teacher with advantage and without loss of intellect is immediately
after receiving the certificate, is evidenced by the fact that the
matters recently learned remain yet fresh in the memory and in the
mind of the young teachers; the will is then more active and ready to
communicate those matters to the children, and enthusiasm consolidates
in this case the vocation of the young teacher and moderates his mind
with the habit of work, so that he will persevere in his profession
for the rest of his life.
Granting the fondness of the native for instruction, and having seen
the increase in this last third of the century of public instruction
in Filipinas, thanks to the multitude and variety of official and
private teaching centers, it is more and more indispensable every day
that the primary teaching of the archipelago be propagated, perfected,
and consolidated, giving the greater extension and the preferred place
to the pedagogical studies of the normal school for men teachers, by
adding to the course of teachers of elementary primary instruction
that of superior primary instruction. The intellectual progress of
Filipinas, and its hopes for the future, demand a greater development
in the instruction and education of the children; and consequently,
that the young men, who nobly aspire to become teachers, may obtain
the certificate and prerogative of teacher of superior primary
instruction. That such are the desires of the government of his
Majesty, are evident by the recent creation of a superior normal
school for women teachers in Manila, and the constant desire of
enlarging the literary studies throughout the Spanish domains.
The necessity of also extending the teaching of this normal school for
men teachers in Manila has been so widely recognized, that for some
years past the supplementary courses for obtaining the certificate of
superior teacher of primary instruction have in fact been studies in
said center. It is so much more easy to introduce said improvement,
since it can be realized with the same teaching staff, without any
greater expense than the actual budget, and even an increase in the
years of study can be realized. For, during the first three years,
the pupils would study the branches corresponding to the teachers'
course of elementary primary instruction, in order to obtain, after
passing the examinations of the third year, the certificate by virtue
of the examination for degrees only those who shall have obtained in
said examination the grades of excellent and passed, besides the fourth
year being entitled to obtain the certificate of superior teacher, the
studies of the normal school of Manila comparing throughout with those
which are pursued in the superior normal schools of the Peninsula.
To the professional exercise of the duties of teacher of superior
primary instruction, belong privileges, prerogatives, and emoluments,
distinct from those which are enjoyed by teachers of a lower rank. In
such case the término competitions of the first and second class
would have to belong exclusively to the teachers of superior primary
instruction, and in the contests for the ascenso schools they must
be preferred to the elementary.
Said competition must take place before a competent tribunal, and
must be subjected to the official schedule of the various branches,
whose study prepares one for the certificate of superior teacher
indispensable for such competitions.
The case foreseen by article 12 of the regulations, namely, of the
existence among the supernumerary pupils of a sufficient number
of teachers to supply the schools of the archipelago, having been
realized, the suppression of the regular [de numero] resident pupils
is now proceeding in this normal school.
In accordance, then, with the previous exposition, he who affixes
his signature has the honor to recommend to the lofty consideration
and approval of your Excellency, so that you may deign to bring, if
you judge it suitable, to the notice of his Excellency the minister
of the colonies, the subjoined modification of the regulations of
the normal school for male teachers of primary instruction for the
natives of the Filipinas Islands approved by her Majesty, December 20,
1863. May God preserve your Excellency many years. Manila, November 1,
1893. Your Excellency,
Hermenegildo Jacas
General Division of Civil Administration: Your Excellency:
So powerful and conclusive are the arguments which the right
reverend father director of the normal school for men teachers
in Manila adduces, in order to petition your Excellency that said
institution enlarge the scope of the studies of its teaching, and
have, therefore, in the future, the character of superior, which
the director who affixes his signature, honoring himself in making
them his own, recommends to your Excellency that taking them under
consideration, and in harmony with them, you deign to authorize the
subjoined project for a decree. Will your Excellency decide. Manila,
November 10, 1893. Your Excellency,
A. Avilés
Decree
General government of Filipinas: Civil Administration.
Manila, November 10, 1893.
This general government in the exercise of its powers and in conformity
with the recommendation of the General Division of Civil Administration
on this date, declares the following:
Article 1. In order to heed the necessities felt more sensibly
each day for broadening and perfecting the pedagogical studies for
the purpose of forming suitable teachers to whom to entrust the
development and progress of primary instruction in the archipelago,
the normal school for men teachers of this capital is declared a
"superior normal school."
