Philippine Education Today

Author(s): Pedro T. Orata

Source: International Review of Education / Internationale Zeitschrift für
Erziehungswissenschaft / Revue Internationale de l'Education , 1956, Vol. 2, No. 2,
Orientation et selection scolaires et professionnelles (1956), pp. 159-173
Published by: Springer

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY

by PEDRO T. ORATA, Paris.

The Philippines consists of a group of more than 7,000 i

which form the northernmost part of the Malay Arc
about 1,000 are sufficiently large and fertile to be inhab
pines first came to the attention of Europeans in 1521, w
Magellan landed there and claimed the islands for Sp
Spaniards first came to the Philippines, they found a pe
re that was basically Indonesian and Malayan. Under
of nearly four hundred years, Latin civilization and Cath
were introduced. The Americans, later, with their dif
background, placed special stress upon education and
political development. From the Spaniards the Filipino
dominant religion, which serves today as one of the
binding them together as a people. From the United S
years of contact with the pragmatic philosophy of life w
the tremendous changes in the physical environment of t
The Filipinos now constitute a composite race, incl
Malayans and Indonesians, who possess much the same
innate psychology, but also some Chinese, Americans,
few other groups. Great diversity exists in languages an
in various parts of the Philippines. The total populat
by the U.N. as being 20,246,000 in 1951, but latest unoffi
raise it to more than 21 million. Since 1946, the Philip
independent Republic, with a President as the chief exec
legislature and an independent judiciary, a set-up which
that of the United States. There is a universal suffr
equality between men and women. Freedom of speech
and religion is guaranteed and practised without fear or f
During the pre-Spanish period, the Filipinos had no
of education, although there is evidence that they had a
ing and that they composed songs and wrote poems. Dur
regime the schools were few and far between and were
as private institutions, with religious indoctrination a
jective. The United States set as its educational goal t
the masses for self-government and effective citizenshi
officially declared achieved on July 4, 1946 when th
tained its independence, and which since then has been m
effective manner.

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160 PEDRO T. ORATA

Chronology of Main Educational Developments

Established by the Educational Act No. 74 of the Philippine Commissi-
on in 1901, the present educational system developed approximately
according to the following stages:
To I9Io: Period of Organization and Orientation. Public schools were
established with curricula of instruction based on the American pattern
and, in the main, with American books, and with English as the medium
of instruction. Religious instruction was prohibited in the classroom. The
object was to prepare the people for self-government, with strong initial
emphasis on training personnel for the government service.

I9gI-I925: Period of Adjustment to National Needs. The curriculum of

the elementary schools was revised to give it a practical bias. Thirty
million pesos ($15 million) were set aside for the development of the ele-
mentary school programme for a period of five years. Teacher training was
established on a firm footing. Textbooks were prepared based on and
adapted to needs and conditions of the Philippines.

I926-I935: Period of Evaluation and School Reform. The results of

twenty-five years of "educational experiment to prepare the people for
self-government" were assessed by the Monroe Educational Survey Com-
mission, an American group assisted by Filipino educators. The suggested
reforms became the subject of a great deal of discussion and made the
basis for further revision of the curriculum at all levels, and for the
streamlining of the educational system.

I936-I946: Period of Readjustment and Reorientation. 1) With the es-

tablishment of the Commonwealth, a reorientation of educational plans
and policies was necessary to conform to the requirements of the new
Constitution of the Philippines which contained the following educational
provisions: "All educational institutions shall be under the supervision of
and subject to regulation by the State. The Government shall establish
and maintain a complete and adequate system of public education, and
shall provide at least free public primary instruction and citizenship
training to adult citizens. All schools shall aim to develop moral character,
personal discipline, civic conscience, vocational efficiency and to teach
the duties of citizenship". 2) Another reorientation took place during the
Japanese occupation, 1941-1945, when the school curriculum was com-

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 161

pletely revised in order to get rid of any Western inf

the schools instead to the objectives of the Asia Co-pr
the Japanese occupying forces. After the war ever
influence was removed from the schools as from ev
Philippine life.

