1) In a juxtaposition present the highlights features of Philippine

education during the Spanish Period, American, New Society and

Current periods in terms of:

Philippine Education during the Spanish Period

During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines (1521–1898), the different cultures
of the archipelago experienced a gradual unification from a variety of
native Asian and Islamic customs and traditions, including animist religious practices, to
what is known today as Filipino culture, a unique hybrid of Southeast Asian and Western
culture, namely Spanish, including the Spanish language and the Catholic faith.
Spanish education played a major role in that transformation. The
oldest universities, colleges, and vocational schools, dating as far back as the late 16th
century were created during the colonial period, as well as the first modern public
education system in Asia, established in 1863. By the time Spain was replaced by
the United States as the colonial power, Filipinos were among the most educated
peoples in all of Asia, boasting one of the highest literacy rates in that continent.
Simultaneously, the knowledge of Filipinos about neighbouring cultures receded.

I SPANISH MISSIONS.
The Spanish mission was a frontier institution that sought to incorporate indigenous
people into the Spanish colonial empire, its Catholic religion, and certain aspects of its
Hispanic culture through the formal establishment or recognition of sedentary Indian
communities entrusted to the tutelage of missionaries under the protection and control of
the Spanish state. This joint institution of indigenous communities and the Spanish church
and state was developed in response to the often very detrimental results of leaving the
Hispanic control of relations with Indians on the expanding frontier to overly enterprising
civilians and soldiers. This had resulted too often in the abuse and even enslavement of
the Indians and a heightening of antagonism. To the degree that the mission effort
succeeded, it furthered the Spanish goals of political, economic, and religious expansion
in America in competition with other European-origin nations. Spanish colonial authorities
enjoyed the patronato real (royal patronage) over ecclesiastical affairs, granted to the
Spanish crown by the pope. As patrons the state authorities made the final determination
as to where and when missions would be founded or closed, what administrative policies
would be observed, who could be missionaries, how many missionaries could be
assigned to each mission, and how many soldiers if any would be stationed at a mission.
In turn, the state paid for the missionaries' overseas travel, the founding costs of a
mission, and the missionaries' annual salary. The state also usually provided military
protection and enforcement.

Native Americans at Early Spanish Missions. Courtesy of Texas Beyond History and
the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Image available on the Internet and included
in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.

IIVISION
III GOAL
IV CURRICULAR CONTENT
The Early Period
 During the early years of Spanish colonization, education was mostly run by
the Church. Spanish friars and missionaries educated the natives and converted
indigenous populations to the Catholic faith.
 King Philip II's Leyes de Indias (Laws of the Indies) mandated Spanish authorities
in the Philippines to educate the natives, to teach them how to read and write in
the Spanish language. However, the latter objective was difficult given the realities
of the time.[2] The early friars learned the local languages to better communicate
with the locals. Although by royal decree the friars were required to teach the
Spanish language to the natives, they realized it would be easier for them to learn
the local languages first, before teaching Spanish to the population.
 The Spanish missionaries established schools soon after reaching the islands and
a few decades into the Spanish period, there was no Christian village without its
school, with most children attending.
 The Augustinians opened a school immediately upon arriving in Cebú in 1565.
The Franciscans arrived in 1577, and they, too, immediately taught the people how
to read and write, besides imparting to them important industrial and agricultural
techniques. The Jesuits who arrived in 1581 also concentrated on teaching the
young. When the Dominicans arrived in 1587, they did the same thing in their first
mission in Bataan.
 Within months of their arrival in Tigbauan which is in Iloilo province located in the
island of Panay, Pedro Chirino and Francisco Martín had established a school
for Visayan boys in 1593 in which they taught not only the catechism but reading,
writing, Spanish, and liturgical music. The Spaniards of Arévalo heard of the
school and wanted Chirino to teach their boys too. Chirino at once put up a
dormitory and school house (1593–1594) for the Spanish boys near his rectory. It
was the first Jesuit boarding school to be established in the Philippines.

 Cover of Doctrina Christiana

 The Chinese language version of the Doctrina Christiana (Christian Doctrine) was
the first book printed in the Philippines in about 1590 to 1592. A version in Spanish,
and in Tagalog, in both Latin script and the commonly used Baybayin script of the
Manila Tagalogs of the time was printed in 1593. The goal to teach the Christian
faith to the literate population. Eventually, the Baybayin script was replaced by
the Latin script, as this became increasingly more useful and widespread.
*TERTIARY SCHOOL
In 1590, the Universidad de San Ignacio was founded in Manila by the Jesuits, initially as
the Colegio-Seminario de San Ignacio. By the second half of the 17th century, the
university was incorporated as a mere College of Medicine and Pharmacy into
the University of Santo Tomás.

