The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898; Volume 46, 1721-1739 / Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century

by Unknown

REGULATIONS FOR THE SCHOOLS AND TEACHERS OF PRIMARY INSTRUCTION FOR THE NATIVES OF THE PHILIPPINE ARCHIPELAGO

Article 1. The teaching in the schools for natives shall be reduced for the present to the elementary primary grade, and shall comprise:

1. The Christian doctrine and principles of morality and sacred history suitable for children.

2. Reading.[27]

3. Writing.

4. Practical teaching of the Castilian language, principles of Castilian grammar, with extension of orthography.

5. Principles of arithmetic, which shall include the four rules for integers, common fractions, decimals, and denominate numbers, with principles of the decimal metric system, and its equivalents in the usual weights and measures.

6. Principles of general geography and Spanish history.

7. Principles of practical agriculture, with application to the products of the country.

8. Rules of courtesy.

9. Vocal music.

The primary teaching of girls will include the matters expressed by numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9, of the present article, and the needle-work suitable to their sex.

Art. 2. Primary instruction is obligatory for all the natives. The parents, guardians, or agents of the children shall send them to the public schools from the age of seven to the age of twelve, unless they prove that they are giving them sufficient instruction at home or in private school. Those who do not observe this duty, if there is a school in the village at such distance that the children can attend it comfortably, will be warned and compelled to do so by the authority with a fine of from one-half to two reals.[28]

The parents or guardians of the children may also send them to school from the age of six years and from that of twelve to fourteen.

Art. 3. The teachers shall have special care that the scholars have practical exercise in speaking the Castilian language. In proportion as they become conversant with it, explanations shall be made to them in that language, and they shall be forbidden to communicate with one another during class in their own language.

Art. 4. Primary instruction shall be free for children whose parents are not known to be wealthy. That shall be proved by certification of the gobernadorcillo of the village, visoed by the parish priest.

Paper, copybooks, ink, and pens, will be free to all the children.

The parents, and for lack of these, the children who shall be well known to be wealthy, in the judgment of the gobernadorcillo of the village, with the confirmation of the parish priest, shall pay a moderate sum monthly, which shall be assigned by the governor of each province after conferring with the parish priest and the gobernadorcillo.

Art. 5. The parish priest shall direct the teaching of Christian doctrine and morality, and they shall be charged to give at least once a week the fitting explanations in the locality of the school, in the church, or any place which shall be assigned.

Art. 6. Schools shall have two months of vacation per year, during the time designated by the superior civil government, at the proposal of the chief of the province. The vacations may be continuous or divided into two or three periods.

Of textbooks

Art. 7. The Christian doctrine shall be taught by the catechism which is in use, and approved by ecclesiastical authorities. For reading, the syllabary prescribed by the superior civil governor, the Catechism of Astete, and the Catechism of Fleuri, shall be used. For writing, the Muestras de carácter español [i.e., Samples of Spanish characters] by Iturzaeta shall be used.[29]

As a text for the other matters included in the teaching, according to article 1, a book shall be compiled which shall contain them all as clearly and concisely as possible, and in addition, ideas on geometry and common knowledge of physical and natural sciences. Such book shall also serve for the last exercises in reading.[30]

Until the book mentioned in the preceding paragraph is compiled, teaching in matters not enumerated in the first paragraph of the present article shall be in the form prescribed by the superior civil governor.

Of the schools

Art. 8. In every village, if its population shall permit, there shall be a school for boys and another for girls.[31] Those villages which have a population of 5,000, shall have two schools for boys and two others for girls. Those which have a population of 10,000, shall have three schools, and so on, increasing at the rate of one school for each sex for every 5,000 inhabitants, whenever an average of more than 150 children shall have attended all the existing schools during the last three months.[32]

In the visitas, very distant from the villages, whose population reaches 500 inhabitants, there shall also be a school for each sex, and if there is more than one visita, and together they have that number of souls, the schools shall be established in the most central.

If the number of children of one school exceeds eighty there shall be one assistant, and if it exceeds one hundred and fifty, two.

Art. 9. Schools shall be located in the most central part of the villages or barrios, and must be built well lighted and ventilated, with dwelling rooms for the teacher and his family; but such dwelling shall be independent [of the school] and have a special entrance.[33]

Art. 10. The schools shall conform to the classes fixed by article 5 of the royal decree of this date.