After July 4, 1946: Period of Universalization. D

enrolment at all levels rose rapidly resulting in one of
living being in one kind of school or another. Specially
rapid expansion of private schools, particularly on
higher levels. Considerable activity was directed towar
and extension of the community school. Another asses
taken by the Joint Congressional Committee on Educa
mendations on the prolongation of compulsory educat
and the revision of the salary scales in order to attrac
qualified persons to the teaching service were ena
improvement of educational standards, development o
curriculum, and provision for greater correspondence
and needs were to be the next steps. As a result of a 5
teaching through the vernacular has been introduc
have so far proved encouraging.

The Organization of the Educational System

Like that of France, the Philippine educational system
ized, although in recent years, particularly since the w
a significant tendency towards giving teachers and loc
increasing freedom and participation in the formulatio
in developing better curricula, and in experimenting w
of teaching and administration. The system is heade
Education, who is a member of the President's cabinet. Under him are
the Directors of Public and Private Schools who are responsible for the
supervision and control of over twenty-seven thousand schools and more
than one hundred thousand teachers in fifty-two provinces and around
twenty chartered cities. The system includes four years of primary and
two years of intermediate education, four years of secondary, four years
or longer of higher education, including four years of training for ele-
mentary and secondary school teaching. Vocational and professional
courses are of different levels and they vary in length from a few months
to eight years.
11

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162 PEDRO T. ORATA

Education Universal After Fifty Years

The Philippine educational system started with an initial enrolment
of 6,900 pupils. At the present time, the enrolment in all types of schools
is nearly four and a half million. Whereas at the beginning of the century
only one of every 1,500 inhabitants was privileged to go to school, at the
present time one of every five of the twenty-one million inhabitants goes
to one school or another. The increase in enrolment of over 1,500 per cent
since then is significant considering that more than half of the children
of school age the world over - a quarter of a billion of them - are denied
educational opportunity of any kind and are therefore doomed to illiteracy.
While half of the countries of the world are still struggling with the pro-
blem of compulsory education, the Philippines, thanks to the example
and guidance of America, has succeeded in so universalizing education
that everyone who wishes to go to school can do so without fear of dis-
crimination because of sex, race, economic and social status, religion, or
any other factor, and can climb to the top of the educational ladder if he
has the ability and the persistence to do so. Thousands upon thousands
of young people and employed adults are in institutions of higher learning
while working part- or full-time to earn their living and, in many cases, in-
cluding the support of their families.

Where Philippine Education Stands Today

Statistically speaking, Philippine education fares well compared with
world figures. In total school (all levels) enrolment per 1,000 inhabitants,
the world average, on the basis of figures for 60 countries, is around 110:
for Africa 85, North America 197, South America 104, Asia 90, Europe
148, and Oceania 173. For the Philippines the corresponding figure stands
today at 210, which is second to the United States, 217. In higher educa-
tion, the Philippines stands second to the combined ratio of enrolment to
1,000 of the United States (13.92), Alaska (10.88) and Hawaii (9.75),
namely, 9.30. The percentage of female enrolment is as follows: elementa-
ry 47.0, secondary 48.2, and higher 43.6. The percentage of the national
budget devoted to education was 38 in 1951 and 33 in 1955. The
teacher-pupil ratio, between one to forty and one to fifty is about average
as compared with corresponding ratios the world over. The latest figures
in enrolment and number of schools and teachers are indicated in the
following table:

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 163

Number of schools, teachers, and pupils enro

and private (I953-1954) Institutions of t

Pre-school Elementary
Vocational
Secondary Spec

No. of Schools I44 24,898 I,58I 42I 401 27,445

Public - 23,677 353 - 15 24,045
Private 144 1,221 1,228 421 386 3,400
No. of Teachers I37 85,720 16,262 289 3,319 I05,727
Public - 83,269 8,014 - 245 91,528
Private 137 2,451 8,248 289 3,074 14,199
Enrolment 8,626 3,57I,776 582,577 33,362 I84,269 4,380,6IO
Public - 3.438,832 216,875 - 27,668 3,683,375
Private 8,626 132,944 365,702 33,362 156,601 697,235

Note: 1) The data on teachers for private schools ar

returns from such schools.
2) Enrolment in public secondary schools includes: general (75% academic,
25% vocational), which enrol 178,285 students, and vocational (trade, rural,
agricultural, normal), which enrol 48,590 students.
3) Enrolments in institutions of higher learning include estimates for the (State)
University of the Philippines, Philippine Normal College, Philippine College of
Commerce, and Central Luzon Agricultural College, which are public institutions.
The number of teachers and schools in these institutions are not included in the
tabulation. The combined enrolment of these institutions is more than 25,000.
Sources: Philippines. Bureau of Public Schools. I953 statistical bulletin. Prepared
by the Research and Evaluation Division. 119 p. mimeog. Bureau of Private
Schools. I953-1954 private school statistics. Prepared by the Division of Evaluation,
Research and Statistics. 49 p. mimeog.

