 Skip to primary navigation

 Skip to main content

 Skip to primary sidebar

You are here: Home / Teaching & Education / A History of the System of Education in the Philippines
– Its Implication for the Present Generation

A HISTORY OF THE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION IN

THE PHILIPPINES – ITS IMPLICATION FOR THE
PRESENT GENERATION
By Guest Post · 5 Comments

Share

Tweet

In ancient Philippines, children were given the rudiments of education. Such

education was both academic and vocation. The father trained his sons to be
warriors, hunters, fishermen, miners, lumbermen and ship builders. The mother
on her part trained her daughters in cooking, gardening, serving and other
household arts.

It is said that in ancient Panay, there was a barangay school called Bothoan
under the charge of the teacher usually an old man. The subjects taught to the
children in this barangay school were reading, writing, arithmetic, use of weapons
and lubus (acquiring kinaadman or amulets).

Hence, education during that time was geared toward their needs. Because of
colonization by several foreign countries and several historical events, our
education underwent several changes although we also retained some of the
ancient teachings which are practical even during our time.
With the country’s celebration of independence in 1946, scarcely seven decades
ago, have come every aspect of educational system in line with the new status of
a new nation seeking to achieve and maintain political and economic
independence and to fashion a nation truly united out of social and cultural
diversities.

INTRODUCTION OF THE WESTERN OR

EUROPEAN SYSTEM OF EDUCATION
With the coming of Spain, the European system of education was introduced to
the archipelago. Primary schools, colleges and universities were establi shed in
our country by the missionaries.

The principal aim of Spain in the Philippines during their regime was to make the
native Filipinos obedient and God-fearing Christians. For this reason, religion was
a compulsory subject at all levels – from the primary schools to the universities.

The first schools were the parochial schools opened by the missionaries in their
parishes. In addition to religion, the native children in these schools were taught
reading, writing, arithmetic and some vocational and p ractical arts subjects.

Later on, colleges for boys and girls were opened by the missionaries. These
colleges were the equivalent of our high schools today. The subjects taught to the
students included history, Latin, geography, mathematics and philosophy.

[blockquote type=”center”]What the Philippines needs is a realistic educational

system adaptable to local conditions.[/blockquote]

There was no co-education during the Spanish times. Boys and girls studied in
separate schools.
University education was started in the Philippines during the early part of the
17th century. Originally, the colleges and universities were open only to the
Spaniards and those with Spanish blood (mestizos). It was only during the 19th
century that these universities began accepting native Filipinos.

It is interesting to note that for nearly 300 years, education in the Philippines was
the primary responsibility of the Catholic Church. The missionaries established
the schools, provided the teachers and facilities and decided what should be
taught. It was only in the last half of the 19th century that the government took an
active part in promoting education in the colony. In 1863, a royal decree called for
the establishment of a public school system in the colony.

EDUCATION UNDER THE AMERICANS

The United States had a different approach dictated by what the Americans
considered to be their principal goal in coming to the Philippines – “to educate
and to train in the science of self-government.”

Consequently, it was not surprising that the United States considered educating
the Filipinos as one of its top priorities in the Philippines. Even while US troops
were consolidating their foothold in Manila in 1898, schools were already opened
in the city. But unlike the Spaniards who neglected to propagate their language,
the Americans made it a point to teach English to the Filipinos. The American
soldiers were the first teachers of the Filipinos.

In January 1901, free primary education was provided and a school for Filipino
teachers was established. It called for the recruitment of trained teachers in
America. It abolished compulsory religious instruction.

The Americans gave bright young Filipino students opportunity to take up higher
education in American colleges and universities. These Filipinos came to be
known as “pensionados” for their education in the United States was financed
by the government in the Philippines. Hundreds of Filipinopensionados were able
to study in the US until 1928. From the ranks of these pensionados came the
future civic, business and political leaders of our country.

Hungry for education, the Filipinos flocked to public and private schools in large
numbers.
EDUCATION UNDER THE
COMMONWEALTH
Education continued to receive from the Commonwealth government the sa me
attention that the Americans gave it. President Quezon created the National
Council of Education in 1936 as an advisory body on educational matters. The
council made important recommendations to further improve the educational
system in the Philippines. Most of these recommendations were accepted and
carried out by the government.