Of the teachers

Art. 11. The rank of teacher in the public schools of primary instruction belongs to the pupils of the normal school who are qualified with the suitable certificate, who shall be fully twenty years old, and possess the other requirements expressed in article 20.

Art. 12. Teachers shall enter the schools of entrada or ascenso, in accordance with the right which their respective certificates give them, according to the terms of article 7, of the regulations of the normal school for male teachers, approved by her Majesty on this date. After three years of teaching, the teachers may be promoted to the next class, whether of ascenso or término of the second class. When two or more teachers aspire to schools of higher rank, if their respective certificates are equal, he who has taught longer shall be preferred. If the certificates are not equal, he who possesses a certificate for a school of ascenso shall be preferred to him who has one for a school of entrada.

Art. 13. In case of the absolute lack of candidates with the necessary certificate, those who hold lower certificates may be appointed teachers for a school of the upper class, but it shall be ad interim, and they shall receive the pay belonging to the class of their certificate, until they complete the time of exercise with good mark, in which case they shall be appointed regularly.

Art. 14. For the lack of teachers with a certificate, those who are twenty years of age and have the other requirements prescribed in article 12, and have a certificate as assistant, may govern schools, and shall receive the pay of teachers of the third class.

Art. 15. For the lack of candidates possessing certificate as assistant, those who prove in the examination held before the provincial commission of primary instruction sufficient capacity and are of the abovesaid age, may govern ad interim the schools with the title of substitute, and shall receive the pay mentioned in the preceding article.

Art. 16. The position of teachers of the término schools of the first grade, namely, those of Manila and its district, shall be supplied in the manner determined by article 5 of the royal decree of this date, to wit, by competition among the teachers with certificate from the normal school, and practice in teaching. The time of such practice shall be at least one year. The competition shall be held with preceding edict for the term of three months, before a commission composed of the director, or, in his absence, of one of the teachers of the normal school, one of the individuals of the Superior Board of Primary Instruction, another of the provincial board, the senior parish priest as local supervisor, and one member of the ayuntamiento.

Art. 17. A graded list shall be formed of the assistants, in which, without prejudice to the right which is conferred on them by article 14, they shall be promoted according to seniority, commencing with the class of entrada, and continuing to those of ascenso, término of the second grade, and término of the first grade.

Art. 18. The appointment of teachers and assistants shall belong to the superior civil governor.

Art. 19. The issuing of certificates of regular teachers and assistants shall be attended to by the superior civil governor, in the manner prescribed by article 27 of the regulations of the normal school of this date.

The certificates of substitute teachers shall be issued by the same authority, at the proposal of the respective provincial commission, the examination papers of the party interested and the record of his examination first having been sent.

Art. 20. In order to be a teacher, assistant, or substitute, one must, in addition to the qualifications respectively expressed in the preceding articles:

1. Be a native of the Spanish domains.

2. Prove his good religious and moral deportment.

3. Be of suitable age.

The assistants may begin teaching in the capacity of such in the schools at the age of seventeen.

Art. 21. Positions as teachers or assistants cannot be exercised:

1. By those who suffer from any disease, or have any defects which incapacitate them for teaching.

2. By those who shall have been condemned to corporal punishments,[34] or are incapacitated for exercising public duties.

Art. 22. Teachers of entrada shall receive from eight to twelve pesos per month; those of ascenso, from twelve to fifteen; those of término of the second grade, from fifteen to twenty.

The superior civil governor shall fix, by recommendation of the provincial commission and report of the superior, the sum to be received by the teacher between the greatest and least amount assigned, keeping in mind as an average the material cost of living and the number of pay children who attend the school.

Teachers of término of the first grade, or those of the schools of Manila, shall receive the pay prescribed in the municipal budget of that city. That pay must be at least equal to that which is assigned as a maximum to teachers of término of the second class.[35]

Art. 23. Teachers shall enjoy in addition the following advantages:

1. A dwelling apartment for themselves and family in the schoolhouse, or reimbursement if they rent one.

2. The fees paid by well-to-do children.

3. The privileges and exemptions mentioned in articles 12 and 14 of the royal decree of this date.[36]

Art. 24. Teachers shall have, in accordance with article 13 of the same royal decree, the right of pension and half pay after twenty years of service, and four-fifths’ pay after thirty-five years of service, whenever in one or the other case they shall have reached the age of sixty years, or be incapacitated for the performance of the duties required by their profession.

