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.

54 EDUCATIONAL SURVEY OF THE PHILIPPINES

At present the academic school, known as the regular high school,
is the central institution of secondary grade. It is found in every province and claims the great majority of the pupils enrolled in the secondary
schools. By charging tuition fees, by applying a rigorous form of selection for admission, and by a shift of emphasis in the central office, the
number of boys and girls in attendance should be cut in half, the
number of schools should be greatly reduced, and this institution- should
come to be regarded as a highly-specialized form of secondary school.
On the other hand, the rural high school, the institution that articulates with the needs of the agricultural community, should become
the basic secondary institution in the Archipelago. Eventually there
should be at least one of these schools in every province, and perhaps
several in the more wealthy and populous provinces. By securing the
ablest leadership available for this form of secondary education, by
fearlessly adapting the curricula and procedures of the schools to the
conditions of life in the rural community, by even altering the materials
of instruction in the lower grades so as to develop wholesome attitudes
towards agriculture, and by turning the energies of the Bureau to the
solution of the rural problem, the rural high school should be elevated
into a position of public favor and be made attractive to the boys and
girls from the farms and the barrios.
The number of normal schools should be greatly increased and should
receive the most energetic support from the central office. At present,
the lower schools are being taught by teachers without professional training. The existing training facilities should be expanded until they will
be adequate to fill the classrooms of the primary and intermediate
schools with trained teachers. Certain of the regular high schools,
whose graduates are now entering the profession of teaching in great
numbers, should be converted into normal schools. By rigidly restricting teaching to young men and women with professional training,
entrance into the normal school should be eagerly sought. But only
those of superior ability and scholastic attainments should be admitted.
The present secondary-school curriculum requires radical modification.
As now organized and administered it reveals altogether too clearly its
American parentage. The textbooks and materials of instruction are
adapted to the needs of American high-school pupils and reflect American conditions. One of the great tasks in the immediate future is to
develop materials that are suited to the needs and powers of Filipino
children. Moreover, the curriculum in each type of secondary school
should be organized with the single purpose in view of achieving the objective for which it is established. No subject should be introduced into the
curriculum of the nonacademic schools because it is required for college
entrance. The rural high school particularly should cut itself completely