In substance, speaking of the regular school subjects, the school curri-

cula in the primary and secondary schools are similar to those abroad
and particularly those of the United States. The manner in which these
subjects are related to community improvement is indicated in the
following few examples:

Arithmetic and the Language Arts. In arithmetic, the chief criterion for the
selection of content is social utility, so that mainly those aspects having a
direct bearing upon life situations in the community are stressed. Similarly
with language arts. This does not mean that drill in the fundamental combi-
nations and reflective thinking are neglected. They are in fact emphasized, but
in relation to contemporary social, economic and personal problems.
Character Training. Following the outline embodied in Teaching the Ways of
Democracy (13b) character education and training for democratic citizenship is
given new impetus. In the old days, honesty was "recited" upon on Mondays,
and thrift on Fridays. Character and citizenship training is now taught by
means of social situations which make the pupils think of ways to deal with
them, followed by opportunities for acting in accordance with such solutions.
Social Studies. The teaching of social studies is closely articulated with school
and community improvement by stressing participation by the pupils in social-
ly worth-while activities at home and in the community and in the utilization
of available resources.

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164 PEDRO T. ORATA

Natural Science. The course provides a greater number of activities in the form
of observation, experimentation, and field trips than formerly, by means of
which the pupils are enabled and guided to see things in their natural setting,
to develop the ability to think, and to apply scientific generalizations in the
solution of practical problems. Lessons on conservation, accompanied by
appropriate conservation activities, are given in many fields: forest, fish, soil,
and even human energy.

Compulsory Education in Reverse

Unlike in most countries, compulsory education has always operated
in reverse in the Philippines. Instead of the Government compelling the
parents to send their children to school, the latter compel the former to
provide school accommodation for their children. For a while up to only
a few years ago, there used to be what was popularly called a "school
crisis", when thousands of school-age children were refused admission for
lack of school facilities. Every year the Congress and President of the
Philippines were compelled to find a solution to this problem by voting,
invariably, additional funds to pay the salaries of extension teachers and
to provide additional textbooks and other school facilities. In this struggle
for universal education, the private schools which now number 3,400 and
enrol nearly three quarters of a million pupils - including 62% of the
enrolment in the secondary schools and over 82% of those in institutions
of higher learning - have helped a great deal. They have saved the govern-
ment the vast amount of 77,000,000 pesos a year, which represents the
private schools' investment in education, a sum which is nearly one half
of the national budget for education during the current year. And, while
there is a problem in regard to the quality of education being given in
many of these schools and also there is the problem of commercialization
of private education going on in a great many of these schools, still
education is education and it is better to have some that may not be of the
highest standard than not to have any at all because the government is
unable to provide all the facilities that may be needed for the education,
especially higher education, of well qualified young people.

The Community School Movement

Since the war there has been a profound change in the concept of
education in the Philippines. From the beginning there has been such
enthusiasm for education that, as already indicated, compulsory education
operated in reverse. But it was also evident that extension and improve-
ment of educational facilities did not always result in the corresponding
improvement of the standards of living of the people in the communities
in which the schools showed all evidence of being modern. As one return-