The University of San Carlos, arguably the oldest school in Asia

The Universidad de San Carlos was founded in Cebú by the Jesuits on August 1, 1595,
initially named as the Colegio de San Ildefonso. It closed down in 1769 as a result of the
expulsion of the Jesuits from the Philippines and didn't open again until 1783.
On April 28, 1611, the Universidad de Santo Tomás was founded in Manila, initially
named as the Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario and later renamed
as Colegio de Santo Tomas. On November 20, 1645, Pope Innocent X elevated it to
University. King Charles III of Spain bestowed the title “Royal Patronage” in 1785, and
Pope Leo XIII “Pontifical” in 1902. Pope Pius XII designated it as La Real y Pontificia
Universidad de Santo Tomás de Aquino Universidad Católica de Filipinas (The Catholic
University of the Philippines), in 1947.
 Fountain of Wisdom at the University of Santo Tomás
San Carlos and Santo Tomás maintain a friendly rivalry over the claim to be the oldest
university in Asia. The University of San Carlos makes the claim of tracing its roots to
the Colegio de San Ildefonsofounded by the Spanish Jesuits fathers Antonio Sedeno,
Pedro Chirino and Antonio Pereira in 1595. However, this claim is opposed by
the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, which argues that USC only took
over the facility of the former Colegio de San Ildefonso and that there is no 'visible' and
'clear' link between San Carlos and San Ildefonso
Notable scholars including Dr. Jose Victor Torres, professor of history at the De La Salle,
Fr. Aloysius Cartagenas STD, professor at the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos of Cebu,
and Fr. Fidel Villarroel, OP, respected historian and former archivist of Santo Tomas,
have also questioned San Carlos' claim of tracing its roots to the 16th Century Colegio
de San Ildefonso.
In 1640, the Universidad de San Felipe de Austria was established in Manila. It was the
first public university created by the Spanish government in the Philippines. It closed down
in 1643.
The Jesuits also founded the Colegio de San José (1601) and took over the management
of a school that became the Escuela Municipal (1859, later renamed Ateneo Municipal
de Manila in 1865, now the Ateneo de Manila University). The Dominicans on their part
had the Colegio de San Juan de Letrán (1620) in Manila. All of them provided courses
leading to different prestigious degrees, like the Bachiller en Artes, that by the 19th
century included science subjects such as physics, chemistry, natural history and
mathematics. The University of Santo Tomás, for example, started by teaching theology,
philosophy and humanities. During the 18th century, the Faculty of Jurisprudence and
Canonical Law was established.
In 1871, several schools of medicine and pharmacy were opened. From 1871 to 1883
Santo Tomás alone had 829 registrations of medical students, and from 1883 until 1898,
7965 medical students. By the end of the Spanish colonial rule in 1898. the university had
granted the degree of Licenciado en Medicina to 359 graduates and 108 medical doctors.
For the doctorate degree in medicine its provision was inspired in the same set of
oppositions than those of universities in the metropolis, and at least an additional year of
study was required at the Universidad Central de Madrid in Spain.

