Phil Ed History

In ancient Philippines, children were given the

rudiments of education. Such education was both
academic and vocation. The father trained his sons
to be warriors, hunters, fishermen, miners,
lumbermen and ship builders. The mother on her
part trained her daughters in cooking, gardening,
serving and other household arts.
It is said that in ancient Panay, there was a
barangay school called Bothoan under the charge of
the teacher usually an old man. The subjects taught
to the children in this barangay school were
reading, writing, arithmetic, use of weapons
and lubus(acquiring kinaadman or amulets).

Hence, education during that time was geared

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

With the coming of Spain, the European system of

education was introduced to the archipelago.
Primary schools, colleges and universities were
established in our country by the missionaries.
The principal aim of Spain in the Philippines
during their regime was to make the native
Filipinos obedient and God-fearing Christians. For
this reason, religion was a compulsory subject at all
levels from the primary schools to the
universities.
The first schools were the parochial schools opened
by the missionaries in their parishes. In addition to
religion, the native children in these schools were
taught reading, writing, arithmetic and some
vocational and practical arts subjects.

Later on, colleges for boys and girls were opened

by the missionaries. These colleges were the
equivalent of our high schools today. The subjects
taught to the students included history, Latin,
geography, mathematics and philosophy.
[blockquote type=center]What the Philippines
needs is a realistic educational system adaptable to
local conditions.[/blockquote]
There was no co-education during the Spanish
times. Boys and girls studied in separate schools.
University education was started in the Philippines
during the early part of the 17th century. Originally,
the colleges and universities were open only to the
Spaniards and those with Spanish blood (mestizos).

It was only during the 19th century that these

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

The United States had a different approach dictated

by what the Americans considered to be their
principal goal in coming to the Philippines to

educate and to train in the science of selfgovernment.

Consequently, it was not surprising that the United
States considered educating the Filipinos as one of
its top priorities in the Philippines. Even while US
troops were consolidating their foothold in Manila
in 1898, schools were already opened in the city.
But unlike the Spaniards who neglected to
propagate their language, the Americans made it a
point to teach English to the Filipinos. The
American soldiers were the first teachers of the
Filipinos.
In January 1901, free primary education was
provided and a school for Filipino teachers was
established. It called for the recruitment of trained

teachers in America. It abolished compulsory

religious instruction.
The Americans gave bright young Filipino students
opportunity to take up higher education in
American colleges and universities. These Filipinos
came to be known aspensionados for their
education in the United States was financed by the
government in the Philippines. Hundreds of
Filipino pensionados were able to study in the US
until 1928. From the ranks of
these pensionados came the future civic, business
and political leaders of our country.
Hungry for education, the Filipinos flocked to
public and private schools in large numbers.
Education under the Commonwealth

Education continued to receive from the

Commonwealth government the same attention that
the Americans gave it. President Quezon created
the National Council of Education in 1936 as an
advisory body on educational matters. The council
made important recommendations to further
improve the educational system in the Philippines.
Most of these recommendations were accepted and
carried out by the government.
Under the Commonwealth, vocational and adult
education were given emphasis.
It was also during the Commonwealth regime that
an organized effort to develop a common national
language was stared in compliance with the
mandate of the 1935 constitution.

To help counteract the American cultural influence

among the Filipinos, President Quezon greatly
encouraged the revival of native culture as well as
desirable Filipino values.
And to help strengthen the moral fibers of the
Filipinos and to foster love of country especially
among the youth, President Quezon issued his
famous Code of Ethics which was required to be
taught in all schools.
In 1940, several changes were made in the
Philippine educational system by virtue of the
Educational Act of 1940. Under this law, the
elementary course was reduced from 7 years to 6
years. The minimum age for admission to Grade I
was raised to 7. The school calendar was also

changed so instead of the school year from June to

March, it was changed to July to April.
Education under the Japanese

Schools and churches were also used as propaganda

tools of the Japanese. Nippon-go, the Japanese
language, was made a compulsory subject in all
schools. In government and private offices, classes
in Nippon-go were opened to propagate the
Japanese language and culture. Japanese Catholic
priests were sent to the Philippines to help promote
the idea that Japan, being an Asian country, was a
friend of all Asian peoples including the Filipinos.
The Iloilo Experiment

In 1948. Dr. Jose V. Aguilar, the Superintendent of

the Iloilo school division initiated a six year
experiment with vernacular instruction in his

school division. The experiment involved seven

control schools where English was used as the
medium of instruction in Grades 1 and 2 and seven
experimental schools where the
vernacular,Hiligaynon, was used as the
instructional medium. This was controversial. As
late as 1963, the Dean of the College of Education,
Xavier University on the island of Mindanao,
observed that the vernacular instruction was not
producing maximum results. It was curtailing full
instructional benefit. Instead of narrowing the
regional gaps of the country, it was widening it and
was producing dangerous trends towards regional
and cultural imbalance.
Educational Thrust of the New Society and Today

It was assumed that the most fundamental objective

of education is the development of an individuals
potential which will simultaneously improve
society. Educational policies have been geared to
the accomplishment of better manpower production
through the understanding by the students of land
reform, taxation, economic production, anti-drug
and anti-pollution and conservation education. To
accomplish these goals, the value and work
oriented curricula were encouraged. However,
many parents and teachers were still confused
because they did not understand the philosophy,
operations, and evaluations of this innovation in
education. The concept of an average layman or
teacher in the new society was always associated
with the advent of Martial Law. This must be
redirected to a functional definition of wholesome

integration of our economic, social and moral lives

for a progressive Philippines. The direction of
education as envisioned by our educators can be
best described by the following changes:
1.A relevant and flexible
curriculum. Educational content is focused
on the need of society which is for sound
economy. This means better knowledge in
skills and food production, conservation of
natural resources, technical knowledge in
harnessing mineral deposits and less emphasis
on white collar jobs which result only in
producing the educated unemployed.
2.Productive-coordinated technocrats. The
inevitable reorganization of the Department of
Education (DepEd) was a response to these

needs. For centuries, our educational system

generally operated on a system of isolation
where the Bureau of Public, Private and
Vocational Education worked almost
independently and promoted secrecy and
privacy instead of attaining harmony for the
good of our country.
3.A quality teacher with effective methods of
teaching. To teach effectively, the teacher
must have the solid foundations in terms of
educational training from reputable
institutions, update his method of teaching by
reading and attending conferences, and should
have the courage of trying out various means
or ways of maximizing learner. To do this, it
becomes necessary to understand the
psychology of pupils and to be able to

communicate with them in teaching-learning

situations. The increase in teachers pay
should be a strong justification for the better
policy on the recruitment and retention of
teachers.
Every time changes in our educational system
occur to search for the solution for our educational
ills, some pressure groups interfere and say it
is unrealistic and expensive, which is not a
valid reason. Courage and energy for action should
be sustained to invigorate the lives of the citizenry.
After four centuries and a half of being a colony of
Spain, America and Japan, the concern of the
Filipino educators and policy makers is the
Filipinization of the Filipinos and Filipino
institutions. Alejandro Roces, while holding office

as the Secretary of Education, voiced this concern

thus: