Chapter VII: Of faults against academic discipline and means of checking them (2)

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.

It is the most sacred duty of every gubernatorial authority to excogitate and choose the most suitable, safe, and correct methods of teaching for the attainment of so sacred an end. It cannot be even doubted that the authors of our traditional legislation for the Indias had other motives than the accuracy and rectitude in the creation of the laws concerning instruction, or other primordial end in it than the knowledge and adoration of God, the supreme end of man on earth; and as a means, the knowledge of the divine mysteries, of the revealed truths, in a word, of the Catholic religion, among the human beings of the New World. Rapid without doubt was the progress which the Catholic faith made in the immense territories of that unknown world, notwithstanding the interminable series of difficulties which our fervent missionaries, covetous to gain souls for God, were to meet in the evangelization of so many races and so numerous peoples divided by so diverse languages, which were so many other obstacles superable by their strong desire and never-satisfied zeal. In order to conquer those difficulties, and that that zeal might be more productive for the cause of religion, and more advantageous for the believers, fifty-eight years after the immortal Colón had discovered this world full of marvels, the first law was dictated in regard to the creation of schools for the teaching of Castilian, signed by Carlos V while governing at Valladolid, June 7, and reproduced July 17, 1550. Such is law xviii, título i, book vi, which reads as follows.

"Having made particular examination in regard to whether, even in the most perfect language of the Indians, the ministers of our holy Catholic faith can explain themselves well and fittingly, we have recognized that that is impossible without committing great discords and imperfections; and although chairs are founded where the priests who shall instruct the Indians may be taught, this is not a fitting remedy because of the great diversity of languages; and having resolved that it will be advantageous to introduce the Castilian language: we command teachers to be given to the Indians, in order to teach those who wish of their own accord to study it, in the way which will be of least trouble and without expense to them. It has appeared that this can be well done by the sacristans, as in the villages of these kingdoms they teach reading, writing, and the Christian doctrine."

But one can immediately understand that teachers who taught without any charge, who might be sacristans, and Indians who wished to study voluntarily, were not fitting factors to attain the most praiseworthy end which the legislator proposed to himself; and in fact it could not have given the desired result since eighty-four years afterwards, law v, título xiii, book i, was issued by Felipe IV, without indicating the means, in Madrid, March 2, 1634, and repeated two years afterward, on November 4, which reads as follows: "We ask and request the archbishops and the bishops to provide and order the curas and missionaries of the Indians in their dioceses, by the use of the mildest means, to arrange and direct that all the Indians be taught the Spanish language, and in that language the Christian doctrine, so that they may become more capable of understanding the mysteries of our holy Catholic faith and so that other advantages may be gained for their salvation, and follow in their government and method of life." The fulfilment of both laws [was] recorded by the royal decree of March 20, 1686, [82] and those laws were at the same time extended to Filipinas, since the desire of the legislator was the same in both parts, namely, "to consult upon what is the most efficacious means for destroying the idolatries incurred at present by the majority of the Indians as was true at the beginning of their conversion, etc.," as is said in the above-mentioned royal decree. From that decree one infers a wholesome instruction for Filipinas; but it is no wonder that the Filipinos have not learned Castilian, and that they abandon their primitive superstitions with difficulty, when the Americans of greater capacity than they, with greater means, with a powerful and constant stream of Christian civilization, carried by numerous missionaries, and a greater European emigration, after two centuries did not know the Castilian speech, and the majority were sunk in their idolatries, a thing which does not occur with the masses of the Filipinos, although they are not a little superstitious, a quality exhibited in more or less degree by numerous peoples of Europa after so many centuries of illumination.