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.

316 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

three-fourths are taking the general course. With the exception of
the normal course, the number registered in any one of the other curricula
is practically negligible. Only 1,805 pupils are pursuing the course
which prepares for farming, the industry in which the great majority
of Filipinos are engaged and the industry on which the prosperity of
the Islands depends. But before critical judgment is passed on this
aspect of the situation, we shall note in detail just how the secondary
school articulates with the social order. We shall consider the character
of the high-school population, the sources from which it comes, and the
occupations into which it goes after leaving the high school. Then,
after considering the cost and trends of secondary education, we shall
be in a position to evaluate this form of education and make suggestions
for its modification.
THE HIGH-SCHOOL POPULATION
Perhaps the most important question that may be asked regarding
any educational institution relates to the pupil population in attendance.
Certainly, no system of secondary education can be properly evaluated
without rather definite knowledge of the traits and social condition of
those receiving its benefits. Only as the opportunities of secondary
education are extended to the children of suitable type, and only
as the policies and practices of the school are adapted to the capacities, aptitudes, and futures of these children, can the secondary school
achieve its purpose. Who are the pupils enrolled in the public high
schools? How old are they? From what provinces do they come?
To what extent are they drawn from the more favored social classes?
What mental powers and educational attainments do they bring to the
tasks of secondary education? How long do they remain in school?
Whither do they go after leaving? These and other questions of a
similar order we shall now attempt to answer.
One of the first characteristics of the Filipino secondary-school
population that attracts the attention of the American observer is its
relatively advanced age. Although the Filipino elementary school is
one year shorter than the American, the Filipino pupil reaches the
first year of the high school practically three years later than his
American brother. The average entering age in the Philippines is
approximately seventeen and one-half years, whereas in the United
States it is between fourteen and fifteen. The graduate of the high
school in the Philippines is only about two years younger than the
graduate of the American college who has had five years more of
training. He is not far from twenty-one years of age when he receives his high-school diploma. Moreover, the age range in any year
of the Filipino secondary school is unusually wide. This means that