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.

THE PHILIPPINE SCHOOL SYSTEM
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE SYSTEM
One of the most remarkable chapters in the history of education has
been written since the opening of the twentieth century in the Philippine
Islands. The student will scan the pages of history long before he
will read of an adventure in human enlightenment more bold than that
which has been undertaken in this oriental setting. Attribute it to the
naive faith of America in her own institutions and ideals, or to the
'wisdom of a far-seeing statesmanship, the result remains the same. For
twenty-five years these Islands have served as a laboratory for an
educational experiment of enormous magnitude and complexity. To
any one interested in the technical problems of classroom instruction, in
the general administration of education, in the relation of the school to
social conditions, in the effects flowing from the contacts of diverse
culture, in the more abstruse problems of the ethnologist, or in the wider
human problems of the adjustment of races this experiment will have
deep significance.
The experiment has now been in progress for a quarter of a century.
For almost a generation a school system patterned on the American
plan and using English as its medium of instruction has been in operation. Through this system a Malay people which for more than three
centuries lived under Spanish rule has been introduced to Anglo-Saxon
institutions and civilization. Through this system an effort has been
made to give a common language to more than ten millions of people,
divided by the barriers of dialect into numerous noncommunicating
groups. Through this system teachers have sought to bring to the
Orient the products of modern scientific thought. Through this system
both American and Filipino educational leaders have hoped to prepare
a whole people for self-government and for bearing the responsibilities
of effective citizenship.
The foundations of this educational system have now been well laid.
The experiment has been running for a sufficiently long period to make
profitable an inquiry into results. The time has arrived, not so much
for a consolidation of past achievements, as for criticism and evaluation
of those achievements. For many reasons the schools are at a critical
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