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.

132 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

I. Do FILIPINO CHILDREN REMAIN IN SCHOOL LONG ENOUGH TO
OBTAIN A MASTERY OF ENGLISH?
In the Philippine Islands the length of stay of children in school is
of focal importance. Unless children remain in school continuously and
for a long period of years, their education will be much hampered. Because of the foreign language handicap, this problem is especially important in the Philippines.
The holding power of the school has been studied in two different
ways. The number and per cent of pupils in each of the grades
of the school system have been computed. The facts revealed by this
study are plotted in the curves of Fig. 14. The careers of some 3,600
pupils from the first grade of the primary school through the fourth-year
high school have also been traced. This study is reported in the section
on the elementary school.
The conclusions from these studies are very direct. There is no more
serious administrative problem confronting the Bureau than that of the
short stay of pupils in school. On the average a child remains less
than three years. The great majority of the coming adult generation
will go through life with not more than a third-grade education. Fig. 15
presents the situation as it existed at the close of the school year 1923-24.
For the school year just closed figures are not available in summarized
form.
The curve shows the number of Filipino pupils in each grade of the
entire system. Conversely it shows, of course, the appalling story of
elimination. Out of a total enrollment of 1,200,000 pupils, 82 per cent
are in the first four grades; 12 per cent are in the intermediate Grades
V, VI, and VII; and 6 per cent are in the four grades of the high
school. The situation in the United States may be used as a basis
of comparison. In 1918, the latest date for which there are available
complete summarized statistics, 91 per cent of the American children
remained to enter the seventh grade, 75 per cent to enter the eighth
grade, 60 per cent to enter the first year of the high school, and 20
per cent to enter the fourth year of the high school. This appears to
be a very good record. In spite of it, however, for fifteen years American educators have waged a vigorous campaign to increase the holding
power of the school. Their efforts have already resulted in discernible
improvements. Nevertheless most administrators in America still regard
the nation-wide early elimination from school as a serious fault in the
system.
This comparison of Filipino and American conditions is drawn only
to make the Filipino people and the officials of the Bureau of Education