Art. 2. Teachers' certificates which shall be conferred in the future
by this institution shall include two grades--elementary and superior.
Art. 3. The studies corresponding to the first grade shall be divided
into three courses, and in the form established by the regulations,
by which said institution must be ruled, in its article 4.
Art. 4. For the superior degree the same subjects shall be studied
with the extension of those which are prescribed in the last section
of article 4 of the abovesaid regulations.
Art. 5. The teachers' certificates, obtained in the superior normal
school, shall bear equal rights and privileges with those obtained
in like institutions in the Peninsula.
Art. 6. The same instructors as those at present in the normal school
shall be those charged to teach the subjects belonging to the fourth
year.
Art. 7. The regulations drawn up by the director of the superior normal
school for men teachers who shall begin to rule with such character, at
the beginning of the next term of 1893-94 are provisionally approved.
Let it be communicated, proclaimed, and information thereof given to
the ministry of the colonies for its approval.
Blanco
REGULATIONS OF THE SUPERIOR NORMAL SCHOOL FOR MEN TEACHERS
Of the object of the superior normal school
Article 1. The object of the superior normal school for men teachers
in Manila is to serve as a seminary for teachers who may take charge
of the schools of primary instruction in the archipelago.
Art. 2. The pupils shall be resident and subject to one and the same
rule and discipline. For the present the previous entrance examination
shall allow the entrance of day pupils provided that their number does
not exceed sixty the first year, and if their antecedents give hope
that they can pursue their studies to advantage and that their conduct
will be such that it corresponds to the good name of the institution.
Art. 3. [This article is equivalent to Art. 3 of the regulations of
December 20, 1863 for the normal school; see ante, p. 86.]
Of the studies and their duration
Art. 4. The teaching in the normal school shall include two
grades--elementary and superior. The adequate teaching for
the acquisition of certificate of teacher of elementary primary
instruction shall be distributed over three terms, and one term
more shall complete the teaching required for the superior teacher's
certificate. The scholars who are candidates for the certificate of
teachers of elementary primary teaching must have studied and passed
in the following branches:
Christian doctrine explained, in three courses.
Elements of sacred history, comprising two courses.
Castilian language, with exercises of composition and analysis,
according to the four parts of the grammar, three courses.
Theory and practice in reading, two courses.
Theory and practice in writing, two courses.
Arithmetic, two courses.
Principles of geometry and surveying, one course.
Principles of geography and history for España and Filipinas,
one course.
Principles of agriculture, one course.
Elements of pedagogy, one course.
Rules of etiquette, one course.
Elements of lineal and figure drawing, three courses.
Lessons in vocal and instrumental music, three courses.
Gymnastics, three courses.
The courses in catechism, sacred history, reading, writing, Castilian
language, arithmetic, and geometry shall have lessons daily; every
other day, geography, history, surveying, and pedagogy; bi-weekly
the course in etiquette.
There shall be daily lessons in the academies of music, gymnastics,
and drawing.
In order to obtain a teacher's certificate of elementary primary
instruction, besides having passed in the branches belonging to
the three above-mentioned courses, a revalida examination shall be
demanded after having passed the examinations of the last course.
In order to obtain a superior teacher's certificate, one is required:
1--to have obtained the mark of excellent in the revalida examinations
for the teacher's certificate of elementary primary instruction;
2--to have taken the increased course in pedagogy, and in addition the
legislation in force in regard to primary instruction in Filipinas;
3--principles of religion and ethics, universal history, algebra,
industry, commerce, and the ordinary phenomena of nature.
Art. 5. [Equivalent to Art. 5 of the regulations of 1863; see ante,
p. 87.]
Art. 6. During the last six months of the third course, the pupils
shall have practical experience in teaching, by teaching in the classes
of the practice school annexed to the normal school established by
article 3.
Pupils may not pass from one course to another without proving their
fitness in the general examination which shall be held at the end of
each year.
An extraordinary examination shall be given to the pupils of the
third course, who have not for any reason passed in the ordinary
examination at the end of the course.
Art. 7. The teachers of superior primary instruction may select by
competition the término schools of the first and second class; and in
the contests which are held they shall be preferred in the management,
as regular appointees, of the ascenso schools.
Art. 8. The pupils of the normal school, who shall have completed
their studies in the elementary course for teachers, having passed
their final examinations in proof of their courses, before receiving
the teachers' certificates of elementary primary instruction, shall
be obliged to stand another examination which shall be called the
revalida examination; and in their certificates shall be noted the
honorable marks which they shall have merited in said examination.
