SCHOOL LEGISLATION, 1863–1894
Plan of primary instruction in Filipinas. See ante, pp. 76–86.
Normal Schools
December 20, 1863. Regulations for the normal school for men teachers. See ante, pp. 86–95.
July 22, 1864. Royal order, declaring a ticket for the passage of the Jesuit fathers assigned to the normal school of Manila.
November 24, 1864. Decree of the superior civil government, in which are dictated some precautionary measures for the installation of the normal school. The number of regular resident pupils is fixed with expression of those who belong to each province of the archipelago in proportion to the respective census of the village, and that of supernumerary resident pupils. Admissions of petitions of candidates for this class of appointments and matriculation for day pupils is declared open.
November 29, 1864. Circular of the superior civil government, directed to the chiefs of the provinces and of the districts, dictating rules for the provision of the places of regular resident pupils in the normal school for men teachers in Manila.
January 19, 1865. Royal order, approving the allowances for Jesuit fathers and brothers of the normal school, and for equipment of the same.
May 30, 1865. Royal order no. 175, of the ministry of the colonies, approving all the measures adopted by the superior civil government for the inauguration of the normal school for men teachers, and expressing the pleasure with which her Majesty saw the zeal manifested in the installation of said institution.
July 17, 1865. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that the corporals and sergeants of the army who so desire be admitted into the normal school for men teachers.
March 13, 1866. Decree of the superior civil government, dictating rules for the establishment of a school of primary instruction for boys in the normal school for men teachers.
June 25, 1866. Royal order, no. 293, of the ministry of the colonies, naming the sum of ten pesos per month as the board for resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers, and reducing the regular places to forty.
December 24, 1866. Decree of the superior civil government, ruling that the vacancies of regular resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers be filled by the pupils who attend the school of primary instruction, established within the normal school, and by others who may solicit them.
March 22, 1869. Decree of the superior civil government, arranging that the term in the normal school for men teachers begin in June and end in March, the examinations being held in the latter month.
December 2, 1870. Order of the supreme government, modifying article 4 of the regulations of the normal school for men teachers, of December 20, 1863; and arranging that the fees for matriculation in the normal school be reduced to six escudos per study.
November 23, 1871. Project of regulations for a normal school for women teachers in Filipinas.
January 11, 1872. Royal order, ruling that the girls’ school of Nueva-Cáceres be erected into a normal school and seminary for women teachers.
June 14, 1872. Decree of the superior civil government, reducing the places for regular resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers in Manila to thirty.
May 26, 1873. Order of the executive authority, authorizing the one hundred villages of the diocese of Nueva-Cáceres to each send a young woman to the girls’ school in said city, so that such young women may afterward direct the schools in their respective villages.
May 4, 1874. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that no petition be sent to it for entrance into the normal school for men teachers without the requisites prescribed in article 9 of the organic regulations for said school, and that the petitions be sent through the medium of the provincial chiefs.
May 21, 1874. Decree of the superior civil government, reducing the number of places for regular resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers in Manila to twenty.
July 28, 1874. Decree of the general government, reducing the number of places for resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers in Manila to fifteen.
August 17, 1874. Decree of the general government, ordering that those pupils of the normal school for men teachers who have twenty voluntary failures of attendance, or thirty involuntary, be stricken from the list.
June 9, 1875. Decree of the general government, constituting in the normal school for women teachers of primary education the school of Santa Isabel of the city and diocese of Nueva-Cáceres.
June 19, 1875. Decree of the general government, approving, with the character of ad interim, the regulations for the normal school for women teachers of primary education in the diocese of Nueva-Cáceres. See this decree, as well as the regulations for the school, ante, pp. 142–160.
June 30, 1875. Circular of the government, directed to the governors of the provinces of the diocese of Nueva-Cáceres because of the inauguration of the normal school for women teachers in that city.
April 2, 1878. Decree of the general government, approving the examinations held in September and December, 1877, in the normal school for women teachers in Nueva-Cáceres, and ordering that a teacher’s certificate be sent to those pupils examined.
June 22, 1880. Royal order of the ministry of the colonies, creating the chair of the elements employed in the normal school for men teachers in Manila, and ordering that a permanent sum of money be assigned in the budget for this consideration.
September 27, 1880. Royal order, no. 875, of the ministry of the colonies, approving the definitive institution of the normal school for women teachers in Nueva-Cáceres and the regulations of the same, which were approved in the character of ad interim, by superior decree, June 19, 1875.
September 27, 1880. Royal order, no. 880, of the ministry of the colonies, ordering that twenty-five copies of the regulations approved by royal order, number 875, of the same date for the normal school for women teachers in Nueva-Cáceres, be sent to it.
March 11, 1892. Royal decree, creating in Manila a normal school for women teachers in charge of the Augustinian nuns of the Assumption established in the royal school of Santa Isabel in Madrid. See this royal decree, as well as the royal order following, and the regulations, ante, pp. 160–210.
May 15, 1893. Announcement of the superior normal school for women teachers, published in the Gaceta, giving information of the opening for matriculation in that institution, the requirements for obtaining it, the fees to be paid for it, and the material for the entrance examination.
November 3, 1893. Decree of the general government, creating the post of professor of the practice school established in the normal school for men teachers in Manila.
November 10, 1893. Decree of the general government, elevating to the grade of superior the normal school for men teachers in Manila, and approving provisionally the new regulations of that school. See this decree, with following regulations, ante, pp. 210–228.
December 1, 1893. Decree of the general government, extending to the superior normal school for women teachers the powers which the General Division of Civil Administration has over that for men teachers.
December 15, 1893. Decree of the general government, dictating orders supplementary to the superior decree of November 10, 1893, and to the regulations of the superior normal school for men teachers approved on the same date.
January 30, 1894. Royal order, no. 135, of the ministry of the colonies, authorizing the continuance in the institution of the regular resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers in Manila until the completion of their course.
January 30, 1894. Royal order, no. 136, of the ministry of the colonies, ordering that the rent of the house occupied by the normal school for men teachers in Manila be paid from the budget of the local funds.
February 23, 1894. Decree of the general government, creating a pedagogical academy in the superior normal school for men teachers in Manila.
April 18, 1894. Royal order, no. 280, of the ministry of the colonies, approving the superior decree which elevated to the rank of superior the normal school for men teachers in Manila; the new regulations for the same; the supplementary orders dictated by the superior decree of December 15, 1893; and the appointment of a professor of the practice school established in it.
April 30, 1894. Announcement of the superior normal school for men teachers published in the Gaceta, naming date and conditions for the entrance examinations into that institution, as well as for the examinations of assistants, and for the extraordinary examinations for the term of 1893–94.
June 15, 1894. Decree of the general government, modifying article 4 of the superior decree of November 10, 1893, which declared the normal school for men teachers in Manila to be a superior school; and article 2 of the decree of December 15, of the same year.
July 20, 1894. Decree of the general government, approving the organic regulations of the pedagogical academy of the superior formal school for men teachers in Manila; with citation of regulations.
August 17, 1894. Decree of the general government, declaring that the pupils of the normal school who have not passed in their examinations for confirmation which they have to take in order to obtain the teacher’s certificate of elementary primary instruction, have sufficient aptitude to receive an assistant teacher’s certificate.
Schools of primary instruction
December 20, 1863. Regulations for the schools and teachers of primary instruction for the natives of the Philippine Archipelago. See these regulations, as well as the interior regulations of the same date, and the decree of the superior civil government of February 15, 1864, approving the regulations for the municipal girls’ school of Manila, with citation of regulations, ante, pp. 96–125.
March 15, 1864. Decree of the superior civil government, appointing the members of the Superior Board of Primary Instruction.
May 17, 1864. Circular of the superior civil government, addressed to the provincial and district chiefs, giving rules for the better establishment of the plan for primary instruction established by royal decree of December 20, 1863, and the regulations of the same date.
June 20, 1864. Royal order, prescribing the model for the staff and equipment of the municipal school for girls in Manila.
