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Philippine Colonial Education System

Research · August 2015

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2507.7600

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Rory Dacumos
Nagoya University
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Philippine Colonial Education System

The Philippines had a long colonial history, spanning the 16th to 20th century (1565 up to

1946). Spain colonized the Philippine Islands for 333 years, after which they ceded control to

the United States in 1898. The Americans ruled the country uninterrupted until they handed over

control to the Commonwealth of the Philippines in 1935. The decade-long existence of the

Philippine Commonwealth was interrupted from 1942-1945, at the height of the Japanese

occupation during World War II. After the war, the Commonwealth ended in 1946 and the

Philippines regained full independence from the Americans. All throughout this colonization
period, Spanish and American influences were most prominent into the Philippine educational

system.

Spanish period

When the Spaniards came to the Philippine Islands in 1521, they were surprised to

discover that the native population had high literacy, that is, they knew how to read and write

using a 17-symbol alphabet called the Baybayin script. Education though was not formal, and

that it was mainly focused on teaching practical knowledge as well as the worship of Bathala

(local deity) and the respect of laws and customs.

With the onset of Spanish colonization in 1565, Spanish friars and missionaries arrived.

Across the islands, the colonies that were built always included a church and a school. The

priests were the first teachers, and they educated the natives in order to convert them into

Catholicism. Thus, the formal education introduced by the Spanish colonizers was mainly

religion-based and controlled by the Roman Catholic Church. During this period, the oldest

universities, colleges and vocational schools founded in Asia were created by Catholic

missionary/religious orders. The first religious order to arrive, the Augustinians, founded the

first school in Cebu in 1565. This was followed by the Franciscans in 1577, Jesuits in 1581 and

Dominicans in 1587. In 1590, the Jesuits established Colegio de Manila, later renamed as
Rory Sta. Catalina Dacumos 13/11/2013

Universidad de San Ignacio in 1621. The oldest, existing university in the Philippines and in

Asia, the University of Santo Tomas, was founded by the Dominicans on 28 April 1611.

Spanish education centered on religion. Aside from catechism 1, the friars taught Latin

and Spanish grammar (languages used in religious ceremonies). In essence, the Spanish

educational system was meant to keep the natives faithful, in order to keep the Church's

authority over the lives of the Indios (colonized Filipinos). This system continued until the

introduction of the modern public education system in 1863.2

In 20 December 1863, Queen Isabella of Spain ordered the Education Decree, which

provided free access to primary education for boys and girls in each town. The implementation

of this Royal Decree made the Philippines as the first country in Asia which had a free and

compulsory form of modern education, 10 years before the implementation in Japan. It also

provided for a complete and structured educational system, with primary education leading to

secondary and tertiary education. Subjects taught included non-religious courses such as

mathematics, history, geography, philosophy and psychology, among others. Finally, after 300

years under Spanish rule, the reformed educational system gave Filipinos the opportunity to

pursue higher learning, study liberal western ideas and develop valuable leadership skills.

This gave birth to select group of enlightened individuals who call themselves as Ilustrados3.
The Ilustrados played a major role in the Philippine revolution against Spain. Prominent

Ilustrados were Graciano Lopez Jaena, Mariano Ponce, Marcelo H. del Pilar, Antonio Luna and

the Philippine National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal.

American period

By the time of American occupation in 1898, Filipinos were among the most educated

people in all of Asia, with some scholars claiming that the average Filipino at that time was even

1 A collection or compilation of Roman Catholic Church doctrines and teachings.

2 In 1833, France became the first country in the world to introduce the modern public education system. This system only
reached Spain in 1857, and a few years later, introduced the same system to her colonies in 1863.
3 From the Spanish word Ilustrado, meaning, "erudite," "enlightened," or "learned."
Rory Sta. Catalina Dacumos 13/11/2013

more educated than the average American. In fact, the public school system that was introduced

by Spain, i.e., one school for boys and one school for girls in every town or municipality, was

even ahead of the American public school system which only had 34 states with formal,

compulsory form of education. Nevertheless, the successive Philippine Revolution and

Philippine-American War took its toll on the public educational system, with most school

structures either damaged or badly looted. This prompted the American colonizers to reform the

whole system and used education as part of their colonization program called the benevolent

assimilation4. By this way, American soldiers built schools in conquered areas, and the soldiers

themselves were the first teachers.

Educational reform started with the passage of Act No. 74, otherwise known as the

Education Act of 1901. Soldiers were replaced by trained teachers, beginning June 1901 when a

group of around 1000 volunteer teachers arrived in the Philippines. Two months later, another

batch of 600 teachers came via the naval ship USS Thomas, hence, they called themselves the

Thomasites. The reformed educational system introduced by the Americans encouraged more

Filipinos in the field of teaching, such that succeeding generations were taught by Filipino

teachers and reliance on American teachers decreased. Throughout the American colonization

period, several universities, vocational schools and normal schools were established around the

country. The University of the Philippines, currently the country's top-ranking university, was

established in 1908.

More importantly, the law discarded the religious bias in the system of education. It also

promulgated the use of English language as the official medium of instruction in all public

schools and the teaching of the concept of democracy. In effect, the lasting legacy of American

educational reforms in the Philippines would later on be felt until today, with the Filipinos'

continued English language proficiency and their undying support for democracy.

4 A proclamation by United States (U.S.) President William McKinley stating that the mission of the U.S. was not to conquer
and suppress individual rights and liberties which was recently won by Filipinos from Spain, rather, absorb the Filipino
society into a new culture (i.e., American), as an act of benevolence (kindness) from the American people. In essence, this was
just a euphemism, to justify the U.S. colonization of the Philippines.
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Japanese occupation

The short-lived Japanese occupation of the Philippines provided little room for the

introduction of educational reforms, as war ravaged through the islands. In some conquered

areas, Japanese forces tried to introduced the following reforms in the educational system: i) to

stop depending on western countries like the U.S. and Great Britain; ii) promote and enrich the

Filipino culture; iii) to recognize that the Philippines is a part of the Greater East Asia Co-

Prosperity Sphere so that the Philippines and Japan will have good relations; iv) to be aware of

materialism to raise the morality of the Filipinos; v) to learn and adopt Nippongo and to stop
using the English language; vi) to spread elementary and vocational education and vii) to

develop love for work. With the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II, it could be safely

concluded that such attempts at reforms produced little to almost negligible effects for the

Philippine educational system, as it is today.