Teachers who shall have obtained the mark of excellent in the revalida
examination, shall be empowered to continue their studies, and to
become candidates for the superior teacher's certificate, and can
also take regular charge of ascenso schools.
Those who shall not have obtained the mark of excellent in the revalida
examination, but that of good or fair, shall also receive teachers'
certificates, with the corresponding note, and shall be empowered to
take charge of entrada schools. Those who shall have failed in said
examinations, if, after the exercise has been repeated, they merit
approval, shall receive certificates as teachers of entrada.
Of the pupils of the normal school
Art. 9. Both the resident pupils of the normal school, and the day
pupils shall have the following qualifications for admission: 1--they
must be natives of the Spanish domains; 2--be fully thirteen years old,
this requirement to be proved by baptismal certificate or any other
equivalent public document; 3--not suffer any contagious disease,
and enjoy sufficient health to discharge the duties peculiar to
the charge of teacher; 4--have observed good deportment and prove
same by certification of the parish priest of the village of their
birth and residence; 5--speak Castilian, know the Christian doctrine,
read and write well, know something of Castilian grammar, as far as
the regular verbs, inclusive, and the four fundamental operations of
arithmetic. All of this shall be exacted in a previous examination
held before a tribunal designated by the director.
Art. 10. Only those young men who have the qualifications demanded
of the resident pupils, namely, that they live in Manila, or its
environs, under the care of their parents, or the charge of a guardian,
shall be admitted as day pupils, and in such conditions that one can
assume that they have examples of virtue and morality at the domestic
hearth. School supplies shall be given to this class of pupils free
of charge, if they are poor.
Of the director, teachers, and dependents of the normal school
Art. 11. [The same as Art. 15, of the regulations of December 20,
1863. See ante, pp. 91, 92.]
Art. 12. Under the authority of the director there shall be at least
six teachers, besides one instructor in drawing, one for vocal music,
and one for gymnastics; three assistants, and the number of servants
and dependents necessary for the school. One of the teachers shall be
at the same time the spiritual instructor of the school, and shall have
charge of the direction of the pupils and of presiding over religious
ceremonies. Under his peculiar charge shall also be the lessons in
sacred history, ethics, and religion. Another of the teachers shall
discharge the special duties of prefect of morals, whose principal
occupation shall be to accompany the pupils and watch over them in
the interior matters of the life of the institution. The other four
teachers shall be occupied chiefly in the teaching of other matters.
The classes in vocal music, drawing, and gymnastics, shall be daily
and last one hour. A superior término teacher of the first grade
shall be appointed for the practice school which is joined to the
superior normal school, and he shall guide it under the supervision
of the director.
Art. 13. The salary to be received by the director, instructors,
assistants, and dependents, as well as the expenses for equipment and
the rent of a building, shall be assigned annually in the budgets of
the local funds of the islands, in the proper chapter and article.
Of examinations
Art. 14. There shall be a review of all matters studied during that
period at the end of each month in each of the classes of the normal
school. Every three months there shall be private examinations of
all the matters studied during that time, with qualifications and
promulgation of the marks obtained by each pupil. A general examination
shall be held at the end of the term. This exercise shall be public
and shall be held in the presence of the authorities and persons of
distinction of the capital, and shall close with the proclamation
and distribution of rewards.
Of holidays and vacations
Art. 15. The holidays for the normal school shall be Sundays,
Thursdays, feast days, Ash Wednesday, the day commemorated to the
faithful dead, and also the saints' days and anniversary birthdays
of their Majesties and the prince of Asturias, and the saint's day
of the governor general of the archipelago.
The short vacations shall extend from Christmas eve to January 2,
and the three carnival days. During said vacations the resident pupils
shall remain in the institution.
The long vacations shall last from the close of the examinations at
the end of the term in the second fortnight of the month of March
until the first day of June. Resident pupils shall pass the period
of the long vacations with their families.
Concerning rewards and punishments
Art. 16. The merit of pupils shall be recompensed with honorable
marks which shall be entered in the book of the institution, and
with annual prizes, whose solemn distribution shall take place at
the close of the public examinations.
