Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 290, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 December 1912 — Culture Education in Philippines [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Culture Education in Philippines

THE TWELFTH annual report of the director of education for the Philippine islands, covering the school year ending April 1, 1912, has just been received by the bureau of insular affairs. It is a very comprehensive statement of the educational program in the Islands, shows that very encouraging results have been obtained during the past year in all lines of school activities and that “the achievement of a civilization and a high culture” is* well entered upon. Some of the specific things accomplished during the past year are enumerated by the director. Progress has been very marked in the improvement in the quality of English taught In all the schools whether of primary, intermediate or secondary grade. Industrial Instruction has been organized and developed to a greater extent than in any previous year. A large number of permanent school buildings have been completed. , The policy of acquiring adequate school sites has found general acceptance and much attention has been given to the improvement of temporary buildings. Through the vacation assembly at Baguio, the bureau has come into closer sympathy with the vast majority of its teachers than ever before. A decided improvement is reported in the personnel of the teaching force, both American and Filipino, Specialization in Elementary Bchools. In the Philippines specialization must begin much lower down in the course than is the usual practice in the United States, although many educators here are coming to recognize that the earlier this specialization can be Introduced the better. In the islands it begins with the first year of the Intermediate grades, five courses being provided—the general course, the course for teaching, the course in farming, the trade course, the course in housekeeping and household arts, and the course in business. This specialization is incorporated into the course of study in order that the child may secure such training as will directly prepare him for a useful life. A careful study and comparison of education in the Philippines with that carried on in other tropical countries enjoying practically the same conditions as obtain there, shows that it is the aim of nearly every one of these countries to make education general, but as a rule the percentage of population attendingschool is much lower than in the Philippines. In very few cases is special attention being given to industrial-, education. The elementary schools are seldom considered in the plan of industrial instruction, the attention being confined to advanced technical and agricultural subjects. Much more stress is laid upon athletics and physical training in the Philippines than is given in other countries generally. The interest that the Filipino people take in public instruction is much greater than is apparently the case elsewhere. Reports seem to Indicate that in a number of the Countries, at least, not only a lack of interest, but actual opposition U manifested. For a number of years the bureau has been committed to the policy of providing adequate permanent buildings for the housing of the public schools as rapidly as money might be made available. In the furtherance of this policy standard plans based upon the unit system of construction, which allows additions to be made as necessity may demand without detracting from the appearance or utility of the original structure, have been prepared. In the standard schoolhouse plans each unit is a class room of standard size, seven by nine meters'. Plans have been adopted for buildings of

from ones to twenty class rooms with assembly room, offices and storeroom. Concrete reinforced with steel is the construction material which meets conditions best. It Is specified for the standard schoolhouse. Already 135 Bchool buildings of this type have been completed and 173 others are in process of construction, of which 81 lacked very little of completion and were already occupied at thb time the director made his report. Methods Correct. The industrial program is being promoted constantly through the medium of provincial industrial supervisors ; inspectors and instructors fonh the traveling corps of the general office; various publications, bulletins, and correspondence; through industrial exhibits; through the appointment of pensionados to receive training along such lines, and by means of the special courses offered in the Philippine Normal school and thePhilippine School of Arts and Trades. Such satisfactory progress is to be reported as to convince the director .that the methods employed are substantially correct On entering the Nqchool, the pupil must immediatelytake wjjg, part of each day’s work certain manu&l exercises in the nature of play work at first but which gradually lead up to the regular industrial courses provided in the advanced primary and in the intermediate grades. Special courses in farming, housekeeping and household arts, trade work, and business are offered for those pupils who desire to do more industrial work than that prescribed j in the general intermediate course. These special industrial courses are replacing tbe general course in many intermediate schools. Already 41 schools are giving the farming course, 54 are giving the housekeeping course, 35 are giving the trade course, 43 the teaching course, and one the business course, as compared with a total of 199 conducting the general course. It is at once evident, with requirements so definitely fixed for industrialr work in the schools, the great majority of the pupils who are enrolled musti be engaged in some branch of thisf work. An examination of the figures included among the statistical tables of this report will show that of thef total enrollment of 233,740 boys andj 138,842 girls during the month of February, 1912 (an average month), 216,290 boys and 125,203 girls—3l per cent of the entire monthly enrollment —were doing some form of industrial work. More specifically, it will be found that 13,210 boys were taking manual training and trade work, 90,167 boys were engaged in school gardening and farming; 15,485 girls were also engaged in garden work, and 165,450 boys and 68,194 girls were taking up various lines which go under the general caption of minor industries. It will be noted that 79,382 girls were pursuing the subject cf housekeeping and household arts.; Further in that connection it will be' found that in the subject of lace making alone 16,439 girls were receiving instruction; in embroidery 12,339 and in cooking 4,768. There were 22,965 boys and 7,709 girls making hats in the industrial clashes, 40,264 pupils making mats, and . 104,424 studying the art of basketry. From another point of view, 63,067 pupils engaged in school gardening cultivated 3,046 school gardens and 24,682 home gardens during the year; ' 1,319 pupils were enrolled in the regular trade school classes; 1,263 in regular trade courses in other schools; and 7,360 in the shops operated in connection with provincial and other Intermediate schools. In addition to the above, 10,356 pupils were taking work in 236 primary wood working shops conducted in connection with municipal primary schools in all parts cf the Islands.