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.

PRIVATE SCHOOLS

511

whether he was properly nourished, and the many other aspects of
student life in a real university.
CONCLUSION —An unprejudiced consideration of the fact presented
under the caption Private Adventure Schools leads but to one conclusion,
viz: the great majority of them from primary grade to university are
money-making devices for the profit of those who organize and administer them. The people whose children and youth attend them are
not getting what they pay for. It is obvious that the system constitutes
a great evil. That it should be permitted to exist with almost no
supervision is indefensible. The suggestion has been made with reference
to the private institutions of university grade that some board of control
be organized under legislative control to supervise their administration.
The Commission believes that the recommendations it offers at the end
of this chapter are more likely to bring about the needed reforms.
The Commission cannot leave this subject without pointing out the
partial responsibility of the public-school system for these conditions.
As has already been stated, although these private adventure schools,
especially of secondary and university grade, maintain day sessions,
the great majority of the students attend in the late afternoon and
evening, from 5 to 10 o'clock. There are but few public schools open
for their education, hence they must attend private schools. The Bureau
of Education ought to be supplied with sufficient funds to support,
at least partially, sufficient evening schools for the benefit of the ambitious young men and women who must work by day and who wish
to study by night. If adequate funds are not available for the entire
support of such evening schools, a much smaller fee might be charged
than is paid in the private schools, for the element of profit would be
eliminated. With the better teachers from the public day schools and
with physical surroundings more conducive to real effort, the opportunity
for the education they seek would really be open to these young people.
PROTESTANT MISSION SCHOOLS
The Protestant mission schools present a pleasant contrast to the
private schools. As the commercial stimulus is lacking, few of the
bad features mentioned concerning the private schools appear. None
of the mission schools visited has attempted more than it can reasonably
accomplish. This is partly due to the fact that the various Protestant
denominations have agreed to divide the field among them in order
to prevent competition and duplication. The school buildings visited
were not crowded, nor ill-lighted, nor insanitary. Care seems to have
been taken in the selection of teachers and as the schools were always
administered by Americans, the children had the advantage of a greater