Art. 17. Punishments shall consist of public censure, deprivation
of recess, and separation from the other pupils, and if this is not
sufficient, definitive expulsion from the school. Expulsion shall
take place irremissibly for the cause of contagious disease, for
remarkable laziness, lack of application, and for serious lack of
respect toward the teachers, and for bad deportment or depraved morals.
Art. 18. The public reading of the marks of good deportment,
application, and progress, shall also serve as reward; and as
punishment shall also serve the reading of the contrary marks. This
shall be done every three months, assembling for that purpose all
the pupils in one place, with their teachers, under the presidency
of the director.
Of the interior regulations of the school
Art. 19. [This article is the same as Art. 23 of the regulations of
1863; see ante, p. 94.]
Of textbooks
Art. 20. [This article, consisting of two paragraphs, is equivalent
to Art. 24 of the regulations of 1863, except that it reads "general
government" where the latter reads "superior civil government."]
Concerning special examinations for obtaining assistants' certificates
Art. 21. Examinations shall be held four times each year in the normal
school for the obtaining of assistants' certificates. Those who present
themselves for the said examinations shall have the qualifications
established in art. 9, for those who desire to enter the school. They
shall be conversant with some of the matters established in art. 4,
in regard to the subjects suitable for the acquisition of teachers'
certificates of elementary primary instruction, according to the
schedule approved by the superior government. Such examinations shall
be public, and shall be held before the directors and teachers of
the normal school.
Art. 22. [The same as Art. 26 of the regulations of 1863. See ante,
p. 95.]
Of the issuing of teachers' and assistants' certificates
Art. 23. The General Division of Civil Administration has the right
of issuing certificates as superior elementary and assistant teachers,
at the recommendation of the director of the normal school.
Art. 24. [The same as Art. 28 of the regulations of 1863. See ante,
p. 95.]
Of the competitive examinations to obtain a regular appointment in
the término schools of first and second grades.
Art. 25. The vacant término schools of the first and second grades
shall be supplied by competitive examinations. Such competitive
examinations shall be held whenever the General Division of Civil
Administration considers it necessary.
Competitive examinations shall be announced three months beforehand,
and all those who shall have obtained a teacher's certificate for
superior primary instruction shall be entitled to participate in them.
Art. 26. The examinations shall take place before a tribunal composed
of five judges, appointed by the director from among the instructors
of the normal school, and shall be ruled by an official schedule drawn
up by the same persons, and approved by the superior government. In
that schedule shall be contained the matters of the studies peculiar
to the teaching profession.
Art. 27. The examination exercises shall be oral and written.
The oral exercises shall consist:
1. In the reply to questions chosen by lot in regard to religion
and ethics, pedagogy, Castilian grammar, arithmetic, principles of
geography, history of España and the world, principles of algebra and
geometry, principles of physics and natural history, and principles of
agriculture. Questions in each one of these matters shall be prepared
for this purpose in distinct lists, and numbered tickets shall be
placed in an urn. The competitor shall draw three tickets, and after
reading the questions on religion and ethics for those same numbers,
shall reply to at least one of them. Then he shall draw three other
tickets for the examination in pedagogy; and so on, for the examination
in the other studies. In the drawing of the questions for each subject,
there shall always be twenty-five tickets. The questions which are
answered shall be replaced by others.
2. In the explanation concerning the capacity of children, in a point
relative to any of the subjects above named, the competitor shall
read in a textbook of the schools the bit that shall be indicated by
one of the examining judges, and shall proceed with the book closed
to the explanation of what he has read.
3. In reading from a printed book and a manuscript.
4. In writing on the oilskin the sentence dictated by one of the
judges, and then giving the grammatical and logical analysis of
the same.
Written exercises shall consist:
1. In writing a page of capital letters according to the system of
Iturzaeta on the ruled paper given for that purpose, for which each
competitor shall cut the pen which he shall use immediately before
the exercise.
2. In writing at the same dictation a composition in Castilian,
which shall not be less than one page long, on a subject assigned by
the tribunal.
3. In solving in writing the arithmetical problems which shall
previously have been agreed on by the judges.
Paper bearing the stamp of the normal school, and the rubric of the
president of the tribunal, and a writing desk, shall be furnished to
the competitors for all their exercises.
The first exercise shall last an hour and a half, from the time when
everything necessary for the same is ready. One hour shall be granted
for the second, and for the third the period deemed advisable by
the director.
In the marking of the first exercise, attention shall be paid only to
the caligraphy, and in the third to the solution of the problems. In
the second the writing, spelling, and especially the construction
shall be marked.
