Annual report. [1915]

28

machinery that controls the other phases of school work. The
Director of Education is charged with the responsibility for
the conduct of public-school athletics. He in turn delegates
authority to division superintendents, supervising teachers, and
others. In this way, the confusion and misunderstanding which
so often result from having an organization separate and distinct from the school system is entirely avoided. The rules and
regulations covering athletics have been carefully prescribed in
the Athletic Handbook which was originally issued in 1911 and
revised in 1913. Wherever minor changes are necessary, the
field force of the Bureau of Education is informed through general and division office circulars.
As was to be expected, the first sports introduced by American
teachers were highly specialized sports, such as baseball, basketball, and track and field events, with which the teachers were
familiar at their colleges or universities. Later it seemed that
this appealed to comparatively a small percentage of the pupils,
and group games, color competitions, and other forms of exercise were introduced so that every boy and girl might find not
only profit but pleasure in them. In carrying out the group
games, schools are divided into sections. A section must have
present on the field a certain percentage of its membership before it can compete. For attendance larger than this prescribed minimum, extra points are awarded, so that it is to the
interest of captains and managers to turn out a large proportion of the team for each and every game. Color competitions
similar to those of the public-school athletic league of New York
City have been introduced and pupils reaching the standards
required are permitted to wear buttons indicating their accomplishments.
Excepting in the city of Manila, not much attention hase been
given to the equipment of public school playgrounds. A minimum area prescribed for barrio and central schools gives ample
space for playgrounds in all schools provided with these standard sites. Already a third of the schools are so equipped, and
the number is constantly increasing. Since the children are
given various forms of physical training, the lack of playground
equipment is not so serious a matter. In the city of Manila, a
system of public playgrounds has grown up in connection with
the public schools. The city of Manila, the Bureau of Education,
and private philanthropists have cooperated to equip and conduct these playgrounds in a very satisfactory manner.
The Bureau of Education is a member of the Philippine Amateur Athletic Federation which includes the United States Army,