October 19, 1864. Decree of the superior civil government, authorizing the Conference of St. Stanislas Kostka[62] of the Society of St. Vincent of Paul, to establish a school for primary instruction for boys in the suburbs of San Sebastian of Manila.
December 2, 1864. Decree of the superior civil government, in regard to the special organization and powers of the provincial commission of primary instruction in Manila.
March 1, 1865. Circular of the superior civil government, ordering the provincial and district chiefs to send two reports of the villages of the territory under their charge, in which schools for boys and girls could be established, determining their respective category in accordance with the accompanying models.
January 6, 1866. Royal order, approving the expense of 250 escudos, charged to the local funds for defraying the expenses of the prizes of the girls of the municipal school who show most progress in their examination.
March 1, 1866. Decision of the superior civil government, ordering the director of the normal school for men teachers in Manila to assign an examination for assistant teachers for the first days in June of that year.
March 23, 1866. Decree of the superior civil government, fixing at one escudo per month the quota which must be paid by the children of wealthy families who attend the school of primary instruction established in the normal school for men teachers in Manila.
January 20, 1867. Decree of the superior civil government, prescribing the rank of boys’ schools according to the number of inhabitants in each village.
February 15, 1867. Circular of the superior civil government, to the provincial and district chiefs, in regard to the dwelling house for the men teachers, construction and repair of buildings for schools, and purchase of furniture and equipment for the same.
February 16, 1867. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that the local funds pay the men teachers one peso per year for each boy who attends the writing class, for school supplies and equipment.
June 22, 1867. Decree of the superior civil government, prescribing when it shall proceed to establish in the villages schools for girls; and in regard to the appointment of women teachers to take charge of them.
August 12, 1867. Circular of the superior civil government, to the provincial and district chiefs, determining that they shall send monthly reports of the number of boys attending the schools.
August 30, 1867. Circular of the superior civil government, giving rules for the good discharge of school supervision. See this circular, ante, pp. 125–142.
October 30, 1867. Circular of the superior civil government, ordering the provincial chiefs to have the gobernadorcillos proclaim and, moreover, affix to the street corners and in the courts, an edict whose purpose is to stimulate school attendance and the teaching of Castilian; with citation of edict.
November 5, 1867. Royal order, creating a girls’ school under the advocacy of Santa Isabel in Nueva-Cáceres, in charge of the sisters of charity, under the supervision of the reverend bishop of the diocese.
November 12, 1867. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that those who pass in the examinations for substitute women teachers and do not obtain a place for lack of vacancies, be authorized to occupy the first vacancy which occurs.
January 4, 1868. Circular of the superior civil government, recommending the provincial chiefs to send monthly reports of school attendance, and charging them to arouse the zeal of the provincial and the local commissions of primary instruction, so that Castilian may be taught in the schools.
March 14, 1868. Decree of the superior civil government, revising article 26 of the school regulations, so that married women of any age and single women after they have reached the age of twenty years may be appointed teachers.
March 14, 1868. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that publication of works in the dialects of the country, with the exception of prayer and devotional books and others similar to them, be only permitted when they are printed in two texts, namely, in the dialects and in Castilian, and that such books shall never be assigned for use in the schools.
April 26, 1868. Circular decree of the superior civil government, in regard to the examinations of substitute men teachers; and approval of the regulations of the same, with citation of regulations.
July 18, 1868. Circular of the superior civil government, ordering the publication in the Gaceta of a statistical report [ensayo] of the schools; and charging the provincial chiefs to send monthly reports showing the number of children present in the same, and stating that Castilian is taught in the same.
August 4, 1868. Statutes for the college-school of Santa Isabel in the city of Nueva-Cáceres.
Título I. Creation, object, and dependency of the college school.
Título II. Of the school of primary instruction for day-school girls; their admission, studies, school hours, and holidays.
Título III. Of the college and of the resident scholars. Object of the college, conditions for admission therein, clothing, board, and food.
Título IV. Interior life of the scholars.
Título V. Studies; distribution of time.
Título VI. Of the frequency of sacraments, attendance, spiritual exercises, holidays, vacations, and absences.
September 2, 1868. Decree of the secretary of the superior civil government, publishing by order of his Excellency in the Gaceta a pastoral of his Excellency, the bishop of Nueva-Cáceres, in which the latter urges the parish priests of his diocese to observe very earnestly the duties imposed upon them by the legislation in force for the education of children and the progress of schools.
September 4, 1868. Circular of the superior civil government, to the provincial and district chiefs, charging them that the respective documents accompany recommendations for the issuing of certificates to teachers, and show the pay, between the fixed maximum and minimum in each case, which ought to be granted them.
September 4, 1868. Decree of the superior government, ordering that petitions for money in order to satisfy the rent of the house for men teachers, school equipment, etc., be sent to the sub-intendancy of ways and means.
September 22, 1868. Circular of the superior civil government, to the provincial and district chiefs, recommending to them the exact fulfilment of the circular and regulation for substitute men teachers of April 26 of the same year; that they compel the children of wealthy families to go to school and pay the teacher the prescribed fee; that they contrive to have edifices built for the schools in the villages where there are teachers; and that they inform the latter of their obligation to supply necessary free equipment for writing to the pupils, granting to the substitute as to the normal teachers, one peso annually for said expenses, so that they may be able to exact from them this obligation.
September 30, 1868. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that substitute teachers be furnished with their corresponding certificates.
October 24, 1868. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that in case of insolvency, the same methods be employed for the collection of the quotas to be paid by the wealthy pupils to the teachers, that are used for the realization of the public imposts.
October 27, 1868. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that pupils may attend schools of primary instruction until the age of eighteen, voluntary attendance being from the age of fourteen.
August 5, 1869. Decree of the superior civil government, conferring a commission upon the member of the Superior Board of Primary Instruction, Don José Patricio Clemente, so that he may enter upon an extraordinary visit of supervision of all the public and private institutions of primary education of the province of Manila.
July 16, 1870. Circular of the superior civil government, ordering that when the teachers ask leave to attend to their own affairs or because of a proved illness, they present paid substitutes for themselves.
July 20, 1870. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that for the lack of assistants with circular, substitute assistants may be appointed for the schools that have more than eighty pupils, by the provincial and district chiefs, at the recommendation of the local supervisors, after conferring with the respective teachers. They shall be given eight escudos per month without right to any other fee.
September 13, 1870. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that the women teachers shall be paid one peso per year from the local funds for each girl that attends the class in writing, for school equipment.
November 5, 1870. Circular of the superior civil government, recommending the provincial chiefs to request the necessary money for the payment of the teachers from the time that they begin their duties, their salaries, rental for their dwelling house and other emoluments.
December 2, 1870. Order, no. 1179, of the ministry of the colonies, approving the commission conferred by the superior civil government of these islands on Don José Patricio Clemente, for a tour of inspection of the schools of primary teaching in the province of Manila.
December 5, 1870. Order of the supreme government, decreeing the appointment of a board ad interim of public instruction, and decree of “cúmplase”[63] of the superior civil government, dated February 23, 1871, in which the above board is appointed.
December 7, 1870. Decree of the superior civil government, authorizing the establishment of a free school of primary instruction for girls, in charge of the sisters of charity in the school of Purísima Concepción [i.e., the most pure conception] installed in the site called La Concordia.
December 17, 1870. Decree of the superior civil government, prescribing that men and women teachers are entitled to receive their salary from the day on which they prove by means of the local supervisors that they have presented themselves and taken charge of the school which they have obtained.
February 23, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, dissolving the Superior Board of Primary Instruction and ordering that all the antecedent decrees in its possession be surrendered to the ad interim Board of Public Instruction.
March 2, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that the ad interim Board of Public Instruction of these islands, apply so far as may be possible, the regulations approved January 26, 1867, for the island of Cuba; with citation of regulation.
March 4, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering the publication of the plan of studies dictated for the island of Cuba, July 15, 1863, with commands to observe it, so far as might be possible and applicable. Title of the above-cited plan referring to primary education.