Art. 25. Assistants, when they perform the duties of such, shall receive pay of four, six, or eight pesos per month, according as the school is entrada, ascenso, or término of the second grade, or the amount assigned in the municipal budget of Manila if the school is término of the first rank. They shall receive, in addition, the fourth part of the fees of well-to-do children; and shall enjoy the exemptions expressed by articles 12 and 14 of the royal decree of this date. They shall also have the right of pension in the same proportion and in the same manner as that prescribed for teachers.[37]

Of women teachers

Art. 26. Women teachers for girls shall be twenty-five years old at least, and shall possess the other qualifications that are demanded from the male teachers.

Art. 27. For the provision of schools, women teachers with certificates shall be preferred. That certificate, until the normal school for women teachers is established, shall be issued by the superior civil governor, on the recommendation of the commission established by article 16, associated with a woman teacher with certificate and examination in the matters which constitute the teaching of girls.

For the lack of women teachers with certificate, those who show sufficient ability before the respective provincial commission of primary instruction, shall be appointed as substitutes.

Art. 28. Women teachers shall receive monthly pay of eight pesos if they have a certificate, and six if the contrary be true, and all the fees of wealthy girls. They shall also have the right to live in the school, and in case they do not live there, to a reimbursement to pay their rent.

Of Sunday schools

Art. 29. Teachers shall be obliged to take care of the Sunday class which shall be established in each village for the teaching of adults. Said class will be free with the sole exception of the wealthy.

A special order of the superior civil governor, after a previous conference with the Superior Board of Primary Instruction, shall prescribe the duration and method of the above-mentioned classes.[38]

Of the supervision of the primary instruction among the natives

Art. 30. Superior supervision will be in charge of the superior civil government, with the aid of a commission composed of the diocesan prelate and six and seven members of recognized qualifications, appointed by the former. The director of the normal school shall be a member ex-officio.[39]

Art. 31. The chiefs of the provinces shall be provincial supervisors, and shall exercise their office with the aid of a commission presided over by the same and composed in addition of the diocesan prelate, or, in his absence, of the parish priest of the chief city, and of the alcalde-mayor, or administrator of finances. The respective reverend and learned parish priests shall be the local supervisors of primary instruction.[40]

Art. 32. The duties of the local supervisors shall be:

1. To visit the schools as frequently as possible, and see that the regulations are observed.

2. To admonish those teachers who commit any fault, and suspend them in case they commit any excess which, in their judgment, does not permit them to continue in charge of the school, and to give information thereof to the provincial supervisor.

3. To promote the attendance of the children at the schools.

4. To give in writing orders of admission into the schools, with expression as to whether the teaching shall be free or paid.

5. To propose, through the medium of the provincial supervisor, whatever they believe advisable for the progress or improvement of primary instruction.

6. To exercise, in regard to the teaching of Christian doctrine and morals, the direction expressed in article 4.

Art. 33. The provincial supervisors shall exercise, with the aid of the respective commission, their oversight over the schools of the province, and shall have authority, the said commission having been conferred with, to approve or disapprove the suspensions of teachers imposed by the local supervisors, giving account in both cases to the government, with remission of the record in the case.

Supervisors shall send to the above-mentioned authority monthly reports concerning the number of pupils of both sexes in each school on the last day of the month, with mention of those who pay, with the number of those who have entered and left, and the average attendance at the school during the month, with what remarks are deemed advisable.

Art. 34. The Superior Board of Primary Instruction shall consult the superior government of the islands:

1. In regard to the approval of textbooks.

2. On measures in regard to the dismissal of teachers, declarations of the grades of schools, and assignment of pay to the instructors.

3. In everything else concerning the execution of this plan, and especially concerning the doubts arising from the same.

Final resolution

Art. 35. Instructions shall be compiled comprising the principal ideas of pedagogy, and explaining minutely the duties of teachers, and the details of school organization and the progress of instruction. A printed copy of these instructions shall be given to every schoolteacher of the natives, of both sexes, and they shall be charged to learn them and observe them.

Another copy shall also be sent to every provincial chief and parish priest.

Madrid. December 20, 1863. Approved by her Majesty,

Concha