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 165

ing former American school teacher remarked: "Every

the schools are better and there are more of them, and the enrolments are
many times what they were when I left - except the common tao (peasant)
who lives in the same old hut and with the same old pig". One would
notice a flourishing agricultural college, with the latest in machinery and
methods of cultivation being employed within the college compound, only
to be disillusioned by the sight across the fence of farms producing less
than half of the yield of the college farm because there the method of
agriculture is out of date. The farmers, on the whole, have not been taught
the modern methods of seed selection, cultivation, irrigation, weeding, not
to mention the proper care of animals and of themselves so that they have
the strength to grow better crops. In other words, there has not been
sufficient carry-over from the college farm to the farmers' farms and from
the school to the home of the many theories of farming and of living which
are so well presented in the textbooks and by the teachers.
It is to bridge over the very wide gap existing between the school and
the home and community that the community school has been designed.
Since 1949, the objectives of the public schools have been reconsidered in
order to stress not only the education of children but also the improvement
of community life. Correspondingly, the role of the teacher has been re-
defined in order to include, on one hand, teaching the books and impart-
ing information and developing skills in reading, writing and arithmetic,
and, on the other, helping the children and adults to raise their living
standards. In these community schools the teacher has a double role - as
educator of children and as leader of adults.
This movement is widespread and community education has, in fact,
become a national policy. The Government has embarked on a policy of
gearing the schools to economic and social development. It is a grassroots
approach to the total problem of freeing the people, not only from
ignorance but also from want and disease. It involves both the children
and their parents who, together with the teachers acting temporarily as
leaders until the adults are ready to take over, study their own problems
and discover their needs, plan a programme to solve and meet them, go
ahead and carry their plan to execution, assess the results of their efforts,
and provide the necessary measures to fill in gaps. School communities
are, in fact, little democracies in action at the grassroots level. To quote
from a foreign observer who saw these little democracies in action in the
province of Bataan:
The story of Little Democracies is the story of the Community School in action.
It is a record of achievement in one province where the schools concentrated on
developing a programme designed to raise the hopes and aspirations of the

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166 PEDRO T. ORATA

people. This story of Bataan is more than a record of nine months' achievement
in one province. It is a symptomatic expression of the hopes and desires of many
people throughout the nation. It is the record of the daring and spirit of a
youthful Division Superintendent of Schools and a loyal group of professional
workers. It is the story of old men and women and young boys and girls finding
satisfaction in working co-operatively to improve their own modes of living. It
is a record of what can be accomplished when latent forces are unleashed and
given freedom of expression. It is the record of a beginning, a point well made
by the author in his prefatory statement. More than anything else, it is a record
of democracy in action at the grassroots, the cogon, level.

Another foreign writer, an English gentleman, visiting the Philippines

in 1955, said: "The community school movement of the Philippines is not
just an experiment by educational theorists: it is a move of the greatest
political importance; an attempt by a centralized government with
democratic organs to create its own enlightened constituency". Com-
menting on community school methods, he went on to say:
There is always, of course, a gap between the theoretical and actual solution of
educational problems: one is fully aware of criticisms that have been made of
some aspects of the community school, and of the 'unitary approach' which
attempts to integrate the education of adults with that of children. But when
all this has been accepted, and the mistakes (which in my own experience the
Filipinos themselves are generally anxious to point out) have been noted, they
shed no real doubts on the potential effect of the community school approach
to community problems. The concept, for instance, of the 'off campus recitation
which is part of the 'Laguna approach' to win over parents and citizens to
work for a solution of particular local problems, is in itself, technically brilliant;
one or two lessons observed, obviously and admittedly for the purpose of
demonstration of its possibilities, showed an attention to detail and pedagogical
competence that could probably not be surpassed anywhere. (14)

The curriculum of the community school has two parts: the school
subjects, such as the three R's, social studies, science, drawing, handicrafts,
agriculture, home economics, music, and others, on one hand, and out-of-
school or community activities or extension work, on the other hand.
Methods of teaching are calculated to develop skills, impart useful infor-
mation, and inculcate attitudes, and to provide a carry-over from learning
to living.