April 27, 1871. Royal order of the ministry of the colonies, prescribing the sums which must be paid for the installation of the girls’ school of Santa Isabel established in Nueva-Cáceres.
May 7, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, in regard to the creation of schools and procedures which must be followed by the documents which are drawn up for this purpose; the formation of reports of the existing schools; the establishment of classes for adults and allowances for the teachers for this extraordinary work; the teaching of the Castilian language; supervision of the schools; examinations of the same and rewards for the teachers and pupils who distinguish themselves in them; the pay of the teachers; construction of schools and dwellings for them; material and equipment which the schools must have; compulsory attendance at them; the teaching of Castilian; charge that teaching be free to the poor; exact pay for the teachers.
June 12, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that the men and women teacher substitutes be given their corresponding certificates.
July 1, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, prescribing the textbooks which are to be used in the public schools of primary instruction.
July 19, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, explaining article 14, of the seventh of May, of this year, relative to the pay of monthly quota by the presence at the school of the wealthy children.
August 26, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, determining that the rights prescribed in articles 13, 14, and 15, of the seventh of May, of this year, alone be granted, and extended to the teachers graduating from the normal school, and to the substitutes examined with certificates.
September 26, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, recommending to the provincial commissions of primary instruction, strictness in the examinations of substitute teachers, and that the mark which each one shall merit be placed in the minutes of examination.
October 9, 1871. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that no petition be admitted asking for permission to print and annotate the text in these islands of works of different nature, whether literary or devoted to public instruction, unless such is directed by the proprietors or authors themselves or by those who are fully authorized by such.
October 12, 1871. Royal order of the ministry of the colonies, asking the superior civil government of these islands for the names of the teachers who distinguished themselves by their zeal for the good of teaching, their intelligence and power to work, in order to inform the Ministry of Public Works [Fomento], so that, if it deems it advisable, it may reward them as those of the Peninsula, by sending them collections of books for the formation of popular libraries.
January 13, 1872.[64] Circular of the superior civil government, arousing the zeal of provincial and local authorities, and the parochial clergy so that they may urge forward the propagation and progress of primary teaching and the construction of ways of communication.
February 14, 1872. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering that the president of the provincial commission of primary instruction in Manila be present at all the meetings held by the commission, with power to delegate for other urgent occupation his authority to the most important member of the ayuntamiento; that two members of the ayuntamiento be present as members [of the board]; that the secretary of the civil government of the province be a member ex-officio of said commission; that announcements be published for the convocation to a meeting; and that such meeting may be held by the president, three members, and the secretary.
September 30, 1872. Decree of the superior civil government, granting to the provincial and district chiefs, right of participation in the taking of possession and leaving by the teachers of primary instruction.
February 21, 1873. Decree of the superior civil government, in regard to the salaries of teachers, men and women, and their assistants.
March 12, 1873. Circular of the superior civil government, recommending that the Castilian language be taught in the schools of primary instruction.
May 27, 1873. Circular of the superior civil government, ordering that the provincial commissions of primary instruction propose the most advisable measures so that teaching may be obligatory for all and gratuitous for the poor.
May 30, 1873. Circular of the superior civil government, ordering the provincial chiefs to send a report made in accordance with the subjoined model, in which shall be given the number of villages and schools in each province, the men and women teachers who taught in them, and the number of children who attended and those who studied Castilian.
June 10, 1873. Circular of the superior civil government, charging the provincial chiefs with the exact observance of the superior decree of February 21 of the same year, in regard to the salaries of teachers and assistants.
July 26, 1873. Decree of the superior civil government, ordering the governors of the archipelago to send a detailed note of the names, qualifications, and circumstances, of the regularly-appointed teachers, who shall distinguish themselves most in each province, in order that he may recommend them to the government of his Majesty, so that if he considers it well he may reward them with popular libraries according to the royal order of October 12, 1871.
October 10, 1873. Decree of the superior civil government, charging the provincial supervisors of primary instruction to acquire a Quadro sinóptico de las islas Filipinas [i.e., Synoptical chart of the Filipinas Islands] by Don Leon Salcedo, for teaching in the schools.
September 9, 1874. Decree of the general government, prescribing that appointments, issuing of certificates, licenses, promotions, and other things belonging to those functionaries, as well as in general all the affairs of government and progress, belong to the General Division of Civil Administration.
September 24, 1874. Decree of the general government, ordering that the vice-presidency of the ad interim Board of Public Instruction be held by the director general of civil administration.
March 31, 1875. Decree of the general government, ordering the provincial chiefs to construct schools and dwelling-houses for the teachers.
October 29, 1875. Royal order, no. 648, of the ministry of the colonies, copying the royal decree of the same date, in which among other extremes, referring to secondary education and to superior education, the powers entrusted to the ad interim Board of Public Instruction be declared ended.
January 15, 1876. Decree of the general government, declaring at an end the powers entrusted to the ad interim Board of Public Instruction.
January 15, 1876. Decree of the general government, ordering among other extremes bearing on secondary and superior education, that the matters referring to public and private instruction be managed and despatched by the general government in its functions of civil administration, and that the Superior Board of Primary Instruction be called Superior Board of Public Instruction of Filipinas, with the organization which is prescribed.
May 17, 1876. Royal order, no. 388, of the ministry of the colonies, ordering that the zeal of persons conversant with the various dialects of the archipelago be stimulated, so that a grammar may be compiled in each dialect for the teaching of the Castilian language in the schools of primary letters, for the purpose of obtaining the diffusion of said language; and that, with like object, the reforms which it is advisable to introduce in legislation in regard to primary instruction, be proposed.
June 7, 1876. Royal order, no. 324, of the ministry of the colonies, ordering among other extremes referring to secondary and superior education, that the Superior Board of Primary Instruction be reestablished in the manner prescribed in article 15 of the royal decree of December 20, 1863.
July 22, 1876. Circular of the general government, giving rules for the observance of royal order, no. 388, of May 17, of the same year.
August 16, 1876. Decree of the general government, reëstablishing the Superior Board of Primary Instruction, and designating the persons who were to compose it.
June 5, 1877. Royal order of the ministry of the colonies, approving the preceding decree.
September 10, 1878. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration to the provincial chiefs, ordering them to furnish localities for the schools, either by renting or constructing buildings; that the teachers be paid their salaries and fees promptly; that a proof report, in accordance with the subjoined form, be sent of the situation of each province, to the department of primary instruction; and that the petitions of the teachers, asking for some favor or demanding their salary, be sent to said center with the fitting information.
November 6, 1878. Royal order, decreeing that instructors of primary education in the colonies be paid half their salary during the time that they are on leave in the Peninsula for sickness, and the other half to those who act as substitutes for them.
May 20, 1879. Royal order of the ministry of the colonies, in which is shown the pleasure with which his Majesty heard that a boys’ school had been started in Nueva-Cáceres, at the expense of the reverend bishop of the diocese.
July 14, 1880. Royal order, no. 625, of the ministry of the colonies, in regard to places for the taking of possession by the teachers, transfers, cessation of duties, and licenses that the same may enjoy.
July 14, 1880. Royal order, no. 668, of the ministry of the colonies, ordering that the provincial chiefs proceed to the construction of edifices for schools, with dwelling-houses for the teachers, by making use of the personal services [of the natives]; charging the gobernadorcillos of the villages with the keeping and conservation of the equipment; paying the expenses with the amount of a fourth part of the fee paid to the teachers by well-to-do children; ordering that the teachers be paid monthly a sum equal to the fourth part of their salary for school equipment; imposing on them the obligation to keep an inventory book of the apparatus and equipment of their respective schools, as well as other books of matriculation and daily attendance; ordering that the General Division of Civil Administration make annually at auction the purchase of the necessary school supplies; and dictating other important measures for the purchase, distribution, and conservation of school equipment and supplies.
