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

359

be made the more grievous. Narrow training of this type is sufficient
for a slave, but inadequate for a free man. The pupil must be made
to see the place and importance of agriculture in the social economy
and the relation of the farmer to the rest of society. If the agriculturist
were living a completely isolated life, his prosperity would depend
rather directly on the improvement of production. But he is living in
a little community and this little community is but a part of a
much larger society. For the very title to his land he is dependent on
a power which is far beyond his range of vision, for the sale of what
he produces he is dependent on distant markets, for the purchase of
tools and supplies he is dependent on the operation of remote economic
forces. If the rural population is not to be the victim of this complex
economic and social system, the schools must at least supply that population with a sufficient number of intelligent leaders to guard its interests.
The curriculum of the rural high school should therefore include
materials drawn from economics and sociology and designed to make
the pupils intelligent about the world in which they live. If they are
to enjoy the fruits of their labor, this is necessary. These materials
should be as simple as it is possible to make them, and they should
be so directly and clearly related to the life with which the pupils are
familiar that their meaning cannot be misunderstood. Special attention should be given to the problems of marketing, credit, land tenure,
caciquism, and farmer's cooperation Pupils should come out of these
schools with a philosophy of rural life that takes into account the conditions under which they are to live. That in many instances this
philosophy will be elementary and even superficial is utterly without
point. The commonest tao today has an orientation towards his job
and towards the rest of society that colors his whole life and influences
his behavior. These schools should give the farmer a high respect
for his calling, teach him to place a high value on his work, and inspire
him to idealize those activities of common men which create the material goods of civilization.
HEALTH NEEDS.-Although the major part of the instruction should
center about practical vocational training and the wider economic background, each of the other four great human interests should receive
attention. Materials for the prevention of disease and the promotion
of health should find their way into the curriculum. One of the great
needs of the Filipinos is enlightenment in this field. The present heavy
death rate lowers the span of life, reduces the proportion of productive workers, makes practically impossible a high standard living,
and generates a feeling of uncertainty and insecurity with regard to
the future. The knowledge necessary for a large reduction in the gen