Curriculum Development the Concern of Teachers and Parents

While in the main curriculum development is still in the hands of a few
individuals, it is becoming the concern of everybody - superintendents
of schools, supervisors, classroom teachers, parents and other laymen,
and even students, as well as school officials. The revised Service Manual
for teachers makes the following provision:

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 167

While the field is thus supplied with courses of study, te

other curricular aids and sources of information that will
visors, principals and teachers in planning and organizing
of developing the curriculum, which in this case refers to
ences through which children learn and grow, will be m
responsibility ... Lay persons who can make a contribu
curriculum development or evaluation should be encoura
so. (13-a)
Since then, and in fact, even as far back as 1950, leadership in cur-
riculum development and administration has shifted from the Central
Office of the Bureau of Public Schools to the field in the Offices of the
Division Superintendents of Schools. Heretofore these officials acted as
the sub-lieutenants of the Director of Public Schools in interpreting and
enforcing his directives on all matters that pertained to what to teach,
how to teach, and who should be appointed to teach it. Now, all this is
changing. The center of gravity in educational activities will not for long
be the City of Manila, but the fifty-two provinces and the twenty or more
chartered cities. There are curriculum workshops going on all the time
where teachers, parents, and representatives of business, the professions,
of industry and agriculture, as well as school officials take active part in
determining what is to be taught and how it is to be organized. In 1954,
several curriculum laboratories have been established with centres in
Manila, in the Philippine Normal College and in the Bureau of Publ
Schools, and in the seven or eight regional normal schools. Since no two
communities are alike, therefore no two community school curricul
should be alike, especially in those parts having to do with the applicatio
of knowledge and principles, aspects which may be the same for all school
In this set-up the supervisors of the General Office of the Bureau of Publ
Schools and of the Department of Education act as consultants in th
field if their services are needed. The General Office itself and the Depart
ment of Education are becoming less and less like the French Ministry o
National Education (no reflection intended) and more and more like th
U.S. Office of Education, whose function is mainly that of collecting and
disseminating educational information among the states and has no admi
nistrative or policy-making responsibilities except in regard to certa
branches such as vocational education and home economics in the promo-
tion of whose programmes the Office has to administer certain gran
from the Federal Government.

Training and Status of Teachers

The Philippines is unique among the nations of the world in that it has
an oversupply of teacher training graduates. The supply-demand situation

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168 PEDRO T. ORATA

in 1951 was that "of the 12,383 who qualified in the Bureau of Public
Schools examination .... 5,947, or 48.02 per cent, could not be em-
ployed because of lack of vacancies in the public elementary schools".
The situation in 1952-53 has been conservatively estimated as follows:
"That approximately 27,165 public and private normal school students
will probably graduate in April 1952, and 20,652 in April 1953. These
figures, added to the number of candidates (who failed in previous
examinations) will yield a total of 40,324 candidates in May 1952 . . .
only a small fraction of whom would be needed for replacement and
extension classes. The reasons for this overcrowding of teacher training
colleges are not far to seek. Teaching is one of the most respected and
personally satisfying professions in the Philippines today. Since the war
teachers' salaries have been raised, and they now correspond to the
increase in the cost of living. No other group of public servants enjoy the
confidence of the public as the teachers do. They are invariably appointed
inspectors and poll clerks during election time, and they have always
acquitted themselves in both honesty and accuracy. Once a teacher gets
in it is most difficult to get him out. He is amply protected by civil service
regulations. Promotion is strictly by merit. Many teachers find teaching
in a community school more personally satisfying than teaching in a
traditional school. It gives them the opportunity to exercise community
leadership and to find out the effect of their classroom teaching upon the
homes and the community served by the school. The four years beyond
the secondary course that are devoted to their training is adequate con-
sidering their double functions of teaching and community leadership.
(5, p. 507).

Retrospect and Prospects

Celebrating its golden anniversary only a few years ago, the Phi-
lippine educational system faces the future with courage and con-
fidence. Fifty years is a short time, as compared with centuries of
American and European educational experience. If it is somewhat
lacking in excellence and maturity, as is frankly admitted, the reasons are
obvious enough. Present-day Philippine educational leaders are con-
temporaries of the present writer, in their fifties. They started their
schooling under Filipino teachers who tried to teach them in the morning
what they tried to learn the afternoon before from American soldier
teachers. It is true that there are seventeen universities, most of them
with graduate faculties, and numberless colleges, but with a few significant
exceptions they are institutions of higher learning in name only. In fact
they are, like the lower levels - primary and secondary schools - mostly