September 1, 1880. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, animating the provincial chiefs to contrive to have Castilian taught in the schools by all the means in their power.
October 5, 1881. Circular of the secretary of the royal Audiencia of Manila, communicating the decision of the entire tribunal of September 23, of the same year, by which it is ordered that the judges of first instance may avail themselves for written recognizances of the [services of] men teachers with certificates who have graduated from the normal school.
December 27, 1881. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, ordering that the boys’ schools of Manila and its suburbs have a competitive contest.
March 10, 1882. Circular of the secretary of the royal Audiencia, transcribing a letter of the supreme tribunal, in which it was communicated that the government assembly of the same had approved the decision of the entire tribunal of the abovesaid Audiencia, of September 23, 1881, in reference to the fact that written recognizances be made by men teachers graduating from the normal school established in the villages.
March 24, 1882. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, prescribing the salaries to be received by substitute teachers without certificates.
September 12, 1883. Decree of the general government, in regard to compulsory teaching of the Castilian language in the schools; punishments of the teachers who do not keep it; annual inspection of the governors of the schools, giving account of the result in each one of them; examinations in the same, and the rewards and recompenses for the scholars and teachers who distinguish themselves in them; provision of the ascenso schools and término schools of second class for aid and correction to the parents of children from seven to twelve years old who do not attend the schools. Declaration that those employes who cannot talk, read, and write Castilian, cannot receive their prescribed pay. The provincial chiefs are ordered to send a proof report of the primary instruction in their respective territories and a secret memorandum in regard to the same matter. An assembly shall be called for a gathering, in which the authors of the best grammars written in the dialects of the country for the teaching of Castilian shall be rewarded; it is recommended to the General Division of Civil Administration that it study and recommend the increase which it is advisable to give to the pay of the teachers, and the creation of a special body of paid provincial supervisors.
September 25, 1883. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, sending to the provincial chiefs the form to which the proof report of primary instruction in their respective territories, which they were to make by virtue of the order in the first transitory prescription of the preceding decree, must conform.
September 25, 1883. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, convoking an assembly for rewarding the [authors of the] best Castilian grammars written in the principal dialects of the country for the schools, and fixing the conditions of said assembly.
October 6, 1885. Decree of the general government, granting to the original Hispano-Tagálog grammar, of the right reverend father Fray Toribio Minguella,[65] the privileges established in rule 6 of the preceding decree; holding a new assembly for the reward of Castilian grammars written in the Visayan, Cebuyan, Ilocan, Vicol, Pangasinan, or Pampango; and marking the conditions of this new assembly.
February 17, 1886. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, recommending to the provincial supervisors of primary instruction to immediately copy for the local reverend or learned supervisors the orders received from said center in regard to teachers.
June 30, 1887. Decree of the general government, encouraging the provincial chiefs and the reverend parish priests, to contrive by all means to have the Castilian language taught in the schools, imposing on them the obligation of personally making the tour of annual inspection, at least to the schools, and another tour by the secretaries of the [local] governments, giving account afterwards of the progress in said teaching and recommending at the same time recompenses or punishment which the teachers deserve on account of their interest or neglect.
July 11, 1887. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, charging the provincial chiefs with the exact observance of the orders dictated in regard to primary instruction for the purpose of having Castilian spoken in all the villages; they shall employ rigor in the examinations of substitute teachers, and be careful that the assistant substitutes who are appointed be persons suitable for teaching.
January 13, 1888. Decree of the general government, declaring a competition in the boys’ término school of the first class among teachers with certificates from the normal school, who shall have had one year’s practice in teaching and giving rules for the holding of said competitions; with programs for the oral examination in said competitions.
July 31, 1888. Circular of the general government, addressed to the provincial chiefs ordering that they make an extraordinary inspection of the school, after which they shall remit to the said general government the various data which are expressed, so that an exact idea of the condition of those schools may be formed.
January 16, 1889. Decree of the general government, ordering that the allowances which they receive in hard cash for school equipment be not paid to the men and women teachers; and creating a board for the purchase of said equipment, and prescribing rules for the provision of the above-mentioned supplies to the schools.
January 16, 1889. Decree of the general government, ordering that the sums which are given in coin for the rewards of the pupils, cease to be given to the teachers, and that the administrative board of school supplies created by the preceding decree, purchase in the public market for said object, primers of agriculture, and then grammars, geographies and other useful books.
January 29, 1889. Royal order, no. 75, of the ministry of the colonies, enjoining the most punctual observance of the orders dictated for obtaining the diffusion of the Castilian language among the natives of these islands, and ordering that the ministry be informed of the results of the visits, which the provincial chiefs are obliged to make to all the schools of the territory under their command, in order to be able to judge rightly the progress which is obtained, and to grant the due recompense to the teachers.
February 4, 1889. Decree of the general government, making regulations for the schools of primary instruction in the archipelago. Division of the various schools into sections and subjects which are to be taught in each one of them; copy books; textbooks; compulsory attendance at the schools; class hours; classes in religion; books of matriculation; and daily register of attendance.
February 4, 1889. Decree of the general government, approving the schedule to which the examination of regularly-appointed women teachers must conform.
February 5, 1889. Decree of the general government, prescribing rules for the construction and conservation of supplies for the schools, making use for this of the services of the personal tax, and the gratuitous cutting of timber in the public mountains, and recommending the reverend parish priests to watch over the schools and see that this decree is fulfilled.
February 9, 1889. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, prescribing the stamp tax which must be paid for the certificates of men and women teachers, and assistants, and for the credentials of the same.
March 5, 1889. Decree of the general government, prohibiting boys and girls in the schools from going out to receive the authorities; ordering that whenever any authority who may inspect the schools comes to the village, all the scholars of the same schools assemble therein with their respective teachers; and that the provincial governors impose a fine of ten pesos on the gobernadorcillos and teachers who infringe this decree.
March 30, 1889. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, communicating the decision of the superior government, in which it is ordered that the teachers be paid their salaries, house-rent, etc., in the same villages of their residence, by the gobernadorcillos, with the sums collected by imposts of the local treasury, and prescribing rules for effecting said payment.
December 14, 1889. Circular of the general government, ordering the observance of what is prescribed by articles 31 to 34 of the regulations of schools in 1863; that the teachers keep a register of matriculation and another of daily school attendance in accordance with the subjoined forms, and an inventory book giving values of the equipment and supplies in their schools; another of the books given to the children as prizes, and a blank book, in which to copy the orders dictated in regard to primary instruction; that the admission of children to the schools be preceded by a written order of the religious or learned parish priest; that the teaching be divided into the section determined by the superior decree of February 4, of this year; that the class hours be from seven to ten in the morning and from half past two to five in the afternoon; that the provincial supervisors send monthly proof reports of the schools; that the teachers may sell the textbooks which are sent them at the price fixed by the board; that they may make petitions for the supplies that they need every three months; that instruction be compulsory for children from six to twelve years old, while those from four to six and from twelve to eighteen may attend voluntarily; and that private schools be subject to the orders in force for titular schools.
June 30, 1890. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, recommending the observance of the circular of the general government, of December 14, 1889, and publishing it again in the Gaceta.
July 3, 1890. Circular of the General Division of Civil Administration, ordering that the copies written by the children in the schools be dated and signed by the same and conserved by the teachers.
January 16, 1891. Royal order, no. 58, of the ministry of the colonies, relating to the provincial and municipal budgets of these islands for said year, in which is ordered, among other extremes, the constitution of an administrative board of school supplies.
May 1, 1891. Decree of the general government, designating the persons, who being electors, were to form part of the administrative board of school material.
March 2, 1892. Royal order, no. 116, of the ministry of the colonies, approving the monthly allowance granted to the secretary and clerks of the administrative board of school supplies.
July 29, 1892. Decree of the general government, increasing the salaries of men and women teachers and assistants which were to be assigned in the projects of the budgets of 1893; and ordering the form of the provision of those places and the creation of territorial examining commissions of teachers in Vigan, Nueva-Cáceres, Cebú, and Jaro.
