THE HISTORY OF

THE
PHILIPPINES
EDUCATION

CAN ANYONE GIVE ME A

LITTLE KNOWLEDGE ABOUT
THE HISTORY OF PHILIPPINES
EDUCATION ?

QUESTION

PRE-HISPANIC
The education of Pre-Hispanic Filipinos
was fit for the needs of their times.
There was no formal schooling.

Education was oral, practical and

hands-on

Parents trained their children informally . Mothers educated their female children in
housekeeping, weaving, basket-making and other agriculture-related activities.
Fathers trained their male children in hunting, carpentry, agriculture,
shipbuilding and mining. Skills taught would vary on their industries
and locations, i.e., whether highland, lowlands or along seashores.

ALIBATA

Alibata is an ancient writing system that was used in what is now the Philippines.
Although it was all but extinguished by Western colonization,variants of it are still
used in parts of Mindoro and Palawan, and it is also increasingly used by Filipino
youth as a way to express their identity.

 In fact, the Philippines was home to the first modern public schooling system
in Asia. It is also home to the oldest universities, colleges, and vocational
schools.
Education has been a priority in the Philippines for decades, and this is
evidenced in the fact that many of the advancements in education in Asia have
been pioneered in the Philippines.
Children in the Philippines are educated in the primary and secondary school
systems for about thirteen to fourteen years, depending on when they start, after
which they complete the College Entrance Examinations, that allow them to
qualify for one of the many institutions of higher learning.
There are both private and public schools in the Philippines, and on the whole
the education provided by the private schools is much more comprehensive than
that provided by the public school system.
While controlled by colonial rule for several years, once the Philippines gained
their independence they took over control of the educational system and began
to move it in their own direction.

Pre-Spanish Period
During the Pre-Spanish period, education was still decentralized. Children were provided
more vocational training but lesser academics, which were headed by their parents or by
their tribal tutors. They used a unique system of writing known as the baybayin.

BAYBAYIN
The term Baybay literally means "to spell
in Tagalog.
It also known as the alibata, were in it is the
ancient writing system that was used before by
the Filipinos.

The pre-Spanish system of education underwent major changes during the

Spanish colonization
The tribal tutors were replaced by the Spanish Missionaries

TRIBAL TUTORS

SPANISH MISSIONARIES

Education was informal and

unstructured .
Children were provided with
vocational training and less
academics by parents and
houses of tribal tutors
education was religion-centered
education for the elite only
Spanish is compulsory
Boys and girls school are separated
Inadequate, suppressed and
controlled

EDUCATION DURING THE SPANISH REGIME

When the Spanish first arrived in the Philippines, education of the indigenous
people was mainly viewed as the duty of religious organizations. Parish friars
put forth great effort to teach the indigenous people to read believing that
literacy was the key to better lifestyles.

SPANISH

EDUCATION DURING THE SPANISH REGIME

The Friars establish parochial schools linked with

Churches to teach catechism to the natives.
Education was manage, supervised, and controlled
By the friars.
Spanish education played a major role in that
transformation. The oldest universities, colleges,
vocational schools and the first modern public education
system in Asia were created during the colonial period

The focus of education during the Spanish Colonization of the Philippines was
mainly religious education.
The Catholic doctrine schools that were set up initially
became parochial schools which taught reading and writing
along with catechism

The Spanish missionaries established schools immediately after reaching the

islands.

The Augustinians opened a

school in Cebu in 1565.

Jesuits followed in 1581

The Dominicans in 1587,

which they started a school in
their first mission at Bataan.

The Franciscans, in 1577,

immediately took to the task of
teaching improving literacy,
aside from the teaching of new
industrial and agricultural
techniques.

In 1863, an educational decree mandated the establishment of free primary

schools in each town, one for boys and one for girls, with the precise number of
schools depending on the size of the population. There were 3
grades: entrada, acenso, and termino. The curriculum required the study of
Christian doctrine, values and history as well as reading and writing in Spanish,
mathematics, agriculture, etiquette, singing, world geography, and Spanish history.
Girls were also taught sewing.
The decree also provided for a normal school run by the Jesuits to educate male
teachers in Manila. Normal schools for women teachers were not established until
1875, in Nueva Caceres.
Despite the Decree of 1863, basic education in the Philippines remained
inadequate for the rest of the Spanish period. Often, there were not enough
schools built. Teachers tended to use corporal punishment.

After the Spanish colonial government was overthrown, the schools

established during the Spanish era were closed down for a time by
Emilio Aguinaldos government.
The Malolos Constitution made elementary education compulsory and
provided for free schooling. The Universidad Literaria de Filipinas, which
provided courses in law, medicine, surgery, pharmacy, and notarianship, was
established by Aguinaldo on 19 October 1898. He also set up the Military
Academy of Malolos and decreed that all diplomas awarded by UST after
1898 be considered null and void.
The curricula of schools were not much different from those under Spanish
domination. While Tagalogwas established as the national language by
the Constitution of Biak-na-Bato, reading, writing and literary studies in Spanish
were still given emphasis.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR US TO GO BACK AND

RECALL AND THE PAST EDUCATION OF THE
PHILIPPINES ?
It give us not only a glimpse of the past but also what we could learn from it.
History of Education will help you to understand
how the past events shaped the present education
systems, theories and related phenomenon in the
area of teacher education in particular and education
in general. Secondly, it will enable you to appreciate
the importance of education to mankind since time
immemorial across the generations.

QUESTION

WHAT COULD BE THE BENEFITS

THAT US FUTURE TEACHER THAT
MAY HAVE AFTER STUDYING THE
HISTORY OF THE PHILIPPINES ?

QUESTION

1. The study of history of education helps teachers in training to appreciate the various
aspects of their past educational process so as to link them to the present;
2. It enables teachers in training to know what type of education we had and the purpose
it served in the past;
3. It gives teachers in training the opportunity of knowing our past mistakes in our
education with the view to making necessary amends;
4. History of education gives teachers in training the opportunity of studying other
peoples educational ideas and programmes with the aim of developing ours;
5. It also gives teachers in training a solid foundation to plan for our present and future
educational development;
6. History of education guides teachers in training to proffer some positive solution to our
present day educational problems
7. It helps teachers in training to understand some major trends and developments in
our educational system;
8. It helps teachers in training to formulate and implement better philosophies of
education;
9. History of education is a good academic exercise to improve
teachers in training knowledge;
10.It widens the scope and knowledge of the teacher and makes
him more comfortable and competent in his class

PREPARED BY:
LOREIN MAY F. PABILONA
BTTE-ADT
IV-D