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 169

schools of the people, to distinguish them from the univer

like Yale and Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge, the So
Leipzig, Leiden, Utrecht, Geneva, or even the next lesser
Europe and America. This is no reflection necessarily as i
phasis on the education of people, meaning the commo
trasted with that of the elite, has its own merits.
But given time to mature and mellow, Philippine edu
make its contribution to world culture and civilization, what with interest
in education that is unsurpassed anywhere in the world today. There is no
country known to this writer where, openly and unashamedly, education
has become a highly profitable business, like selling shoes or tobacco, as it
is at present in the Philippines, because the people are willing to pay a
very high price for it. This is, however, no defence of commercialized or
"diploma mill" institutions many of which, fortunately, are being closed
by the Secretary of Education. Neither is there any other place where
there are more trained teachers than there is demand for their services.
Again, this is no brief for indiscriminate enrolment of would-be teachers,
many of whom lack both the ability and aptitude for teaching.
If, however, education is in such a great demand and more young men
and women choose to prepare themselves for teaching than can be given
employment in the teaching service, it must have some merit, at least to
the people who are willing to make all the sacrifices to support it.
The fact is that, young as it is, Philippine education is not without its
solid achievement already. If, as many educators the world over now
believe, the ultimate test of education is the quality of the citizens that it
produces, then by its fruit, the Philippine educational system may not be
judged entirely as without excellence or even as immature. For, with all its
admitted defects and attendant difficulties, partly financial but largely
due to lack of highly seasoned scholars and teachers in its staff, it has
prepared the mass of the Filipino people for self-government in barely
fifty years of its existence. In all the elections which were free and univers-
al after independence in 1946, but particularly in the last two, the men
and women voters of the nation showed themselves capable of choosing
their executive and legislative leaders fairly. Where it was universally
predicted, as it was in 1951, that the party in power would be unanimously
victorious because it had both the money and complete control of the
machinery of the elections, the result was exactly the reverse when every
one of the party's candidates suffered ignominous defeat. This happened,
almost as decisively, in the last presidential election when the masses in a
landslide election picked one among themselves, a relatively inexperienced
but incorruptibly honest man, to be their next President, whose policies

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170 PEDRO T. ORATA

and conduct were subsequently endorsed by an even more overwhelming-

ly one-sided mid-term election in 1955 for senators, provincial governors
and municipal and city mayors. This could happen because of a free,
almost licentious, press, universal education, and incorruptible election
inspectors who are mostly school teachers.
No longer just a "show-window of democracy in South-East Asia", the
Philippines today, thanks to an educational system of the people, for and
by the people, may in the not too distant future be depended upon to
maintain the free way of life and to share it with the rest of the free world.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. ALDANA, B. V., The educational system of the Philippi

Publishing Co., 1949.
2. ALZONA, ENCARNACION, A history of education in th
University of the Philippines Press, 1932.
3. AGUILAR, JOSE V., "From community improvement to
Philippine Journal of Education, Vol. XXII, No. 3, p. 14
4. BERNARDINO, VITALIANO. Improving the community sc
of the second educational conference (in Bulacan). Malolo
5. HALL, R. K. and others, Eds. The year book of educatio
status of teachers); "Philippines." London, Evans Bros.,
6. ISIDRO, ANTONIO. The Philippine educational system. M
7. LAYA, JUAN C. Little democracies. Manila, Kayumangg
- , New schools (for Little democracies). Manila, Kay
461 p.
8. MARTIN DALMACIO and others., Curriculum development for the elementary
school. Baguio, Philippines, 1954. 291 p.
9. ORATA, PEDRO T. Education for better living. Manila, University Publishing Co.,
1953. 495 p.
10. Philippine Association of School Superintendents. Education in rural areas for
better living. 1950 Yearbook. Manila, Bookman, Inc., 278 p.
11. Philippine Association of School Superintendents. Quarterly Bulletins. Vol. 1,
No. 1, Sept. 1951: "Learning the problems of the community school." 36 p.
No. 2, December 1951: Exploring ways of curriculum development." 40 p.
Vol. II, No. 4, June 1953: "The community school program for community
development." 57 p.Vol. III, No. 4, June 1954: "The evaluation of the com-
munity school program." 64 p. Vol. IV, No. 3, March 1955: "The first national
training program in community education leadership." 70 p.
12. Philippines. Joint Congressional Committee on Education. Improving the
Philippine educational system. Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1951. 385 p.
13. Philippines. Bureau of Public Schools.
a) Service manual. Rev., 1951, 1952, 1953. 130 p. mimeog.
b) Teaching the ways of democracy. A teacher's handbook. Manila, Bureau of
Printing, 1949. 176 p.
c) Gearing the schools to the improvement of community life. 45th annual report
of the Director of Public Schools, 1949-50.
Manila, Bureau of Printing, 1952. 197 p.