*SECONDARY SCHOOL
A Nautical School was created on January 1, 1820 which offered a four-year course of
study (for the profession of pilot of merchant marine) that included subjects such as
arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, physics, hydrography, meteorology,
navigation and pilotage. A School of Commercial Accounting and a School of French and
English Languages were established in 1839.
The Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trades (DHVCAT)
in Bacolor, Pampanga is said to be the oldest official vocational school in Asia.
Augustinian Friar Juan Zita and civic leader Don Felino Gil established the vocational
school on November 4, 1861. Other important vocational schools established were the
Escuela de Contaduría, Academia de Pintura y Dibujo and the seminaries of
Manila, Nueva Segovia, Cebú, Jaroand Nueva Cáceres.
The Manila School of Agriculture was created in 1887, although it was unable to open its
doors until July 1889. Its mission was to provide theoretical and practical education by
agricultural engineers to skilled farmers and overseers, and to promote agricultural
development by means of observation, experiment and investigation. It included subjects
such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, natural history, agriculture, topography, linear
and topography drawing. Agricultural schools and monitoring stations, run by professors
who were agricultural engineers, were also established
in Isabela, Ilocos, Albay, Cebú, Iloílo, Leyte and parts of Mindanao.
The Real Sociedad Económica de los Amigos del País de Filipinas (Royal Economic
Society of Friends of the Philippines) was first introduced in the islands in 1780, and
offered local and foreign scholarships to Filipinos, professorships and financed trips of
scientists from Spain to the Philippines. Throughout the nineteenth century the Society
established an academy of design, financed the publication of scientific and technical
literature, and granted awards to successful experiments and inventions that improved
agriculture and industry.
The Observatorio Meteorológico del Ateneo Municipal de Manila (Manila
Observatory) was founded in 1865 by the Jesuits after an article they published in the
newspaper Diario de Manila, describing typhoon observations made in September 1865,
attracted the attention of many readers who publicly requested for the observations to be
continued. The Spanish government made the observatory the official institution for
weather forecasting in the Philippines in 1884, and in 1885 it started its time service. Its
seismology section was set up in 1887, while astronomical studies began in 1899. The
Observatory published typhoon and climatological observations and studies, including the
first typhoon warnings, a service that was highly appreciated by the business community,
especially those involved in merchant shipping.

MODERN PUBLIC SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

Modern public school education was introduced in Spain in 1857. This did not exist in any
other colony of any European power in Asia. The concept of mass education was
relatively new, an offshoot of the 18th century Age of Enlightenment.[ France was the
first country in the world to create a system of mass, public education in 1833.
In the Philippines, free access to modern public education was made possible through
the enactment of the Spanish Education Decree of December 20, 1863 by Queen Isabella
II. Primary instruction was made free and the teaching of Spanish was compulsory. This
was ten years before Japan had a compulsory form of free modern public education and
forty years before the American government started an English-based public school
system in the Philippines. The royal decree provided for a complete educational system
consisting of primary, secondary and tertiary levels, resulting in valuable training for all
Filipino children and youth.
The Education Decree of 1863 provided for the establishment of at least two free primary
schools, one for boys and another for girls, in each town under the responsibility of the
municipal government. It also commended the creation of a free public normal school to
train men as teachers, supervised by the Jesuits. One of these schools was the Escuela
Normal Elemental, which, in 1896 became the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestros de
Manila (The Normal School) for male teachers. The Spanish government also established
a School for midwives in 1879, and a Normal School for female teachers in 1892,
the Escuela Normal Superior de Maestras.[24] By the 1890s, free public secondary
schools were opening outside of Manila, including 10 normal schools for women

V LEGAL BASIS

Education in the Philippines has undergone several stages of development from the pre-
Spanish times to the present. In meeting the needs of the society, education serves as
focus of emphases/priorities of the leadership at certain periods/epochs in our national
struggle as a race.

As early as in pre-Magellanic times, education was informal, unstructured, and devoid of

methods. Children were provided more vocational training and less academics (3 Rs) by
their parents and in the houses of tribal tutors.

The pre-Spanish system of education underwent major changes during the Spanish
colonization. The tribal tutors were replaced by the Spanish Missionaries. Education was
religion-oriented. It was for the elite, especially in the early years of Spanish colonization.
Access to education by the Filipinos was later liberalized through the enactment of the
Educational Decree of 1863 which provided for the establishment of at least one primary
school for boys and girls in each town under the responsibility of the municipal
government; and the establishment of a normal school for male teachers under the
supervision of the Jesuits. Primary instruction was free and the teaching of Spanish was
compulsory. Education during that period was inadequate, suppressed, and controlled.

The defeat of Spain by American forces paved the way for Aguinaldo’s Republic under a
Revolutionary Government. The schools maintained by Spain for more than three
centuries were closed for the time being but were reopened on August 29, 1898 by the
Secretary of Interior. The Burgos Institute in Malolos, the Military Academy of Malolos,
and the Literary University of the Philippines were established. A system of free and
compulsory elementary education was established by the Malolos Constitution.

An adequate secularized and free public school system during the first decade of
American rule was established upon the recommendation of the Schurman Commission.
Free primary instruction that trained the people for the duties of citizenship and avocation
was enforced by the Taft Commission per instructions of President McKinley. Chaplains
and non-commissioned officers were assigned to teach using English as the medium of
instruction.
 A highly centralized public school system was installed in 1901 by the Philippine
Commission by virtue of Act No. 74. The implementation of this Act created a heavy
shortage of teachers so the Philippine Commission authorized the Secretary of Public
Instruction to bring to the Philippines 600 teachers from the U.S.A.

