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

399

would be exceedingly unwise to give him wide authority over the rural
high school. He often has an academic training which unfits him for
exercising supervision over this institution. And he has no time to devote
to acquiring the understanding necessary to the solution of its problems.
Although there should be the closest possible cooperation between the
high-school principal and the local division superintendent, practically
all high schools should be under the supervision of the department of
secondary education of the Bureau.
The high-school principal should be relieved, in so far as possible, of
clerical and administrative routine and teaching activities. The number
of reports required by the central office should be greatly reduced, and
the demands of the division superintendent should not consume the time
of the principal. The control of the Bureau over the schools should be
through the visits of the supervisors. Only a highly stereotyped system
that refuses to recognize local differences and needs can be run from
a central office. A general administrative procedure can no more fit
the varied social conditions of the Philippines than a series of abstractions
can convey an adequate picture of life. Variations in conditions require adjustment; adjustment is dependent on the play of intelligence,
and no mechanism, however intricate, can take the place of intelligence.
This intelligence must reside in the high-school principal, the members
of his staff, and the supervisors who visist the school. Of course, those
records which are necessary to the management of the school and the
improvement of instruction must be kept. But the clerical tasks should
not be placed upon the high-school principal. At present the efficiency
of the school is often seriously impaired because of inadequacy of
the clerical force. It is an indefensible policy to require of the principal a type of work that could be carried on by an inexpensive clerk.
The compensation of the high-school principal should be increased.
If Americans are to be drawn into the service, the standard of remuneration should equal that found in the States. But the point meriting special
emphasis here is the need of making the principalship relatively more
attractive than it is now. At present the high-school principal gets
practically no more as principal than he would get as teacher. This
must be changed. The principalship requires exceptional talents and
makes heavy demands on time and energy. There should, therefore, be
attached to each principalship in the Islands, a stipend which would be
sufficient to attract an individual of ability from teaching. Under this
arrangement a principal would receive the compensation to which he is
entitled as a teacher and then the additional compensation which goes
with the office. Depending upon the size of the school and the conditions of living, this stipend should range from P500 to P2,000. But the