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 171

d) Evaluating the Iloilo community school program. Manila, Bureau of

Printing, 1954. 126 p.
14. The reference is in the form of a confidential report which cannot, for obvious
reasons, be identified at the present time.
15. Trinidad, Venancio. "Education should reflect itself in community life." The
Philippine Educator, Vol. VIII, pp. 12-15, January 1954.
16. Unesco National Commission of the Philippines. Six community schools. Manila,
Bureau of Printing, 1954. 130 p.
17. Unesco-Philippine Educational Foundation. Fifty years of education for freedom.
Manila, National Printing Co., 1953. 383 p.

DAS ERZIEHUNGSWESEN DER PHILIPPINEN

von P. ORATA, Paris

Das Erziehungswesen der Philippinen ist, wie das franz6sische, stark zentralisiert,
obwohl in den letzten Jahren die Tendenz wachst, den Lehrern und 6rtlichen Behor-
den in der Gestaltung der Schularbeit, in der Schaffung verbesserter Lehrplane und
bei Versuchen mit neuen Lehr- oder auch Verwaltungsmethoden freiere Hand zu
lassen. An der Spitze des Erziehungswesens steht ein Kabinettsminister. Unter
ihm wirken zwei Direktoren, einer fur das staatliche und einer fiir das private
Schulwesen; sie sind fiir fiber 27000 Schulen und fiber 100000 Lehrer verantwortlich.
Das Schulsystem der Philippinen weist eine vierjahrige Grundschule, eine zwei-
jahrige Mittelschule, eine vierjahrige h6here Schule auf, an die sich ein weiterfiih-
rendes Studium von mindestens vier Jahren anschlieBt. Die Ausbildung der zukiinf-
tigen Lehrer an Volks- und h6heren Schulen vollzieht sich innerhalb dieser letzten
vier Jahre.
Wahrend es vor etwa 50 Jahren nur 6900 Schiiler gab, zahlen wir heute fast fiinf
Millionen. Das bedeutet, da3 jeder fiinfte Einwohner eine Schule besucht. Dieses
Verhaltnis von 1: 5 entspricht dem gegenwartigen Stand in USA und liegt weit
fiber dem Weltdurchschnitt von 1: 11. Der gegenwartige Stand des Schulwesens
der Philippinen erm6glicht jedem Kind einen seinen Fahigkeiten angemessenen
Bildungsgang.
Die Einfiihrung der Schulpflicht auf den Philippinen ist nicht durch staatliche
Initiative verwirklicht worden. Die Bevolkerung hat von sich aus mit Hilfe gut-
organisierter und aktiver Vereinigungen von Eltern und Lehrern die Regierung dazu
gebracht, dort Schulen einzurichten, wo die Kinder sonst ohne Unterricht geblieben
waren. Im Parlament sorgten entweder friihere Lehrer oder Bildungsfragen auf-
geschlossene Abgeordnete dafiir, da3 stets ein angemessener Betrag zur Entwick-
lung des Schulwesens bereitgestellt wurde. 1955 entfielen auf das Schulwesen etwa
34% des Gesamthaushalts.
Die Amerikaner hatten von 1898 an das Schulwesen mit dem Hauptziel aufge-
baut, die Bev6lkerung der Philippinen auf politische Selbstandigkeit vorzubereiten.
Dieses Ziel wurde 1946 nach fast 50 Jahren erreicht; die Philippinen sind heute ein
unabhangiges Mitglied der Gemeinschaft der freien Volker. Die Philippinen lenken
ihre eigenen Angelegenheiten ohne fremde Hilfe, sie sind dariiber hinaus ein Boll-
werk der Demokratie in Siidostasien.
Seit dem Kriege hat sich das Erziehungsdenken erheblich gewandelt. Die Sch

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 172 PEDRO T. ORATA

vermittelt nicht mehr lediglich Buchw

zugewandt; die Lehrer sind dabei nicht
auch fiihrende Stellungen im Gemeinsc
Erwachsenenbildner.

