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.

170 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

neglect of language usage the analytical study of English has been
stressed.
A Long Time Measure of the Ability of Filipinos To Express Themselves in English: The English Composition Records of the Bureau
of Civil Service.
Command of the English language includes the ability to read it, to
speak it, to write it, and to understand spoken English. To provide a
measure of the ability of Filipinos to do constructive writing in English
the Commission collected several thousand compositions written by school
children. This was done in selected municipalities by taking one original composition from the theme book of each child from Grade IV
through the first-year high school. To have the compositions scored by
trained Americans who were not members of the staff of the Bureau of
Education was recognized as necessary. According to the original
plan at least typical compositions were to be rated by members of
the Commission. For them to do this work in addition to the task of
preparing their separate reports was found to be impossible. Since no
one else was at hand to do it, the members of the Commission are
unable to report their own measurement of the ability of Filipinos to
express ideas in English. The material which has been collected is
left with the measurement section of the central Bureau for future
treatment. Because of the urgency of the problem it should be critically
evaluated; and a much more comprehensive analysis than that planned
for the survey should be made.
There is at hand, however, a measure of the constructive writing
ability of Filipinos who have been through the whole range of the
Philippine school system. This measure is found in studies which have
been made of the success of candidates for positions in the Civil Service.
During the past twenty-five years several hundred thousand persons
have taken the "English Composition" examination of the Bureau of
Civil Service. The entrance requirements for the examination for certain positions, notably junior teacher, teacher, junior stenographer, and
stenographer, junior bookkeeper and bookkeeper, include the completion
of at least two years of schooling beyond the seven years of the elementary school. For minor positions like those of "third-class patrolman,"
completion of seven years of schooling is required, while positions like
that of "messenger" demand completion of the primary course of four
years. In the results of the civil service examinations, therefore, we
have definite measure of the success of the written English of the schools.
What degree of success has been reached? The results are startling.
In the past ten years 190,191 candidates have been examined. In that
time only 23 per cent have passed the English composition examinations.