All the competitors shall perform at one and the same time each one of
the written exercises under the eyes of the members of the tribunal,
and placed so that they cannot aid one another. The competitors shall
not be allowed to consult any book or writing for the second and third
exercises. After the time assigned for each one of the exercises,
the competitor shall sign his paper and hand it to the president or
his substitute.
Art. 28. In case of tie in the exercises between two or more
competitors, consideration shall be given to the marks of the
certificate, to the years of experience, and to the greater merit
contracted in the practice of teaching.
Art. 29. The schools obtained by competition shall be governed
permanently by the teachers who obtained them, and such teachers shall
be entitled to the emoluments prescribed in the budgets corresponding
to their rank.
Art. 30. The competitors who shall not, however, have passed those
examinations, shall be preferred to those of their own class who,
although they have the same marks in their certificates, shall not
have obtained approbation in such exercises.
Manila, November 10, 1893. Approved.
Blanco
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 [70] 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" [71] 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. [72] 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, [73] 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], [74] 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] [75] 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] [76] 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.]
DOMINICAN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS,
1896-1897
STATISTICS OF THE STUDENTS WHO STUDIED IN THE COLLEGES OF THE DOMINICAN
FATHERS IN THE YEAR 1896-1897
College and University of Santo Tomás
The college was founded by the corporation of the Dominicans in 1612,
and its foundation approved by King Felipe IV, in December, 1623,
[77] as appears from the Recopilación de las Indias (ley liii,
título xxii, libro i). It was declared a university by brief of his
Holiness, Innocent X, in 1645, and King Carlos II received it under
his protection and royal patronage in 1680. Finally, King Carlos III,
by a decree of March 7, 1785, conferred on it the title of Royal,
giving it the titles and honors of the universities of the Spanish
monarchy. The collegiates with beca (free) numbered thirty-six in 1896.
Pupils matriculated in 1896 in the different courses
Courses Degrees
conferred
Course in Theology 15 2
,, ,, Canons 7 3
,, ,, Jurisprudence 1,298 17
,, ,, the Profession of Notary 244 4
,, ,, Medicine 857 8
,, ,, Pharmacy 169 2
,, ,, Philosophy and Letters 160
,, ,, Sciences 54
Practitioners of Medicine 205
,, ,, Pharmacy 38
Midwives 12
----- ----
Total 3,059 [36]
College of San Juan de Letrán [78]
This college was founded under the title of San Pedro y San Pablo
in the year 1640, for the purpose of giving primary instruction to
the poor and orphaned children of Spanish parents. The most reverend
master-general, Fray Tomás Turco, confirmed its erection in 1644. The
provincial chapter of 1652 accepted it as a house of the province
at the request of the governor-general with the approbation of the
archbishop of Manila. In the year 1683, it was called the college of
San Juan de Letrán, and it has been so called to our day. [79]
Course for 1896-1897
Rector and father professors 13
Brother masters of primary instruction 4
Resident [internos] collegiates 220
Half Resident ,, 50
Filipino assistants (servants) 8
---
[Total] 295
Class of day pupils
Matriculated in general studies for the bachelor's degree 5,363
Matriculated for practical studies (specialists) 337
-----
Total 5,700
Titles conferred
Bachelor of Arts 149
Professors of secondary instruction 4
Skilled agriculturalists and appraisers of lands 2
,, merchants 17
,, mechanics 5
College of San Alberto Magno
This college was founded by the Dominican corporation in the year
1891, in the village of Dagupan, in the province of Pangasinan. The
building was from the first constructed for the purpose for which it
was destined.
Course of 1896-1897
Rector and teachers 8
Brother master of primary instruction 1
Resident pupils 96
Matriculated 842
---
Total 947
School of Santa Catalina de Sena [80]
This school is directed by the Dominican sisters and was founded in
1698. In the year 1896 it had:
Nuns who acted as teachers 16
Lay sisters 15
Girls in residence 140
Servants and florists 52
---
Total 223
School of Nuestra Señora del Rosario, of Lingayén
(Pangasinan)
(Founded by the corporation, in 1890)
Nuns who act as teachers 7
Resident pupils 53
Non-resident pupils 13
Servants 10
--
Total 83
School of Nuestra Señora del Rosario of Vigan
(Founded in 1893)
Nuns who act as teachers 7
Pupils in residence 65
Servants 7
--
[Total] 79
School of Santa Ymelda of Tuguegarao (Cagayán)
(Founded in 1892)
Nuns 8
Pupils in residence 77
Non-resident pupils 10
Half pensioners 4
Servants 11
---
[Total] 110
REPORT OF RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS, 1897
Relation of the houses and number of pupils [81] whom the sisters of
charity had in a school here in Filipinas in the year 1897.