August 3, 1892. Decree of the general government, giving information that the ministry of the colonies had authorized by telegraph the increase of the salary of the teachers proposed by said government.
August 8, 1892. Decree of the general government, giving information that the ministry of the colonies had given telegraphic authorization to increase the sum for school supplies to 100,000 pesos.
August 11, 1892. Decree of the general government, granting annual allowances to men and women teachers with good marks, and more than fifteen years of service.
October 19, 1892. Decree of the general government, ordering the constitution of territorial examining commissions of teachers in Vigan, Nueva-Cáceres, Cebú, and Jaro, prescribing the persons who are to form them; as well as the creation of examining commissions, also of substitute and assistant teachers in the normal schools in Manila and Nueva-Cáceres; said commissions giving rules for examinations of substitute and assistant teachers; and ordering that the provincial commissions of primary instruction cease their duties of examining them.
December 8, 1892. Royal order of the ministry of the colonies, approving the creation of a girls’ school in Yap (Carolinas).
February 27, 1893. Decree of the general government, prescribing the distribution and classification of the schools of primary instruction of the archipelago, and giving rules for their provision; with a table of distribution and classification of the schools.
February 27, 1893. Decree of the general government, approving the schedules for the examinations of men and women teachers, substitutes, and assistants of primary instruction; with schedules cited.
March 29, 1893. Decree of the general government, declaring the book entitled El pez de madera [i.e., The Wooden Fish],[66] as a textbook in reading for the public schools of the archipelago.
May 1, 1893. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, granting free examinations for obtaining certificates as elementary women teachers in the superior normal school for women teachers in Manila, who shall be submitted to the schedules of that institution, and only during the first two years following its installation, namely, in the courses for the years 1893–94 and 1894–95.
July 28, 1893. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, allowing competition between various boys’ schools of the rank of término of the first and second class and término schools, and contest for boys’ and girls’ ascenso and entrada schools.
August 21, 1893. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, allowing competition in the boys’ school of Bacalor (Pampanga).
August 23, 1893. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, continuing for a fortnight the period for the admission of petitions in the contest for teachers, decreed July 28 of the said year for the provision of ascenso and entrada schools.
August 31, 1893. Decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, continuing the time for the admission of petitions of men and women teachers who wish to take part in the competitions announced by the decree of July 28, and August 21, of the same year.
September 5, 1893. Schedules for the competitions at the girls’ término schools.
September 29, 1893. Decree of the general government, in regard to the pay of salaries to teachers’ assistants.
November 1, 1893. Decree of the general government, declaring a pamphlet entitled Sistema métrico decimal de pesas y medidas [i.e., Decimal Metrical System of Weights and Measures][67] a textbook for the public schools of the archipelago.
November 24, 1893. Decree of the general government, allowing those who are more than sixteen years of age and less than twenty and have a teacher’s certificate to manage schools in the character of ad interim.
May 14, 1894. Decree of the general government, declaring the book entitled Cartilla higiénica [i.e., Hygienic Primer][68] a textbook of compulsory reading for the public schools of the archipelago.
July 20, 1894. Decree of the general government ordering two previous payments to be made for traveling expenses to men and women teachers and assistants who may be appointed to the charge of schools located in provinces distant from those in which they reside, and who petition it.
[Grifol y Aliaga’s book concludes with two appendices. The first appendix contains several official documents concerning legislation in education, the titles of which are as follows:]
May 17, 1864. Circular of the superior civil government, to the provincial and district chiefs, giving rules for the better establishment of the plan of primary instruction established by royal decree of December 20, 1863, and regulations of the same date.
November 29, 1864. Circular of the superior civil government, directed to the provincial and district chiefs, dictating rules for the provision of the places of regular resident pupils of the normal school for men teachers in Manila.
May 20, 1865. Royal order, number 175, of the ministry of the colonies, approving all the measures adopted by the superior civil government for the inauguration of the normal school for men teachers, and expressing the pleasure with which her Majesty saw the zeal shown in the installation of said institution.
[The second appendix consists of an enumeration of the textbooks for the superior normal school for men teachers in Manila; for the normal school for women teachers in Manila; and for the schools of primary instruction.]
[1] A royal order of November 19, 1815, provided for charity schools in the convents of friars and nuns, for primary education, to give instruction in the Christian doctrine, in good morals, and in the first letters to the children of the poor, from the age of ten to twelve. (Barrantes, Instrucción primaria, p. 77.) [↑]
[2] Vicente Barrantes, from whom these extracts are taken, was for some years secretary to the governor-general at Manila. See Report of Commissioner of Education, 1902, ii, p. 2219. [↑]
[3] Fred W. Atkinson, formerly general superintendent of public instruction in the Philippines, says: “The early work of the Jesuits in training the Filipinos was commendable, and along right lines in furnishing a common school education. It would have been productive of permanently good results if this order had not been supplanted by the local padres, under whose direction the common branches suffered through lack of attention.” See Report of Commissioner of Education, 1900–1901, ii, p. 1317. [↑]
[4] July 27, 1863, several copies of the plan of public instruction approved for the island of Cuba on the fifteenth of the same month were sent by royal order to the governor of the Philippines, with the object of having the proper measure drawn up, and the advisable plan proposed to the ministry, in regard to the application of said plan to those islands. By decree of October 6, Echagüe created a board of reform of the plan of studies, in order to meet the requirements of the preceding royal order. See Montero y Vidal, iii, p. 403. [↑]
[5] See a summary of Barrantes’s book in Report of Commissioner of Education, 1902, ii, pp. 2219–2224. [↑]
[6] “Before this date public schools were hardly known in the Philippines, and instruction was confined solely to the children of parents able to pay for it.” See Census of Philippines, iii, p. 576. [↑]
[7] In the decree of the superior government, of May 7, 1871, occurs the following interesting description of conditions of the schools in the Philippines: “There are at present an infinite number of villages without schools; there are entire provinces without edifices where schools can be located; there are also many schools, or rather all the schools of the archipelago, with the exception of a few in the capital, which do not possess the material equipment for education and teaching; the children have to sit on the ground, and remain there for hours and hours, packed together as if they were not what they are; books are not given to them; they have no writing desks; they are not given pens, ink, or books. Those schools do not merit the name of such; they are not schools, sad it is to say so: they are pernicious collections of children, where since they do not gain anything morally or intellectually, they lose much, and most of all in their good physical development; in fine those schools are an expense, and show no result.” The same decree states the need of economic and administrative reforms in the Philippines, and the need of “roads, canals, ports, postal communications, both inside and outside the archipelago, telegraphs, professional institutions of superior instruction, an active life without fetters for industry, trade, and agriculture;” but all this must be for the greatest use of the greatest number, and all monopoly must be avoided. “To obtain it human means offer no other mean more energetic, more prompt, and powerful, than the creation and organization of the village school, and its supervision, and its location and erection in the most healthful and convenient place, clean, neat, and modestly furnished, so that it may attract the glances of all,” and may thus be of the greatest good. See Grifol y Aliaga, pp. 218, 219. [↑]
