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.

200 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL POPULATION IS IN THE
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
By means of this standard, which has been used for some years by
the Bureau of Education, the comparative figures of Table 8 were
secured.
TABLE 8.-PERCENTAGES OF TOTAL POPULATION ENROLLED IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
AT FIVE-YEAR INTERVALS, 1903-1924
Elementary
and second- Interme- Elemen- o
ar combined Primary Interme- t Secondary
~Year (fdIVII (Grades I-VII (Grades school
and high- I-IV) ( G I-VII schl
school V-VII) combined) years, 1-4)
years, 1-4)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Per cent Per cent Per cent Percent Per cent
1924............................... 9.69 7.73 1.53 9.26 0.43
1923............................... 9.77 7.99 1.42 9.41.36
1918.. 6.51 5.66.69 6.35.16
1913............................... 6.39 5.92.39 6.32.07
1908............................... 5.70 5.46.21 5.67.03
1903............................... 2.47.............................03
According to this measure, in the twenty years from 1903 to 1923,
the public schools have increased their attracting power for the population
something like fourfold. In 1903, only about one person in forty was
enrolled in the public school. In 1923, the proportion was one person
to ten. Comparable figures for the primary and intermediate schools
could not be secured but in the same period the attractiveness of the
high school increased over 140 times. Moreover, from 1918 to 1924,
which is roughly the period of the present administration in the Bureau
of Education, the record was greatly improved. The proportion in
school was increased from one person in fifteen to one in ten.
On the basis of the percentage of the population in school, interesting
comparisons might be made with other countries. But those familiar with
the statistics of such comparisons know that so many allowances must
be made for different years, different lengths of schools, varying degrees
of compulsory attendance, differences in birth rates, and variation in
life that the results are of little value. Nevertheless, for a few countries for which suitable data are available, the facts are entered in
Table 9. The percentages of the population attending elementary
and secondary schools are here presented. The table shows that the
Philippines, with voluntary attendance on elementary education, are
probably enrolling from about one-half to three-fourths as large a school
population as is now enrolled in other countries which have a nominal