1. Here in Manila, they had all the schools which they have at
present, namely, the school of La Concordia, that of Santa Ysabel,
that of Santa Rosa, and that of Looban.
2. In the school of La Concordia, there were 39 sisters and 300 pupils.
In that of Santa Ysabel 14 sisters and 150 pupils.
In Santa Rosa, 11 sisters and 200 pupils.
In the school of Looban, 11 sisters and 170 collegiates.
3. In addition, they had here in Manila the military hospital, the
hospital of St. John of God, the municipal school, and the hospice
of San José.
In St. John of God, there were 27 sisters and 400 patients.
In the military hospital, 24 sisters and 300 patients.
In the hospice of San José, 14 sisters and 250 destitute people,
counting poor, patients, and orphan children.
In the municipal school, there were 10 sisters and about 300 girls
attended it. At present they still have these charitable houses with
the exception of the military hospital and the municipal school.
4. Besides these houses here in Manila, they had in the provinces,
the schools which they still have.
In Jaro (Iloilo), the school of San José, in which were 12 sisters
and 150 scholars.
In Cebu in the same capital, the school of the Immaculate Conception,
with 28 sisters and 200 scholars. They have also the hospital and
the house of relief.
In Nueva Cáceres (Camarines), the school of Santa Ysabel, in which
were 13 sisters and 170 scholars.
In Cavite they also had the hospital of St. John of God, and that of
Cañacao. In the former were 16 sisters and 170 patients, and in the
latter 16 sisters and 200 patients.
Relation of the number of pupils in the seminary schools here in
Filipinas in the year 1897.
1. All the seminary schools were in charge of Paulist fathers, except
that of Vigan. In the seminary of this city of Manila there were
5 fathers and 3 brothers, while the pupils or seminarists numbered
about 40. In addition they had the house which they own at present,
in San Marcelino. There were 6 fathers and two brothers whose efforts
were devoted to propagating and extending worship, and directing as
well the sisters of charity.
2. In the seminary school of Jaro, there were, in the said year, 9
fathers and 2 brothers, and about 600 pupils of whom 200 were regular.
3. In the seminary school of Cebú, there were also 9 fathers and
2 brothers resident, and the number of pupils was about 800, those
resident numbering about 300.
4. In that of Nueva Cáceres there was the same number of fathers
and brothers as in the seminaries of Jaro and Cebú, while the pupils
numbered about 700.
[Endorsed in English: "Congregation of St. Vi[n]cent of Paul."]
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF THE RECOLLECTS
Beaterio de Santa Rita
It is located on the ground plot of San Sebastian, in a district of
the same name, outside the walls of Manila, where the Augustinian
Recollect fathers have a convent whose foundation dates from the
year 1621, and a magnificent iron church dedicated in the year 1891,
in which is venerated the miraculous image of our Lady of Carmel.
This beaterio, separated from the convent only by the portico which
gives entrance to the church, was founded about the year 1730, and
was due principally to our father Fray Andrés de San Fulgencio, who,
acceding to the reiterated urgings and petitions of some pious women,
who desired to live in retreat from the excitement of the world, built
them a house, and gave them the habit of manteletas, or Tertiaries
of the Augustinian order.
The preferred occupations in which those pious women who have had
the good fortune to take our holy habit in this beaterio, have
busied themselves, have been, and are at present, beside their own
sanctification, the solid and Christian instruction and education of
a certain number of girls; the cleaning and renovating of our church
of San Sebastian; and the propagation of worship and devotion to our
Lady of Carmel, for whom they act as the perpetual attendants.
They lead a very austere life, and one completely abstracted from the
world, scarcely ever leaving the beaterio unless to go to the church,
and it is a very remarkable circumstance that in the two hundred years
almost, which have elapsed since their foundation, no sister who has
taken the habit has abandoned it in order to return to the world.
