St Ignatius College - Ignatian Yearbook (San Francisco, CA)

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16 THE IGNATIAN The following tabulation by the Bureau of Education sets forth the unit system of education, in which each unit completes the school training for a definite station in life: No. The Units of CCourses years What is this person good What is he worth as a completedl in for? citizen? school F1533-gary, 1 A literate laborer A literate citizen Primary 4 Intelligent worker The boy is educationally well-qualified for franchise. The girl is trained in the care of the home Intermediate 7 A well schooled person, The boy is educationally trained for a good station qualified for local leadership. in life The girl is a good house- keeper and will make a real home Secondary 11 Educated and fitted for Qualified for leadership in an efficient, intelligent ca- political, social, economic, reer and domestic affairs Uniersity 13 Fitted for the highest po- Educationally quafiied for the to sition, professional, com- highest office the people have 17 mercial, or industrial to give for national leader- ship in political, social and economic affairs Some features of the public school system are: Grade courses-primary, intermediate, secondary, and universityg balanced curriculum-academic, vocational, physicalg dif- ferentiation of work for boys and girlsg specialization in the intermediate grades. To meet the needs of pupils who will probably receive no education beyond the four grades of the primary course, practical instruction in hygiene and sanitation, training for citizenship, moral education, education in home-making, in- dustrial and vocational education, and physical training are given. Upon the hypothesis that individual economic independence is the basis of citizenship, every pupil in the elementary grades

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ARE THE FILIPINOS EDUCATED? 15 in contact with thousands of people, said: The Filipinos are not an ignorant people. Their intelligence and educa- tional progress are apt to be underestimated because of failure to understand them. Nearly every adult can read and write in the Tagalog or Viziyan dialect, while the natives of the cities and villages, in addition, can read and write the Spanish language. Moreover, most adults know something of arith- metic, geography, and history. I was surprised one day, on questioning the driver of my quily, an ordinary poor boy of eighteen, to find that he had studied geometry and had made very material progress. They are not so much different from other people. Their customs, habits, hopes, and aspirations are deep-seated. Their leaders are shrewd, bright men of much abilityg the masses are earnest in their loyalty. When the Americans first arrived in the Islands in 1898, the schools were practically closed everywhere because of the revolution. However, the work of the Spanish schools which had existed for two and a half centuries before, made pos- sible the immediate introduction and rapid development of the present English schoolsg for, the Spanish system, incom- plete as it may have been when measured by the present- day standards, was more efficient than that of any other colony in the Orient. English has been the language of instruction in the public schools since 1899, and is the ollicial language today. Except the Spanish descendants, and those who speak Spanish only when they are in formal gatherings Where the Spanish language is required as a matter of form and custom, or when they are engaged either in private or oflicial business where Spanish is used as a matter of neces- sity, the Filipinos speak, as their mother tongue, several separate and distinct dialects of Malay origin.

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ARE THE FILIPINOS EDUCATED? 17 is required to take up agricultural and industrial trainingg for, the child educated as a citizen in the fullest meaning of the term and trained as an agriculturist or a skilled crafts- man is the real product and the demand of the present indus- trial age. To illustrate, the Bureau of Education recently issued a bulletin on plain sewing for the elementary grades- a course intended to train the girls to make clothes for them- selves and for their little brothers and sisters and others at home. The effect of this course in the brief period during which it has been in operation is remarkable and is most gratifying. It can be seen upon the streets of the cities and towns, in all parts of the Islands. While the boys, at prac- tically no expense and with the simple knowledge which they can acquire in the primary grades, are able to furnish their own home with furniture which is attractive and comfort- able-a great step forward in the improvement of home standards. The progress in public education has been made possible by absolute executive control over a single complete system with continuous public support and a loyal corps of teachersg and, because the government has profited by Spanish ex- perience, studied the desires and needs of the Filipinos, made economic and educational surveys, consulted foreign countries having similar conditions, followed the best educational tra- ditions, and made hrst-hand experiments. The cost of public education per capita of total population is 30.495 the post per pupil Cbased on average monthly enroll- mentj is 57.24. The total number of public schools is 4,200 The annual enrollment is 600,000, and the average daily at- tendance is 460,000. There are 530 American and 9,400 Filipino teachers. The director of the Bureau of Education and the president of the University of the Philippines are now Filipinos. It should be borne in mind that the above figures do not include the private schools and universities which are mostly the Spanish institutions reopened. By the order of