Under the Commonwealth, vocational and adult education were given emphasis.

It was also during the Commonwealth regime that an organized effort to develop a
common national language was stared in compliance with the mandate of the
1935 constitution.

To help counteract the American cultural influence among the Filipinos, President
Quezon greatly encouraged the revival of native culture as well as desirable
Filipino values.

And to help strengthen the moral fibers of the Filipinos and to foster love of
country especially among the youth, President Quezon issued his famous Code of
Ethics which was required to be taught in all schools.

In 1940, several changes were made in the Philippine educational system by

virtue of the Educational Act of 1940. Under this law, the elementary course was
reduced from 7 years to 6 years. The minimum age for admission to Grade I was
raised to 7. The school calendar was also changed so instead of the sch ool year
from June to March, it was changed to July to April.

EDUCATION UNDER THE JAPANESE

Schools and churches were also used as propaganda tools of the Japanese.
Nippon-go, the Japanese language, was made a compulsory subject in all
schools. In government and private offices, classes in Nippon-go were opened to
propagate the Japanese language and culture. Japanese Catholic priests were
sent to the Philippines to help promote the idea that Japan, being an Asian
country, was a friend of all Asian people’s including the Filipinos.
THE ILOILO EXPERIMENT
In 1948. Dr. Jose V. Aguilar, the Superintendent of the Iloilo school division
initiated a six year experiment with vernacular instruction in his school division.
The experiment involved seven control schools where English was used as the
medium of instruction in Grades 1 and 2 and seven experimental schools where
the vernacular, Hiligaynon, was used as the instructional medium. This was
controversial. As late as 1963, the Dean of the College of Education, Xavier
University on the island of Mindanao, observed that the vernacular instruction was
not producing maximum results. It was curtailing full instructional benefit. Instead
of narrowing the regional gaps of the country, it was widening it and was
producing dangerous trends towards regional and cultural imbalance.

EDUCATIONAL THRUST OF THE NEW

SOCIETY AND TODAY
It was assumed that the most fundamental objective of education is the
development of an individual’s potential which will simultaneously improve
society. Educational policies have been geared to the accomplishment of better
manpower production through the understanding by the students of land reform,
taxation, economic production, anti-drug and anti-pollution and conservation
education. To accomplish these goals, the value and work oriented curricula were
encouraged. However, many parents and teachers were still confused because
they did not understand the philosophy, operations, and evaluations of this
innovation in education. The concept of an average layman or teacher in the “new
society” was always associated with the advent of Martial Law. This must be
redirected to a functional definition of wholesome integration of our economic,
social and moral lives for a progressive Philippines. The direction of education as
envisioned by our educators can be best described by the following changes:

1. A relevant and flexible curriculum.Educational content is focused on the need of

society which is for sound economy. This means better knowledge in skills and food
production, conservation of natural resources, technical knowledge in harnessing
mineral deposits and less emphasis on white collar jobs which result only in
producing the “educated unemployed.”

2. Productive-coordinated technocrats.The inevitable reorganization of the

Department of Education (DepEd) was a response to these needs. For centuries,
our educational system generally operated on a system of isolation where the
Bureau of Public, Private and Vocational Education worked almost independently
and promoted secrecy and privacy instead of attaining harmony for the good of our
country.
 3. A quality teacher with effective methods of teaching. To teach effectively, the
teacher must have the solid foundations in terms of educational training from
reputable institutions, update his method of teaching by reading and attending
conferences, and should have the courage of trying out various means or ways of
maximizing learner. To do this, it becomes necessary to understand the psychology
of pupils and to be able to communicate with them in teaching-learning situations.
The increase in teachers’ pay should be a strong justification for the better policy
on the recruitment and retention of teachers.

Every time changes in our educational system occur to search for the solution for
our educational ills, some pressure groups interfere and say it is “unrealistic and
expensive,” which is not a valid reason. Courage and energy for action should be
sustained to invigorate the lives of the citizenry.