The inspection and direction of the beaterio belong to the father
prior of the convent of San Sebastian, who, with the consent of our
father provincial, dictates the suitable provisions for maintaining
in that holy house the spirit of piety with which it was founded.
School of San José of Bacolod, Negros
In the intermediary chapter, celebrated in the convent of Manila,
October 31, 1895, the installation (in Bacolod, the capital of the
island of Negros) of a college of primary and secondary instruction,
was determined upon. That determination of the chapter was approved by
the most reverend apostolic father, commissary-general of the order,
December 18, of the same year 95. January 28, 1896, the very reverend
father provincial, Fray Andrés Ferrero, now his Excellency, the
bishop of Jaro, petitioned his Excellency the governor-general to have
the kindness to authorize him as founder of a school of primary and
secondary instruction in the province of Negros under the advocacy of
San José, in which they could establish all the courses, the study of
which was required in order to obtain the degree of bachelor of arts.
The superior government acceded to the petition by a decree dated
February 21, of the same year, on condition of first receiving a
favorable report from the very reverend father rector of the royal
and pontifical university of Manila. In June of the same year they
proceeded to the opening of the school of Bacolod, which was placed
under the said university. The disasters that occurred in this
archipelago in consequence of the insurrection, have been the cause
of this school running for only two years.
Seminary school of Vigan
The corporation of Augustinian Recollects had in its charge the
seminary of Vigan between the years 1882 and April, 1895. During that
time various courses were added, and, in July, 1892, the complete
plan of studies for secondary instruction was established in the said
seminary, and it was officially placed under the university of Manila.
School of Santa Rosa
The foundation of this school having been authorized by a royal decree
of September 22, 1774, its direction and government (besides that
which by right belongs to the diocesan ecclesiastical authority)
was committed to the senior auditor, who was afterwards called
the president of the royal Audiencia. He was aided by a council of
four votes. Thus it continued until December 17, 1891, in which in
accordance with a royal order of October 6, of the same year, the
general government of these islands appointed as president of the
assembly the very reverend father provincial of the Recollects. From
that time all the intervention and authority which thitherto had been
held by the presidents of the royal Audiencia, were delegated to him.
The individuals composing the Administration Board are appointed by
the archbishop of Manila, at the proposal of the father president. The
Board informs his reverend Excellency, of the most important decisions
which are made so that he may approve them.
THE FRIAR VIEWPOINT
I
EDUCATION
The truth in this matter. If the means are sufficient and efficacious,
the ends will be obtained. Uniformity in the method.
There are matters of importance so transcendental in the progressive
evolution of peoples, and which determine in so efficacious a manner
the greater or less future and civilization of those peoples, that
they cannot be less than regarded by men who govern with the most
profound attention and persevering study, converting them into the
object of their studies, of their zeal, and of their energies. Perhaps
nothing occupies the foremost place with more reason and right than
education. The desire of happiness is as natural as it is legitimate
in man. That desire is so noble and elevated an aspiration, and man
feels that desire in the bottom of his soul with so irresistible a
force than one may say without any kind of exaggeration, that even
unconsciously he is dragged along by it. Hence, every new step that
he takes, every ray of light that he perceives, every unknown point
that he discovers in that road, induces one to believe that it is
one factor more for arrival at a safe port, one greater facility
which he acquires for the attainment of that end. And since that
end in man cannot be more than the highest end, hence it is that he
feels in an invincible manner the necessity of its possession, which
is that which constitutes the highest perfection of that privileged
creature [man]. Now, then, in order to attain possession of that end,
it is necessary to know it, and in order that it may have a practical
result, one must know the means which conduce to it, and perfect them
so that the result may be complete. Most marvelously is this trust
filled by the teaching which has as its direct object the education and
perfection of the faculties of man, which are the only means conducive
to the knowledge and possession of God--the supreme end, hence, the
highest happiness of man. Education is the object and noble finality
of teaching, the unfolding and perfection of the faculties of man,
both in the physical order, and in the intellectual, esthetic, and
moral; to develop the physical energies, producing the most perfect
health and robustness of the body, to extend the horizons of the
intelligence, the greater number of points of knowledge conducing
to the discovery of truth proportioning it; increasing and ennobling
man's sentiments for beauty, and directing the will along the road of
the good and the just, and removing it from their opposites, the evil
and unjust. It is the primordial object and noblest end of every man
who governs to endeavor to broaden, extend, and perfect instruction
among the peoples under the control of his government and direction.