Historical foundation of Philippine education

Development of Education in the Philippines from Pre-Spanish to Present times

Before 1521: Education before the coming of Spaniards 1521-1896

Education during the Spanish Regime 1896-1899 Education during the

Philippine Revolution 1898-1935 Education during the American Occupation 1935-
1941 Education during the Philippine Commonwealth 1941-1944 Education during
the Japanese Occupation1944-1946 Education after the World War II1946-present
Education under the Philippine Republic

Pre- Hispanic Education

Pre- Hispanic education in the Philippines was not formal•

Education was oral, practical, and hands-on•
The objective was basically to promote reverence for, and adoration of
Bathala, for laws, customs, and authorities represented by parents and elders•
When the Spaniards arrived in the Philippines they encountered islanders
who knew how to read and write.

Education during the Spanish Regime

The Friars established parochial schools linked with churches to teach

catechism to the natives•
Instruction was in the dialect•
Education was managed, supervised, and controlled and the friars•
Education in the country was not uniform•
The system of schooling was not hierarchical nor structured, thus there were
no grade levels

Major Problems
•Lack of trained teachers
•Lack of teachers (150 teacher-missionaries to instruct over half a million
inhabitants)
•Lack of funds, instructional materials, and in many instances school houses
Because of need, higher level schools were established much later by virtue
of royal decrees.(Colegios, Beaterios)

Subjects: Based on the Royal Decree of 1863

•Languages (Latin, Spanish grammar and literature, elementary Greek,
French and English)
•History( Universal, Spanish)
•Mathematics (Arithmetic, Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry)
•Philosophy (Rhetoric, Logic, Ethics)
•Geography
•Psychology

Philippine Revolution
•Illustrados spearheaded the Propaganda Movement
•Curricular reforms
1. Secularization of education
2. Instruction of Spanish
3. Greater attention to natural science
4. The design of a relevant curriculum
5. Improvement of higher centers of learning
6. Improvement of educational system
• Jose Rizal criticized unequivocally the friars’ method of instruction in his
two novels Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo
1. Disproportionate focus on religion
2. Discourage the attempt of Filipino students to speak in Spanish
3. Lack of pedagogical skills
4. Irrelevant courses in the curriculum
 Curriculum: To improve the existing curriculum, Rizal considered the ff.
Subjects as required courses in secondary schools
•Science •Math •History •Philosophy •Law •Language •P.E •Religion •Music
•Social Sciences

Graciano- Lopez Jaena “The outstanding cause of the distressed situation of

Filipinos today is the anomalous education received by the youth in schools. They
learn to read correctly and write gracefully, but they do not learn anything useful
because they are not taught any. They are taught how to pray and never go to work”

American Occupation
•The Americans used education as a vehicle for its program benevolent
assimilation
•American soldiers were the first teachers
•Restore damaged school houses, build new ones and conduct classes
•Trained teachers replaced by soldiers
•Filipinos warmly received their new teachers, Thomasites
•American teachers infused their students the spirit of democracy and
progress as well as fair play

TAKE NOTE! • It is not surprising that the democratic values espoused by

the Americans, whether SINCERE or NOT, touched a receptive nerve in the Filipino
psyche.

•Americans discarded the religious bias

•Educational Act of 1901- Separation of Church and State in education
•Encourage Filipino in the field of teaching
•Outstanding Filipino scholars were sent to US to train as teachers

Curriculum
Primary Education
•GMRC•Civics •Hygiene and Sanitation •Geography

Intermediate Curriculum
•Grammar and composition •Reading, spelling •Science courses •Physiology
•Hygiene and sanitation •Intensive teaching of geography

•Government established NORMAL SCHOOL for future teachers

•Courses include: Methods of teaching, practice teaching, psychology,
mathematics, language, science, history and government, social sciences, P.E
•White collar-job bias

Philippine Commonwealth
•All schools should develop moral character, personal discipline, civic
conscience and vocational efficiency
•Promote effective participation of the citizens in the processes of a
democratic society
•Educational Act of 1940“meet the increasing demand for public instruction
and at the same time comply with the constitutional mandate on public education”

Japanese Regime
•6 Basic principles of Japanese Education
1. Realization of NEW ORDER and promote friendly relations between
Japan and the Philippines to the farthest extent
2. Foster a new Filipino culture based
3. Endeavor to elevate the morals of people, giving up over emphasis of
materialism
4. Diffusion of the Japanese language in the Philippines
5. Promotion of VOCATIONAL course
6. To inspire people with the spirit to love neighbor

Curriculum
•School calendar became longer
 •No summer vacation for students
•Class size increased to 60
•Deleted anti-Asian opinions, banned the singing of American songs,
deleted American symbols, poems and pictures
•Nipongo as a means of introducing and cultivating love for Japanese culture
•Social Studies

Take Note! Spanish- Reign for 300 years; American- 50 years; Japanese-
about four years

•It is thus not surprising that despite the measure they had instituted, the
Japanese failed to succeed in transforming the values and attitudes of the people in
line with their vision of the NEW ORDER.
•A contributory factor was widely reported brutalities that ushered in the
Japanese occupation that the Filipinos did not experience with the same degree
during the American period

After World War II

In 1947, by the virtue of Executive Order No. 94, the Department of
Instruction was changed to "Department of Education."
During this period, the regulation and supervision of public and private
schools belonged to the Bureau of Public and Private Schools.

Education after 1940

• The objective of the Philippine Education was to established “integrated,
nationalistic, and democracy- inspired educational system” included the ff.
1. Inculcate moral and spiritual values inspired by an abiding faith in God
2. To develop an enlighten, patriotic, useful and upright citizenry in a
democratic society
3. Conservation of the national resources
4. Perpetuation of our desirable values
5. Promote the science, arts and letters

•Great experiments in the community school and the use of vernacular in the
first two grades of the primary schools as the medium of instruction were some of
them.
•An experiment worth mentioning that led to a change in the Philippine
Educational Philosophy was that of school and community collaboration pioneered
by Jose V. Aguilar. Schools are increasingly using instructional materials that are
Philippine-oriented.

Memorandum No. 30, 1966 sets the order of priority in the purchase of
books for use in the schools were as follows:
 Books which are contributions to Phil. Literature
 Books on character education and other library materials
 Library equipment and permanent features

Martial Law period

• The Department of Education became the Department of Education and
Culture in 1972, the Ministry of Education and Culture in 1978, and with the
Education Act of 1982, the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports.
• A bilingual education scheme was established in 1974, requiring Filipino
and English to be used in schools.
• Science and math subjects as well as English language and literature
classes were taught in English while the rest were taught in Filipino.

From 1986 to the present

• The bilingual policy in education was reiterated in the 1987 Constitution of
the Philippines.
• (EDCOM), Congress passed Republic Act 7722 and Republic Act 7796 in
1994, creating the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical
Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). The institute governing basic
education was thus renamed in 2001 as the Department of Education (DepEd).
 • The quality of public school education is generally considered to have
declined since the post-war years, mainly due to insufficient funds. The Department
of Education aims to address the major problems affecting public education by
2010.
• Private schools are able to offer better facilities and education, but are also
much more expensive. There is a wide variety of private schools, including all-boys’
and all-girls’ schools, religious schools, non-sectarian schools, Chinese schools,
special schools, and international schools. Due to economic difficulties, there has
been a recent increase in the popularity of home schooling and open universities in
the Philippines.

Reference•http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Education_in_the_Philippines
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_Philippines
•THE NATURE AND SCOPE OFCURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT (PHILIPPINE
CONTEXT) by PROF. RONNIEESPERGAL PASIGUI