El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1913-06-16
FiIipinOs Eager to Learn
Future Independence of Island De-
Ponds Upon Success of the
school System.
-l3E I1rnl erir. i. HnnL-fn-

y 7 AsHINGTON, D. G.. June IS

} ~ =
wv Upon the success OF failure
of the bureau Of education
| depends the future independence Of The
| Philippine islands. The readiness with
/ which the PHILIPPINES respond TO the
! efforts of the American educators, and
! the facility with which they assimilate
| the knowledge and precepts taught
| them, viii tell their aptitude for self
/ government. When education shall
| have developed and uplifted the great
[ mass of the EllpnOs into self sup
| porting, self respecting middle class
| that knows its rights as well as its
| limitations, the islands viii be ready
/ Tor independence. in this regard at
| least As to readiness, the people are
/ very enthusiastic over the schools. Fa-
! clllty 10 asslmllate is a phase Of the
/ problem which time alone will prove
I adequately.
Soldiers As Teachers.
| Public school teaching in the Islands
began long before the organization OF
the bureau of education by the civil
government. An untold number of
young people were instructed in the
three s. by soldiers No sooner did
troops establish peace in a certain dis
trlct than their commanding officer
would detail officers and enlisted men
as school teachers. 1t was no un-
common sight in the early days to
see an armed soldier under a mango
tree surrounded by small brown ur-
. chins whose sole purpose in life seemed
Z to be to stumble through the English
I alphabet in loud voice In all parts
OF the Islands the school book was
I Just trifle behind the rifle
spanish school System.
A very elaborate school system de-
Eised by spain for the Philippines was
found to exist on paper 1t was never
: perfected and did not pretend TO touch
the masses Those whose names per-
mitted the payment Of fees in such
schools as they were educated their
children. The carechism and some
Spanish We're the boundaries of the
average mental horizon There were
a number Of alleged colleges in a few
pOpulOus centers, where science and
all leVellng research were strictly Ia
4 boo and in Manila there was the IA
nous SantO Tomas university, now
over 800 years OLD whose b. A. was on
a par with high school certificate in
this country.
School reports given to the general
public a few years prior to 1898 set
forth a total Of Pas schools, of which
about half were for girls.
New System OrEaniEed in 1901.
The present public school system was
organized in 1901 under the direction
of Prof Bernard Moses. secretary Of
public instruction in the cabinet Of the
governor general Later he returned
TO the faculty of the university of Cal
ifornia- He was assisted by Fred w.
Atkinson, general superintendent OF
mer B. Bryan. David p. BarrOWs and
Frank r. White, the incumbent at this
time. The first big move was the ar
rival of 1000 American male and 1e-
male teachers on the transport Thomas
in 1901 At present there are SO d.
visions in charge of a superintendent, [
who in turn depends on district SUI
pervisors- The number Of American
teachers has been reduced to ZOO, while
the f1lplnOs have grown from mere /
handful to 1000 normal or high school ]
graduates who are fairly well paid as
insular teachers and 1900 very poorly Z
paid municipal teachers
Division OF Work.
The work includes the organization
and conduct of:
]. Primary schools which offer =
four year course, providing instruction :
in English. simple arithmetic. geo
graphy and manual training work de- /
signed to be useful but which critics I
consider rather faddish.
2. Intermediate schools. which give /
three years additional instruction, ana [
which aim from beginning to end TO z
give vocational training. and which {
should have even larger share in the :
curriculum, in the opinion of many /
This course also provides general grade I
school work up TO the standard eighth I
grace, a course as preparation Tor I
teaching primary Grades, course IN ]
farming. a course in housekeeping and /
household arts a trade course, and
course in business,
g. High schools in every provincial
capital, giving the standard four years
Of instruction preparatory TO the uni-
Versity. modified in certain special ]
schools In various parts Of the archi-
pelaEO so as to fit in with the scope
Of the Philippine normal school, the
Philippine school Of commerce and tie
Philippine school of arts and trades
an of which are located in the city OF
Manila
Industrial Training.
Industrial training in the public
schools is being pushed in a very
hearty way, but the criticism alluded {
TO is that this part of the system should
be the major course in view of the
great Industrial needs of the Filipino
people and their ignorance of the mo-
dern doctrine Of efficiency, common
TO all Malaysia's manifold millions
For time the educational authorities
We're in grave danger of developing
an academic system whose product Of
hundreds Of thousands of fun heads
and empty hands would have duplI-
Gated the unrest I'm India 1t took
two years fight by two American I
papers-the Cablenews American and
the Manila IlmeS-a group or govern Z
strong minority within the bureau I
Of education TO bring about the desired
reform All instruction. of course. Is
i'm English, which is now the official
language Of the government including
Many Schools Are Rented.
In 1903. the first year for which Of
fetal statistics were compiled, the total
school attendance was $4,000 in round
numbers. and there were 1000 school
houses many OF which We're ram
shackIe bamboo affairs In the fiscal
year 1911-1912 the average attendance |
was 446.SS9. with 44e< school houses
One hundred permanent buildings were
either erected or reconstructed last
year. Of the total number of school
houses only $50 are permanent The
rest are rented the Philippine govern
ment having the same bad habit that
the American government has in this
regard. A large percentage Of the
school houses have been bought out
right with the rental money already
spent on them. This is true Of nearly
every other department Of the Philip
pine government
However, the bureau Of education is
putting up an increasing number Of
permanent, substantial buildings each
year, and would have done a great
deal more but for lack of funds Rein
forced concrete buildings of three
standard grades are being built, con-
forming to fixed plans agreed upon
by the director of eduCati the di-