[8] The parish priests of the Philippines were called “reverend” or “devout” according as they were regulars or native seculars. See Barrantes’s Instrucción primaria, p. 10. [↑]
[9] See the titles of these orders from 1863 to 1894, post. [↑]
[10] The Spanish government evinced a great interest “in giving the Filipinos a primary education commensurate with the standing of a civilized nation; but the intentions of the government were frustrated by ... the religious orders.” The “great error of the Spanish nation” consisted “in placing in the hands of a few institutions [the religious orders] the future of her colonies in the extreme east, institutions which did not exist in their native country, and which sought only the private interests of the corporation or order to which they belonged. This entire plan of public instruction lived in the minds of the Spanish legislators, but was never put into practice.” Tomás G. del Rosario, in Census of Philippines, iii, p. 582. [↑]
[11] By 1894 there were 2,143 public schools in the Philippines, and 173 sets of provisions regulating them, or tending to the intellectual development of the people. These laws were only superficial. See Tomás G. del Rosario, Census of Philippines, iii, p. 593. [↑]
[12] The central treasury of ways and means (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 3, note 2) having been suppressed, the expenses of this institution are at present [1894] defrayed as a charge on chapter 1, art. 1. of the budget of the local funds of the central treasury. In the budget of 1893–94, the appropriation of 10,450 pesos was set aside in the following manner:
| pesos | ||
| 1 | director, | 800 |
| 6 | professors, each 600 pesos, | 4,800 |
| 1 | drawing teacher, | 600 |
| 1 | vocal music teacher, | 480 |
| 1 | gymnastic teacher, | 400 |
| 3 | assistants, each 400 pesos, | 1,200 |
| 15 | resident pupils, each 120 pesos, for only three months, | 450 |
| Wages of the attendants and servants of the school, | 600 | |
| For office expenses, conservation, and innovation of furniture, and other effects, | 1,120 | |
| Total, | 10,450 |
[13] The last classification made of the schools of this archipelago was that approved by superior decree, February 27, 1893, which was published in the Manila Gaceta, May 10 following. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 4, note 5.) [↑]
[14] “What contributed greatly, also, to the general backwardness of primary instruction was the small salary paid teachers, as it was impossible for them to live on what was paid them.... The small salary paralyzed any good will and ambition to work.” T. G. del Rosario in Census of Philippines, iii, p. 595. See also, ante, p. 80, note 20. [↑]
[15] Commonly called directorcillos (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 5, note 2). [↑]
[16] The principalia was formed of those natives who have occupied petty government posts in the islands. See VOL. XVII, p. 331. [↑]
[17] It is to be understood that the office of superior civil governor is equivalent to the present office of governor general (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 6, note 3). [↑]
[18] This superior commission, appointed by superior decree of March 15, 1864, was suppressed by another decree of the superior civil government, February 23, 1871, in accordance with order no. 1183, of the ministry of the colonies, of December 5, 1870, by which was created the ad interim Superior Board of Public Instruction (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 6, note 4). [↑]
[19] Now judge of first instance (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 6, note 5). [↑]
[20] Now manager or subdelegate of the public treasury. [↑]
[21] See Wm. B. Freer’s Philippine Experiences of an American Teacher, chapter viii, pp. 97–109, for an account of methods used in normal instruction after American occupation. [↑]
[22] Those pupils styled throughout this translation “regular” or in Spanish de numero, are those appointed directly by the government, the “de numero” (of the number) indicating that a certain number were thus appointed. The supernumerary (literally, “above the number”) resident pupils are all others. [↑]
[23] The clothing recommended by a sub-commission of the superior commission of primary instruction, November 24, 1864, (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 20), for regular and supernumerary resident pupils of the Manila normal school, was as follows:
| Estimatedprice | |||
| pesosfuertes | centavos | ||
| 2 | pairs of white pantaloons, | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | pairs of colored pantaloons, | 3 | 0 |
| 2 | white jackets, | 2 | 0 |
| 1 | coat of black alpaca, | 2 | 50 |
| 2 | black ribbons for the neck, | 0 | 25 |
| 1 | black cap, with the initials E. N. in silver, according tomodel, | 2 | 0 |
| 2 | pairs of shoes, | 2 | 0 |
| 1 | pair of chinelas [i.e., heelless slipper], | 0 | 50 |
| 10 | white shirts, | 10 | 0 |
| 2 | colored shirts, | 1 | 50 |
| 12 | pocket handkerchiefs, | 1 | 0 |
| 12 | pairs of socks, | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | pairs of underdrawers, | 1 | 25 |
| 1 | mat, | 0 | 50 |
| 1 | pillow, | 0 | 75 |
| 4 | pillow-cases, | 0 | 75 |
| 4 | sheets, | 6 | 0 |
| 2 | bed covers, | 2 | 0 |
| Clothesbrush, comb, scissors, etc., | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 0 | |
[24] i.e., All-Souls’ day. [↑]
[25] The three days preceding Lent. [↑]
[26] The United States government continued this school, and gave it the support ($8,880, Mexican) formerly furnished by the Spanish government. See Report of Philippine Commission, 1900, i, p. 36. [↑]
[27] May 21, 1840, Governor Lardizábal communicated to the Audiencia a royal order of October 4, 1839, in regard to the necessary conditions to be observed for the introduction and circulation of books in the islands, the previous designation of those deserving censure, given by his Majesty’s fiscal, a censor being later appointed by the government, and another by the archbishop, the fiscal again reviewing the qualification and the censure; and if “it should result that there was sufficient grounds to prohibit the circulation of any work, because it contains principles, maxims, and doctrines contrary to the rights of the legitimate throne, or to the religion of the State, the book is not only to be taken back, but shipped back immediately.” In case of dispute between the two censors, the fiscal was to decide (royal order, November 19, 1840). See Montero y Vidal, iii, pp. 29, 30. [↑]
[28] The important circular of the superior civil government of August 30, 1867 (concerning school attendance), treats of the manner of exercise of the supervision of the schools by the parish priests and provincial chiefs. Various other acts of legislation refer to the same matter. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 118, note 1.) [↑]
[29] The first two books mentioned are: the Catecismo de la doctrina cristiana, by Gaspar Astete, which has passed through many Spanish editions; and the Catéchisme historique, by Claude Fleury, which has passed through many different editions in many languages. José Francisco de Iturzaeta has published several works on educational subjects. [↑]
[30] James A. LeRoy (Philippine Life, p. 203) says of the textbooks used in the Philippines: “After 1863, and up to the American conquest, the catechism remained the chief feature of daily work in the primary schools, often relegating all else to an insignificant place—much depending upon the preparation, at best a scanty one, of the teacher. A badly printed little 150 page textbook, prescribed by the government for the schools, was reader, writer, speller, arithmetic, geography, history of Spain and the world (Spain overshadowing), Spanish grammar (quite commonly not taught, because the teacher knew little or nothing of it), and handbook of religious and moral precepts (many pages). This book, moreover, shows how pitifully inadequate was the Filipino child’s schooling at the very best; for often not even this textbook was employed, perhaps because the teacher was not prepared to use it.” [↑]
[31] The Philippine school report for 1892, entitled “Report of the children’s schools for both sexes, at present in these islands, classified in accordance with the orders of his Excellency, the governor-general, in his decree of July 29, 1892,” gives the following data. The schools are classified by grades, i.e., into schools of entrada, ascenso, and finishing schools of the second and first rank; and the order in charge of each village or province is also given. We condense from this report (a manuscript belonging to Rev. T. C. Middleton, O.S.A.), the number of schools in the various provinces, and the order or orders in charge of the same.
