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.

CHAPTER II

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Do THE CHILDREN ATTEND THE SCHOOLS?-One of the best
measures of the efficiency of any school system is to be found in the
extent to which it attracts and holds children of appropriate abilities and
ages. Although the achievements of a school depend rather directly
upon the quality of the teacher and the materials of instruction, unless
boys and girls are present, there can be no educational result. Since
there are no provisions for compulsory school attendance in the Philippines, this problem of reaching the children takes on peculiar significance.
To a degree that is not found in other systems, the responsibility of
attracting and holding the children is placed squarely upon the school.
With what measure of success this responsibility has been discharged an
examination of the facts of enrollment in the schools of the Islands will
now reveal.
These facts are presented in Table 8. Apparently, in spite of the
extraordinary expansion of the school system during recent years, there
are many children of school age not in school. As a matter of fact,
less than one-third of the children from seven to ten years of age, ordinarily regarded as the primary-school age, are in school. At the
ages from eleven to thirteen years the percentage enrolled is higher than
at either the younger or later ages. More than 50 per cent of the
boys and 40 per cent of the girls at these middle ages are attending
school. This is characteristic of the Filipino system. Many children
who, in other countries, are expected to be in school are here prevented
from enrolling. Since opportunities cannot be extended to all, those in
charge of the schools have deliberately followed the policy of favoring
the older children. As a consequence, there are relatively few children
of primary-school age in school, children of intermediate-school age are
in the primary school, and children of high-school age are in the intermediate school. The actual pupil population in the Philippine schools
is composed very largely of pre-adolescent and adolescent boys and girls.
The educational and social significance of this situation is considered at
various points in this report.
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