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

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ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION OF SECONDARY
EDUCATION
THE EXISTING SYSTEM
With the exception of a small number of insular schools, the system
for administering and supervising secondary education is practically the
same as that in operation for the lower schools. This system is highly
centralized. At the head of the secondary schools is the Director of
Education, and in him all authority is supposed to reside. During the
course of years he and his staff have developed certain general policies
with regard to secondary education in the Islands, and, in order to
give these policies expression, they have gradually evolved a set of rules,
regulations, and instructions to govern practices in the field. These formulations by the central office determine the content of the curriculum,
the methods of instruction, and the details of administration. In some
instances, they even seek to regulate the personal affairs of teachers and
principals.
In carrying out its policies and in enforcing its regulations the central
office may be said to work through three channels. In the first place,
immediately under the Director in the organization is his representative
in the province, the division superintendent. It is the function of this
official to see that the will of the central office is enforced. And through
him all correspondence between the high school and the Bureau is
ordinarily conducted.
In the second place, associated with the Director is a small supervisory
staff whose members visit the schools from time to time and thus
establish a direct connection between the principal and teachers and the
central office. Observation of the work of the members of this staff,
however, and an examination of the correspondence called forth by
their visits to the school indicate rather clearly that their function is
predominantly inspectorial rather than supervisory. Their chief concern
is to see that the regulations of the Bureau are being followed.
In the third place, the central office has evolved an elaborate system
of detailed reports through which it may keep in touch with the work
in the field. These reports which cover almost all phases of administration are routed through the office of the division superintendent. Some
of them are regular monthly reports, some quarterly, and some annual,
while others are required at special times and for special purposes. The
great object of these reports is not to stimulate, help, and encourage the
high-school principal and his teachers, but rather to make certain that the
regulations of the central office are not being violated. But this system