They were the Thomasites.

Year Official Name of Department Official Titular Legal Basis

Head
1863 Superior Commission of primary Chairman Educational Decree of
instruction 1863
1901-1916 Department of Public Instruction General Act No.74 of the Philippine
Superintendent commission Jan 21, 1901
1916-1942 Department of Public Instruction Secretary Organic Act Law of 1916
(Jones Law)
1942-1944 Department of Education , Health Commissioner Renamed by the Japanese
and Public Welfare Executive Commission
June, 11 1942
1944 Department of Education , Health Minister Renamed by Japanese
and Public Welfare Sponsored Philippine
Republic
1944- Department of Public Instruction Secretary Renamed by Japanese
Sponsored Philippine
Republic
1945-1946 Department of Public Instruction and Secretary Renamed by the
Information commonwealth
Government
1946-1947 Department of Public Instruction Secretary Renamed by the
commonwealth
Government
1947-1975 Department of Education Secretary E.O. No. 94 October 1947
(Reorganization Act of
1947)
1975-1978 Department of Education and Culture Secretary Proc No. 1081 September
24, 1972’
1978-1984 Ministry of Education and Culture Minister P.D. No. 1397, June 2,
1978
1986-1987 Ministry of Education , Culture and Minister Education Act 1982
Sports
1987-1994 Department of Education, Culture Secretary E.O. No. 117. January 30,
and Sports 1987
1994-2001 Department of Education, Culture Secretary RA 7722 AND RA 7796
and Sports Trifocalization of Education
Management
2001- Present Department of Education Secretary RA 9155, August 2001
(Governance of Basic
Education Act)

The high school system supported by provincial governments, special educational

institutions, school of arts and trades, an agricultural school, and commerce and marine
institutes were established in 1902 by the Philippine Commission. In 1908, the Philippine
Legislature approved Act No. 1870 which created the University of the Philippines.

The Reorganization Act of 1916 provided the Filipinization of all department secretaries
except the Secretary of Public Instruction.

Japanese educational policies were embodied in Military Order No. 2 in 1942. The
Philippine Executive Commission established the Commission of Education, Health and
Public Welfare and schools were reopened in June 1942. On October 14, 1943, the
Japanese – sponsored Republic created the Ministry of Education. Under the Japanese
regime, the teaching of Tagalog, Philippine History, and Character Education was
reserved for Filipinos. Love for work and dignity of labor was emphasized. On February
27, 1945, the Department of Instruction was made part of the Department of Public
Instruction.

In 1947, by virtue of Executive Order No. 94, the Department of Instruction was changed
to Department of Education. During this period, the regulation and supervision of public
and private schools belonged to the Bureau of Public and Private Schools.

In 1972, it became the Department of Education and Culture by virtue of Proclamation

1081 and the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1978 y virtue of P.D. No. 1397. Thirteen
regional offices were created and major organizational changes were implemented in the
educational system.

The Education Act of 1982 created the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports which
later became the Department of Education, Culture and Sports in 1987 by virtue of
Executive Order No. 117. The structure of DECS as embodied in EO No. 117 has
practically remained unchanged until 1994 when the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), and 1995 when the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) were established to supervise tertiary degree programs and non-degree
technical-vocational programs, respectively.

The Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM) report provided the impetus for
Congress to pass RA 7722 and RA 7796 in 1994 creating the Commission on Higher
Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA), respectively.
The trifocal education system refocused DECS’ mandate to basic education which covers
elementary, secondary and nonformal education, including culture and sports. TESDA
now administers the post-secondary, middle-level manpower training and development
while CHED is responsible for higher education.

In August 2001, Republic Act 9155, otherwise called the Governance of Basic Education
Act, was passed transforming the name of the Department of Education, Culture and
Sports (DECS) to the Department of Education (DepEd) and redefining the role of field
offices (regional offices, division offices, district offices and schools). RA 9155 provides
the overall framework for (i) school head empowerment by strengthening their leadership
roles and (ii) school-based management within the context of transparency and local
accountability. The goal of basic education is to provide the school age population and
young adults with skills, knowledge, and values to become caring, self-reliant, productive
and patriotic citizens.