it means early wake-up calls for 7 a.m. classes, late-night dismissals, a slew of schoolwork, and exhausting days spent either within the university campus or on school-related activities.
Unlike other universities, where journalism programs typically consist of approximately 140 to 160 total units, and students typically take 18 to 23 units per semester, BulSU's journalism curriculum spans over 173 academic units.
Within this curriculum, 32 units are allocated in each of two semesters in the second year. The News Writing and News Editing courses are scheduled for the third year, whereas Specialized Beat Reporting and Citizen and Community Journalism courses, which typically necessitate prior experience in news writing, are offered in the second year.
While the current curriculum appears comprehensive and rigorous, psychology suggests otherwise.
The constant strain on the brain to comprehend excessive information causes mental exhaustion, decreased productivity, and elevated stress levels. Christopher Schimming from the Mayo Clinic Health System states that students can become overloaded when faced with excessive complexity beyond their cognitive capabilities.
As a coping mechanism, some students may take a passive attitude, giving up their ideas and following the example of others to escape the complex process of forming their judgments, thereby limiting their ability to critically engage with the information.
Second-year journalism students have expressed frustration over the curriculum's surplus of unnecessary courses and heavy workload.
BAJ 2A student Mark Vincent Lucillo expressed concerns about redundant classes overwhelming students and observed that the curriculum in other universities, like PUP and UST, is lighter yet equally effective.
Kenneth Tuyay, also from the same batch, stressed the difficulty of properly managing time with a busy schedule and a 32-unit overload. Additionally, he called for rearranging the course allocation per year to reduce the strain on students.
Inevitably, sophomores not only contend with their limited proficiency in news writing but also grapple with an overwhelming workload and early exposure to complex courses with little foundation, and the same could be said by first-year students.
Freshman student Clyn Star Hombre raised concerns about the rudimentary skills of journalism students and the timing and placement of the news writing course in the current curriculum. She pointed out that in the program guidelines of the Commission on Higher Education or CHED for Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, news writing is typically introduced in the second year. In contrast, at Bulacan State University, it's not until the third year.
Moreover, in the sample curriculum provided by CHED, “the BA Journalism program has a total of 140 units, of which 63 units are General Education courses, 21 units are core courses, 33 units are required courses, 9 units are electives, 8 units are Physical Education, and 6 units are National Service Training Program.”
The problem of the students is clear: there are too many courses, some of which could be condensed into a single semester or distributed evenly, and crucial ones are introduced late to the students.
What is deemed excessive for journalism students elsewhere is considered normal at the university.
The typical curriculum at UP Diliman requires students to enroll in 15 to 18 academic units per semester, with some exceptions allowing for a standard load of 21 units in certain degree programs.
In the UPD General Catalogue from 2014-2021, a load of 21 units or more per semester is considered an overload, indicating that journalism students at Bulacan State University experience two consecutive overloaded semesters in comparison.
The University of the East's journalism program spans eight semesters with a total of 164 academic units, including internships, evenly distributed across courses. Many subjects encountered by BulSU journalism students are also included in their curriculum.
At UP Diliman, their undergraduate journalism program offers a total academic unit amounting to 154. Meanwhile, at the University of Santo Tomas, journalism students undertake a total of 176 units, surpassing BulSU's count. However, they managed to evenly distribute these units per semester without an overload of 32 units.
The sentiment may be good: to alleviate students' workload during their fourth year while they work on their thesis or to impart comprehensive knowledge about the field. However, given its detrimental effects on students' skills and learning capabilities, a radical overhaul is necessary.
Consolidating courses, eliminating redundant subjects, and prioritizing foundational skills are not only an option but crucial steps to take. Plans are already underway to revise the current curriculum, which has been drafted and is expected to be implemented soon, as per journalism program head Ethel Jovito.
However, considering the influx of students into the journalism program, it demands urgent change. Failure to act urgently risks leaving countless graduates to be shaped by an outdated system.
It is time to rebuild the curriculum, ensure fair and balanced course distribution, introduce foundational subjects sooner, and give students more say in their course choices. Reinventing the curriculum not only empowers aspiring journalists but also ensures that the program remains relevant and student-centered.
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