The first college school for girls was opened in 1589 and this was Colegio de Santa Pontenciana.

Colegio
de Santa Isabel opened in 1632. The religious congregations also established schools for the girls and it
was eventually called beaterio. It was meant for orphaned girls who could not afford to attend school
and educate themselves. The subjects in the beaterio taught housekeeping, cooking, sewing and
embroidery making. Even if discrimination was utilized before by the friars, they also brought a good
impact to us, Filipinos. The friars were effective in evangelizing the catholic religion to the Filipinos.
There is one major failure in the educational system of the religious parishioners and it was the
preventing the Filipinos to learn other bodies of knowledge. They limit education to the teaching of
Spanish, Latin and Filipino language, the teaching of Religion was also emphasized. Mathematics and
Science was absolutely neglected.

Education under the Spanish administration was privileged only to Spanish students. Philippine
education was only a means to remain in the Philippines as colonizers. Filipinos became followers to the
Spaniards even if these things happened here in the Philippines. Filipinos were greatly influenced by the
Spaniards to the extent that even their lifestyles were already influenced by the Spaniards. The
educated Filipinos were called as ilustrados and they began movements directed towards change in the
government of the Philippines. They wanted to be the same level with the proud Spaniards. The
growing number of ilustrados in the Philippines is considered as one of the major effects of education by
the Spaniards in the Philippines.