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.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

349

THE RURAL HIGH SCHOOL
PRESENT SITUATION
At the present time there are fifteen schools, offering more or less
work of secondary grade, which aim to meet the needs of rural life.
Of these, eight are called agricultural and seven are known as farm
schools. In the former the pupils are boarding and in the latter they
are day pupils. In September, 1924, there were enrolled in these
schools above the intermediate level 1,805 pupils, or 3.8 per cent of
the total secondary-school population. Thus, while the needs of rural
life are given a place in the scheme of secondary education, in actual
fact they receive but slight recognition. For the most part the program
is confined to paper and the physical plants. In some cases these plants
include hundreds of hectares of fertile land, but the boys and girls of
the present generation are not in attendance.
With a very few exceptions, these schools have failed to achieve
their purposes. Although some of them have elaborate plants, they
are ill attended and lacking in vitality. In most instances they exhibit
a condition of physical decay or spiritual death. To any one sincerely
concerned about the welfare of the rural population and the conservation and utilization of the agricultural resources of the Islands, a visit
to the usual type of farm or agricultural school is disheartening. Although the cost of instruction per pupil in these institutions is several
times as great as it is in the regular high school, they are pervaded by
an air of futility and failure.
The explanation of this situation is to be found ir part in the prevailing social attitudes towards manual labor to which extended reference
has already been made. But to accept this as an adequate explanation would be to condemn the school and educators to the position of
playing a passive role in society. The crucial weakness is to be found
in the educational organization itself. In the past, though schools of
rural type have been established and in some instances even lavishly
supported on the material side, there has been no great effort to organize
the entire system in such a way as to give these schools a chance.
Those who have formulated educational policy have apparently assumed that, if broad hectares of lands are purchased for educational
purposes and if special financial inducements are offered for attendance,
the rural schools can be made to flourish. But this assumption is in
error. Until adequate leadership is provided for the program for rural
education and until the rest of the educational system is brought into
harmony with this program, large results cannot be expected.