The country’s largest association of Catholic educational institutions has called for the retention of ethics courses in college curricula, saying they are essential to students’ moral and social formation.
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) said removing ethics from higher education would deprive students of a critical opportunity to ground their choices in sound moral reasoning and Gospel values.
“College is a formative stage where young adults refine their values and make life-defining decisions,” the association said in a statement. “To remove Ethics from higher education is to deprive them of a crucial opportunity to anchor their choices in sound moral reasoning and Gospel values.”
The association warned that while ethical principles may be introduced in basic education, the unique challenges of adulthood require deeper engagement with moral frameworks.
The statement was issued in response to a proposal from the Department of Education to remove ethics from the General Education curriculum of higher education institutions.
CEAP cited Church teachings, including the Second Vatican Council’s Gravissimum Educationis, which emphasized that true education aims at the integral formation of the human person for the good of both the individual and society.
“Education rooted in the Church’s mission demands the continuous teaching of ethics beyond basic schooling,” CEAP said, adding that moral formation should be “permanent and progressive,” as articulated in Familiaris Consortio.
In today’s pluralistic and morally ambiguous society, CEAP said college-level ethics courses help students critically evaluate competing worldviews while remaining committed to upholding human dignity, justice and the common good.
“Colleges and universities bear a special responsibility to ensure that students are equipped not just with technical knowledge, but with moral wisdom capable of transforming society,” the group said.
CEAP also referenced Evangelii Gaudium, in which Pope Francis calls for education that forms ethical leaders and socially responsible citizens. The group argued that ethics courses are central — not peripheral — to this mission.
“In educational institutions, where the goal is not just to inform but to transform: ethics is not optional—it is essential,” CEAP said.
