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 III

SECONDARY EDUCATION
INTRODUCTION
(The first educational institutions brought to the Philippine Islands
by the representatives of Western civilization were schools of secondary
grade. Before establishing the college,' for which the secondary school
is preparatory, and before establishing the elementary school, whose
function is to carry the rudiments of education to the masses, the
Spaniards founded the secondary school. In this institution, patterned
after the schools of Latin Europe, educational opportunities, similar to
those offered in Spain, were extended to the sons of the conquistadores.
Through these schools young men were prepared at first for the universities in Spain and after 1619 for the University of Santo Tomas.
Moreover, with the coming of the Church the burden of training young
men for the religious orders fell largely upon the secondary school.
Although secondary schools were established shortly after the coming
of the Spaniards, educational opportunities of this type were never
widely extended under the Spanish regime. With the passage of time,
these schools, designed in the first instance for young men of Spanish
blood, were gradually opened to natives of exceptional promise or
social position. In this way, bright Filipino boys were recruited for
the lower ranks of the clergy and were won to the support of the
Spanish administration. Even elaborate programs for the development
of a system of public secondary education received official approval,
and during the last half century of Spanish rule many secondary schools
were established. In 1887 there were more than forty such schools
scattered through the Islands. But tuition charges ordinarily limited
attendance, the enrollment never exceeded a few thousands, the education of girls was relatively neglected, the curriculum was for the most
part narrowly academic, and little progress was made in reaching the
masses of the population. Until the close of Spanish dominion, the
secondary school remained essentially an instrument for the perpetuation
of the rule of Spain and the domination of the Church.
The term college is here used in the American sense.
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