| Augustinians | |
| Province | No. ofSchools |
| Abra, | 28 |
| Antique, | 57 |
| Bontoc, | 8 |
| Ilocos Norte, | 30 |
| Lepanto, | 20 |
| Quiangan, | 2 |
| Tiagan, | 9 |
| Union, | 35 |
| Augustiniansand Franciscans | |
| Bulacan, | 68 |
| Augustiniansand seculars | |
| Cebú, | 120 |
| Capiz, | 65 |
| Ilocos Sur, | 61 |
| Iloilo, | 95 |
| Pampanga, | 54 |
| Augustinians,Franciscans, and seculars | |
| Batangas, | 46 |
| Nueva Ecija, | 49 |
| Augustiniansand Dominicans | |
| Tarlac, | 34 |
| Augustiniansand all other orders | |
| Manila, | 84 |
| Franciscans | |
| Albay, | 88 |
| Burias, | 4 |
| Camarines Norte, | 20 |
| Camarines Sur, | 68 |
| Isla del Corregidor, | 3 |
| Infanta, | 4 |
| Franciscans andDominicans | |
| Bataan, | 36 |
| Nueva Vizcaya, | 16 |
| Franciscans andRecollects | |
| Misamis, | 74 |
| Leite, | 89 |
| Principe, | 5 |
| Samar, | 76 |
| Surigao, | 59 |
| Tayabas, | 45 |
| Recollects | |
| Bohol, | 94 |
| Cavite, | 50 |
| Cottabato, | 6 |
| Calamianes, | 10 |
| Isla de Negros, occidental, | 56 |
| Isla de Negros, oriental, | 34 |
| Isabela de Basilan (?) | 2 |
| Masbate and Ticao, | 23 |
| Mindoro, | 44 |
| Paragua, | 6 |
| Romblon, | 33 |
| Zambales, | 48 |
| Recollects andCapuchins | |
| Carolinas, orientales, | 4 |
| Carolinas, occidentales, | 3 |
| Recollects andDominicans | |
| Morong, | 30 |
| Recollects andseculars | |
| Zamboanga, | 15 |
| Dominicans | |
| Cagayan, | 39 |
| Islas Batanes, | 14 |
| Isabela de Luzón, | 33 |
| Laguna, | 56 |
| Pangasinan, | 62 |
| Jesuits | |
| Davao, | 11 |
| Dapitan, | 12 |
| Capuchins | |
| Marianas, | 4 |
[32] LeRoy, ut supra, pp. 203–204, says: “The advance in primary instruction from 1863 to 1896 was altogether notable, though the figures revealing it are largely superficial, after all, in their significance. The number of school buildings increased in the villages from seven hundred to twenty-one hundred, but the number of pupils did not reach two hundred thousand, in all probability, as against one hundred and thirty-five thousand in 1866.” [↑]
[33] Notwithstanding this admirable prescription, Tomás G. del Rosario, writing in Census of Philippines, iii, p. 595, says concerning the sanitary qualities of the Philippine schools: “The necessary sanitation was not observed in the schools, either to preserve the health of the children or for personal cleanliness, an important purpose of every educational system. Many of the schools were in the filthiest condition. They had no water-closets nor play-grounds, and no instruction was given in physical culture or in social matters.” [↑]
[34] According to article 25 of the penal code in force in these islands, corporal punishments, in addition to that of death, are perpetual chains, perpetual imprisonment, perpetual exile, perpetual banishment, temporal chains, temporal exile, temporal banishment, imprisonment at hard labor, lesser imprisonment, confinement, absolute perpetual and temporal disqualification, and absolute and special perpetual and temporal disqualification for any public charge, right of active or passive suffrage, profession, or trade. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 123, note 2.) [↑]
[35] The provisions (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 123, note 3) in force in regard to the salaries of teachers and assistants is that of the superior decree of July 29, 1892, which prescribes the following monthly salaries:
| Boys’schools | Pesos |
| Término schoolteachers of the firstgrade, | 40 |
| Término schoolteachers of the secondgrade, | 30 |
| Ascenso schoolteachers, | 22 |
| Entrada schoolteachers, | 17 |
| Assistants of the first class, | 13 |
| Assistants of the second class, | 8 |
| Girls’schools | |
| Término schoolteachers, | 26 |
| Ascenso schoolteachers, | 20 |
| Entrada schoolteachers, | 15 |
| Assistants of the first class, | 12 |
| Assistants of the second class, | 8 |
[36] The superior decree of August 11, 1892, conceded annual allowances to men and women teachers who had taught for fifteen years, and had a good record. By the decree of July 20, 1894, traveling expenses were advanced to them. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 124, note 3.) [↑]
[37] The post of assistants of the first class belongs only to boys’ término schools of the first and second class, and in those of girls to término and ascenso schools. Schools of other grades belong to assistants of the second class. Substitute assistants, namely, those who have no certificate, are entitled only to the monthly pay of four pesos. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 124, note 4.) [↑]
[38] Article 4 of the superior decree of May 7, 1871, rules that the teaching in the schools for adults shall last eight months per year, and be given at night, employing two hours every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday of each week. For the increased work, an amount of pay equal to what they received during the day was assigned to the teachers. This decree, as is evident, took away the dominical character given to the adult schools by these regulations of December 20, 1863. Notwithstanding the benefit of the increase of a fourth part of the pay to which teachers are entitled for the adult schools, very few such schools exist. In the budgets in force now, the figures for the payment of salaries for the teaching of adults only reach the sum of 573 pesos distributed among the provinces of Abra, Cebú, and Pampanga, in the proportion of 318, 210, and 45 pesos, respectively. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 126, note 1.) [↑]
[39] This Superior Council of Primary Instruction was suppressed by decree of the superior government, February 23, 1871, in accordance with order no. 1183, of the ministry of the colonies, December 5, 1870, by which was created the ad interim Superior Board of Public Instruction, in the manner prescribed by this article and article 15 of the royal decree of August 16, 1876, approved by royal order, June 5 of the following year. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 126, note 2.) [↑]
[40] Article 12, of the royal decree of May 19, 1893, relative to the municipal regulation of the villages of Luzón and Visayas, prescribes among the duties of the municipal captain that of “supervisor of the offices, schools, and municipal services.” On account of this some have doubted whether the supervision of the schools was taken away from the parish priests to give it to the municipal captains. That doubt has been resolved by paragraph 4 of the provisional regulations of the said royal decree approved by decree of the general government December 9, 1893, for in said paragraph it is stated clearly and distinctly: “Without prejudice to the supervision in instruction which belongs to the parish priest, according to the regulations of 1863, whose powers are not altered in any way, the municipal tribunal shall constantly exercise a watch over primary instruction, etc.” In our opinion, the above-mentioned doubt has no call for existence, since the above-mentioned article 12 of the royal decree of May 19, 1893, refers, as one can see by its own words, to the municipal schools, and those which are established in the villages of the archipelago cannot have that character attributed to them, since their expenses are not met by the municipal tribunals, nor does the appointment of the staff belong to them, but both are in charge of the central management. We believe, consequently, that the municipal captains have not even the secondary or supplementary supervision over the present schools of the archipelago, which is given them by paragraph 4 of the provisional regulations of December 9, 1893. (Grifol y Aliaga, pp. 126, 127, note 5.) [↑]
[41] José de Calasanz, or as he is sometimes called, Joseph de Calasanzio, was born at Peralta, Cataluña, in 1556, and became a well-known ecclesiastic. On the occasion of a visit to Rome in 1592, touched with compassion at the neglected condition of the poor children, he renounced his ecclesiastical honors in Spain and devoted himself to the work of teaching in Rome. There he founded the Congregation of the Piaristes, consisting of regular clerics, about 1,600, whose object was the charitable education of poor children. The congregation was approved in 1617 by Paul V, who permitted members to take the simple vows and adopt their own rules. In 1621 Gregory XV gave them the title of “Regular clerics of the poor, under the protection of the Mother of God, for charitable schools.” The work soon spread to the rest of Italy, and to Germany and Poland. The mother house is at Rome. Its founder, who died in 1648, and was canonized in 1767, refused to accept the honors of bishop or cardinal. See Grande Encyclopédie. [↑]
[42] Article 9 of the decree of the General Division of Civil Administration, of February 4, 1889, prescribes that on Sunday after mass the boys shall assemble at the school for an hour, so that the religious or parish priest may give them the religious teaching that he deems advisable (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 131, note 1). [↑]
[43] In 1868, the studies for the normal school for female teachers were given in this school. The report on the education of girls presented by the friars at the exposition at Madrid in 1887 speaks as follows of it: “While strictly speaking there is no other normal school for female teachers than that of Nueva Cáceres, we believe, nevertheless, that this name can be given to the municipal school for girls of this capital, which is the only institution for young women supported from public funds—that is, from the funds of the municipality of Manila. It is true that schoolmistresses can, and actually do, graduate from any girls’ school of this capital, and even from any private school, as, according to the law in force to secure this title, the passing of the regular examination is sufficient; but we believe that the only institution of this character in Manila which deserves the title of teachers’ school is the municipal school, and we therefore include in the same chapter this school and that of Santa Isabel of Nueva Cáceres.” See Census of Philippines, iii, pp. 615, 616. [↑]