Der Gedanke, daB die Schule Ausgangs- und Mittelpunkt allgemeinen sozia
Fortschritts sein soil, hat das ganze Land erfal3t, die staatlichen Schulen arb
standig an der Verbesserung des Familien- und des Gemeinschaftslebens. Die
Gestaltung des Lehrplans, einst die Aufgabe der Beh6rden, wird jetzt Lehrern und
Eltern iiberlassen. Natuirlich ist das Schulwesen der Philippinen nicht vollkommen,
aber es folgt nicht mehr veralteten Uberlieferungen, sondern ist im Begriff, neue,
bessere Wege zu gehen.

L'tDUCATION AUX PHILIPPINES

par P. ORATA, Paris

Le systeme scolaire aux Philippines est, comme le systeme

centralis6. Cependant au cours des dernieres annees s'est man
nette a donner aux maitres et aux autorit6s scolaires locales une libert6 croissante en
les faisant participer a l'61aboration de la politique scolaire, a la preparation d
programmes meilleurs et a la mise a l'essai de nouvelles m6thodes d'enseignem
et d'administration. A la tete du systeme scolaire se trouve un Secr6taire de l'P
cation, membre du gouvernement; lui sont imm6diatement subordonnes les Dir
teurs des enseignements public et priv6 qui portent la responsabilit6 du contro
27000 6coles et de plus de 100000 maitres. Le systeme scolaire comprend un c
primaire de 4 ans, 2 ans d'enseignement moyen, 4 ans d'enseignement second
et 4 ans ou plus d'enseignement sup6rieur; c'est a ce niveau que se situent
annees exig6es pour la formation des mattres de l'enseignement primaire et sec
daire.
II y a 50 ans environ, l'enseignement d6marrait avec 6900 6elves environ, il en
compte aujourd'hui pres de 5 millions; la population scolaire est donc 6gale au
cinquieme de la population totale. Ce pourcentage 6quivaut a celui des 1-tats Unis
et est tres largement sup6rieur a la moyenne mondiale (1/11). Les Philippines
jouissent aujourd'hui d'un systeme d'enseignement g6n6ralise, grace auquel chaque
enfant peut recevoir une education aussi pouss6e que ses capacit6s et son intelli-
gence le permettent.
Aux Philippines, le caractere obligatoire de l'6ducation s'est toujours exerc6 a
l'inverse de ce qu'on observe d'habitude. C'est le peuple, grace a des associations
actives et bien organis6es de parents et de maitres qui a "oblige" le gouvernement
a prendre les mesures indispensables pour que tous les enfants puissent fr6quenter
l'6cole. Le Congres a toujours compt6 parmi ses repr6sentants d'anciens maitres ou
des amis de l'enseignement qui sont intervenus pour que les &coles se voient attri-
buer une part convenable du budget national, part qui s'6elve cette ann6e aux
environs de 34% du budget total.
La premiere impulsion dans le domaine scolaire fut donn6e en 1898 par l'Am6ri-
que dans le but avant tout de pr6parer le peuple philippin a se gouverner lui-meme.
Pres de 50 ans plus tard, en 1946, cette intention 6tait r6alis6e et le peuple philippin,
fort de 20 millions d'habitants, se joignait au concert des nations libres. Aujourd'hui

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 PHILIPPINE EDUCATION TODAY 173

le peuple gere ses propres affaires sans aide ext6rieu

rempart de la d6mocratie dans l'Asie du Sud.
Depuis la guerre, la conception de l'education a pr
soucieuses de culture livresque, les ecoles sont aujourd'
mattres remplissent une double fonction: 6ducateurs d
communaut6 un r61e de dirigeants et d'animateurs. Le
munautaires a conquis tout le pays et les 6coles publi
au progres de la vie familiale et sociale. C'est aux maitres et aux parents qu'il
revient aujourd'hui d'6tablir les programmes qui 6taient autrefois l'affaire de l'ad-
ministration scolaire. Sans etre parfaites a tous points de vue, les ecoles ne sont plus
li6es a des traditions routinieres, et les mattres s'efforcent d'ouvrir a l'6ducation des
chemins nouveaux.

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