After four centuries and a half of being a colony of Spain, America and Japan, the
concern of the Filipino educators and policy makers is the Filipinization of the
Filipinos and Filipino institutions. Alejandro Roces, while holding office as the
Secretary of Education, voiced this concern thus:

HISTORY OF PHILIPPINE EDUCATIONAL

SYSTEM (PRESENTATION ):

Share

Tweet

Filed Under: Teaching & EducationTagged With: educational system, history, learning, philippines, teaching

ABOUT GUEST POST

Here at TeacherPH.com we would like to invite all new writers and regular
bloggers to write for our blog. We love to build contacts with similar minded
people and share links. So, if you think you have what it takes to write for us, then
we would love to hear from you!
 Previous Post:« What Makes a Good Mathematics Teacher?

Next Post:Cheating In Schools and Colleges: What to Do About It »

READER INTERACTIONS

COMMENTS

1. kenneth lee
February 1, 2017 at 3:20 pm

sana mabasa nyo po ito … ako po kabilang ng aking mga kagrupo ay nag
papalabas ng isang makasaysayang dula sa larangan ng entablado … ito po ay
stage play ang pamagat ay KAGITINGAN Bataan Has Fallen … nilalayon po
namin na matulungan ang ating mga guro na ipaalam sa libo -libong estudyante
dito sa pilipinas na kung ano ang kahalagahan ng history ng pilipinas at kung sino
sino ang mga naging bayani ng noong ikalawang digmaan ….. ang grupo ko po
ay ALTITUDE THEATER ARTS PRODUCTION !!! KUNG MAY KATANUNGAN PA
PO KAU KINDLY pm ME ON FACEBOOK kENNETH LEE or sa email namin
na altitude_graphics@yahoo.com
REPLY

2. chalow
January 19, 2017 at 5:02 pm

thanks for the

info
REPLY

3. Acezek
October 18, 2016 at 1:15 pm

hi! I just wanna ask what is the first curriculum in the Philippines?
REPLY

4. marievic
April 20, 2016 at 7:35 am
 I’d like to comment on the topic the Iloilo experiment. In light with MTB -MLE this
was the first recorded attempt on the use of the first language as LOI. It was not
really fiasco on the educational system as presented in this blog.
REPLY

5. Annie Grace
December 20, 2014 at 9:17 am

Great article! Thanks for sharing.

REPLY

LEAVE A REPLY

Your email address will not be published.Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name *

Email *

Website

PRIMARY SIDEBAR

SEARCH

Search

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

RECENT POSTS

 Ang Mass Promotion at Grade Retention

 Who Is Herobrine? Minecraft Fan History
 2019 National Teachers’ Month Theme, Official Streamer, Programs, Projects, and
Activities
 DepEd to hire 10k new teachers, 5k non-teaching staff under 2020 budget
 DepEd Releases 2019 Guidelines on Official Local Travels
 Homework in the 21st Century Teaching and Learning
 Deped Statement on the No-Homework Policy Bills
 Why Is There an Existence of Different Levels of Education?
 Simultaneous Transfer/Reassignment for All RDs, ARDs, SDSs and ASDSs
 Mga Hadlang sa Implementasyon ng Professional Development Programs ng
DepEd-NEAP

FEATURED POSTS

 Dear Duterte: Here’s What Teachers Really Want

 An Open Letter to DepEd Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones
 Common New Teacher Struggles (And How to Deal with Them)
 Working Advice and Tips for New Teachers
 The Unsupportive Co-Teacher: What is the Root?
 Why Teachers Can’t Have a Normal Life?
 Top Reasons Why Public School Teachers Should Get a Well-Deserved
Salary Increase
 Parent-Teacher Relationship and Cooperation: An Important Factor in
Student’s Quality Learning and Self-Development
 Students and Parents Bullying Teachers: A Fast Spreading Disease

RECENT COMMENTS

 MARYJOY D CIBALIDA on How to Request for DepEd NCAE Duplicate

Certificate of Ratings (COR)
 Vanessa R. Jardin on Daily Lesson Log/Detailed Lesson Plan and Activity
Sheets for Grade 6
 Marimar Evangelista on Daily Lesson Log/Detailed Lesson Plan and Activity
Sheets for Grade 6
 Jasmhine Caraga on DepEd Legal Matters Frequently Asked Questions
(FAQs)
 john Vincent Raña Tinapan on How to Request for DepEd NCAE Duplicate
Certificate of Ratings (COR)
COPYRIGHT © 2019 · TEACHERPH.COM · PRIVACY POLICY · TERMS OF
SERVICE · COMMENT POLICY · CONTACT US