[44] In the Madrid periodical Nuestro Tiempo of November 25, 1905 (pp. 317–331), is an article by Eduardo Sanz y Escartin, of the Royal Academy of Moral and Political Sciences, entitled “La instrucción pública en España” (“Public instruction in Spain”), which gives a good résumé of the condition and needs of education in Spain at present. [↑]
[45] The Gaceta de Manila is the continuation of the Boletín oficial de Filipinas, [Official Bulletin of Filipinas] which changed its name in accordance with a royal order of May 18, 1860. The first issue of the paper under the new name appeared Tuesday, February 26, 1861, and by a royal order of September 26 following, it was prescribed that all the villages of the archipelago should subscribe for the paper. By a decree issued in February 1861, it was declared that “all the official orders published in the Gaceta de Manila, whatever their origin, are to be regarded as official and authentic text.” The Boletín was first issued in 1852, being the continuation of the Diario de Manila, first published at the end of 1848. See Montero y Vidal, iii, pp. 306, 307; and Politica de España en Filipinas, iii, pp. 94, 95. [↑]
[46] General Gándara paid special attention to primary education, and very important measures are due to him in the years 1867 and 1868. He was ably seconded by the secretary of the superior government, Vicente Barrantes. See Montero y Vidal, iii, p. 491. [↑]
[47] Of the girls’ school of Nueva-Cáceres, Tomás G. del Rosario says (Census of Philippines, iii, p. 616): “This school was founded by the bishop of that diocese, Fray Francisco Gainza, who inaugurated the studies on April 13, 1868, as a primary school for girls. On June 18, 1871, the studies of the normal school for women were taught there, as they were in that of Manila, by a decree of the government of King Amadeo, of Savoy. On May 26, 1873, the government of the Spanish republic decreed that each of the towns of that ecclesiastical province should hereafter make allowance for a similar number of young girls desirous of obtaining the title of teacher. Up to 1887, 177 girls had obtained certificates as teachers from this educational institution. The sisters of charity are in charge of the institution and of the education of the girls. This educational institution combined the characteristics of a school of primary instruction, a college for the education of boarding pupils, and a school for teachers, or normal school.” [↑]
[48] By decision of his Excellency the governor general, November 18, 1889, this article was revised to the effect that girls could enter the normal school for women teachers in Nueva Cáceres from the age of fourteen, although those with the teachers’ certificate could not teach until they reached the age of twenty, according to the regulations. However, those older than sixteen and less than twenty who hold teachers’ certificates may have the charge of schools, with the character of ad interim, so long as there are not other teachers with all the legal conditions required; and they are confirmed in these posts when they reach the age of twenty, according to the royal decree of November 24, 1893. (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 45, note 1.) [↑]
[49] This article (see. Grifol y Aliaga, p. 244) is as follows: “The issuing of teachers’ certificates of primary instruction, both normal and substitutes, their appointments to discharge the duties of the public schools, prescribe promotions, licenses, and other things connected with these functionaries, are in charge of the director [general of Civil Administration].” [↑]
[50] Now the civil governor of Ambos Camarines (Grifol y Aliaga, p. 50, note 2). [↑]
[51] This article (Grifol y Aliaga, pp. 401, 402) is as follows: “On the receipt of this circular, you shall have a meeting called of the persons who shall compose that provincial commission, in accordance with the above-cited art. 15 [of the royal decree of December 20, 1863]. Therein shall be read the annexed regulations which shall be cited, and those of this circular; and that provincial supervisory commission shall be declared as installed.” [↑]
[52] Of the position of woman in the Philippines and its cause, LeRoy says (Philippine Life, pp. 49, 50), although perhaps a trifle too strongly, as woman in the Philippines seems always to have enjoyed a certain amount of freedom, as compared to her sisters in other oriental countries: “The position of woman in the Philippines is not that typical of the Orient. If we may not say that the Philippines are not at all oriental in this respect, at any rate it is perfectly safe to say that in no other part of the Orient have women relatively so much freedom or do they play so large a part in the control of the family or in social and even industrial affairs. It is a common remark that Filipino women, both of the privileged and of the lower classes, are possessed of more character, and often too of more enterprise, than the men. There seems every reason for ascribing this relative improvement in the position of woman in the Philippines as compared with surrounding countries in the Orient to the influence of the Christian religion and the position which they have assumed under the teaching of the Church and the directorship of the friars.” [↑]
[53] Prueba de curso: the examination which is held at the end of each scholastic year or term, in the months of May and June, or (if it could not be held at that time, or if the student fails to pass) in the month of September of the new term. It must be taken by every pupil in order that he may matriculate the following term.—Francisco Giner de los Rios, of Madrid, of the Free Institution of Teaching. [↑]
[54] Grado de revalida is the aggregate of exercises and examinations which must be taken by students (in spite of having been examined every year) on the completion of any course (for example that of elementary or superior schoolmaster or mistress), in order to obtain the certificate or diploma of their degree. There are many degrees: doctor, licentiate, bachelor, primary schoolmaster, etc.—Francisco Giner de los Rios. [↑]
[55] Inscripción: the entering of a student in the school register. This word is also used in general for any record of a name, person, or thing, in a list or register.—Francisco Giner de los Rios. [↑]
[56] Encerado: a square of oilskin, used as a slate or blackboard. See New Velázquez Dictionary. [↑]
[57] Cedulas de inscripción are the documents which are given to the students, certifying that they have been registered in the matriculation books.—Francisco Giner de los Rios. [↑]
[58] Literally, “Paper of payment to the State.” This is a kind of stamped paper with its stamp authorized by the State, whose price varies according as the stamp represents the value of an impost which is collected in judicial and many other affairs. In the centers of State teaching, the fees which are to be paid by the students for their matriculation are not paid in money, but by presenting a special paper which is bought in certain shops.—Francisco Ginder de los Rios. [↑]
[59] Hoja de estudios: the document on which are entered the studies which a student has had, and in which he has been examined, with their official value.—Francisco Giner de los Rios. [↑]
[60] Cedula personal: an official document declaring the name, occupation, domicile, etc., of the bearer, and serving for identification. See New Velázquez Dictionary. [↑]
[61] Matrícula de honor: a reward obtained by the best students of each class, by virtue of the term examinations. By this reward they are registered free in the matriculation of the following year.—Francisco Giner de los Rios. [↑]
[62] St. Stanislas Kostka (or Kotska) was born of a noble Polish family in 1550. While pursuing his studies at Vienna (1563–66), in the Jesuit college, his predilection to the religious life was clearly manifest, but since the provincial would not receive him there without the consent of his parents, he ran away, and tried to gain admission to the Jesuit order in Dilingen, Germany. To avoid the pursuit of his parents he was sent to Rome, where he was received into the order by St. Francis Borja in 1567. Naturally of a delicate constitution, the extreme bodily mortifications which he practiced in his youthful enthusiasm undermined his health, and he died August 14, 1568, at the age of eighteen. See Baring Gould’s Lives of the Saints (London, 1898), xiii, pp. 322–325. [↑]
[63] i.e., the decree of the government, ordering “let it be done.” [↑]
[64] Governor Izquierdo [1871–73] paid considerable attention to primary education, in which he was aided by José Patricio Clemente, secretary of the superior government. See Montero y Vidal, iii, p. 621. [↑]
[65] The Ensayo de gramática Hispano-Tagala (Manila, 1878) by the Recollect, Fray Toribio Minguella de la Merced. Retana says of this book (Biblioteca filipina, p. 149): “In my opinion the method of this book is the most suitable for study by Spaniards, who do not haze any knowledge of Latin, studied after the ancient method.” Minguella published in 1886, Methodo práctico para que los niños y niñas de las provincias Tagalas aprendan á hablar castellano (Practical method for boys and girls to learn to talk Castilian). This latter book received a reward in public contest. [↑]
[66] The author of this book is Castor Aguilera y Porta. [↑]