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.

472 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

usually well done not only in regard to intensity but also in relation
to diurnal variations. Moreover, the classrooms are generally admirably oriented with reference to the source of light. This latter point
is at times overlooked in dividing rooms by temporary partitions.
The tendency to uniformity and standardization so evident in the
system is illustrated in the use of the same color for wall and ceiling
decoration. This is a mistake. Some rooms would be improved with
a darker shade of green than the one used, while some rooms, interior
in type, require white walls to secure sufficient illumination. Ventilation
is excellently done. Cleaning of grounds and school rooms is carefully
and effectively accomplished.
The seating of the pupils is very inadequate in many schools. It is
not unusual to find in primary and intermediate grades large overage
children in seats constructed for children four to five years younger. It
is a pleasure to comment on the general absence of defacing marks on
school desks.
Drinking facilities in the school are totally inadequate and when
provided, are frequently insanitary. Some of the Manila schools are
satisfactory. In the provinces, the provision of sanitary water supplies
still remains a problem. In many cases, at the present time, it can not
be solved without unjustifiable trouble and expense until the general
sanitation of the locality is improved. In this, as in other instances,
school health is dependent upon the sanitary intelligence and economic
development of the Islands.
SCHOOL TOILETS.-School toilets are considered separate from
school buildings because they are not connected with the main building
and also because there is such a contrast between the clean, attractive
schoolhouse, and the dirty toilets. It is a study in opposites to go from
the vicinity of the school building, surrounded by well-kept grounds
frequently made charming by beautiful flowers to the school toilets,
unkept, insanitary and thoroughly disgusting. It may well be asked:
If Filipino culture is to be judged in the mental field by western standards of achievement is it not fair also to judge by western standards
of sanitation? It is pertinent to recall two sentences from the Monroe
report in 1913: "The first effects of a superior culture acquired by an
individual are to be seen in his more refined habits of living. This
refinement consists not merely in an external improvement in manners
but in more rational habits of life, brought about by the application
of scientific knowledge to social customs."
It is understood today in the modern teaching of health that in
addition to knowledge of how to live and skills in caring for the body,
the problem of living revolves around a number of attitudes towards or