A survey of the educational system of the Philippine islands by the Board of educational survey, created under acts 3162 and 3196 of the Philippine Legislature.

BOARD OF EDUCATIONAL SURVEY REPORT

75

destructive earthquakes makes feasible the construction of a permanent
type of building not possible in many neighboring regions, such as Japan.
The frequency of baguios in all the northern islands is a factor of great
importance in limiting the durability of a type of structure which would
otherwise be fairly satisfactory. All these are important considerations.
While the financial load of constructing a building plant for an
entire people in one generation is a heavy one, the aid of the Insular
Government has been of great assistance to the local communities. The
fact that it is difficult, if not impossible, to sell bonds for school buildings,
thus spreading the load over a period of years, presents another obstacle
not met in many countries. Taking all these factors into consideration,
the achievement of constructing the existing public-school plant has been
great.
A type of permanent, concrete school building has been evolved
which is very satisfactory. These permanent buildings conform to the
needs of the climate. Unless overcrowded with school children, they
meet the standard set up by school hygiene in ventilation, lighting, and
sanitation. They are simple and dignified in architecture. They are
usually the most conspicuous, as well as the most artistically satisfactory,
of the buildings in any community. Their general and special features,
as measured by standards set up in school architecture, are also
satisfactory.
The one problem which arises is that of expenses. Can many
communities or the system at large afford today to invest as much
as is required for these permanent plants? The alternative is the
semipermanent or the temporary building. With either of these types
many communities at the present time are compelled to be content.
The semipermanent building insofar as the requirements of school hygiene, sanitation, and pedagogical necessities are concerned, has many
of the features of the permanent building. But it lacks the architectural
elegance and the permanency and is more liable to fire risk. From
the standpoint of technical professional demands there seems to be no
great choice between the permanent and the semipermanent buildings
which are almost if not more, expensive than the permanent ones.
When built of less durable lumber they are subject to destructive attacks
of ants and other insects and soon become, both hygienically and artistically, much less desirable. When materials are not first class, as is
the case in many regions, the semipermanent tends to approximate the
temporary type.
The temporary type, made of nipa, sawali or bamboo, depending
upon the material available, serves very well the purpose for which it
is designed. It does not, however, meet satisfactorily the demands of
school sanitation. In some cases it approximates these demands; in