MANILA DA1LT[ BULLETIN 



ONE OF THE 4,000 SCHOOL GARDENS CULTIVATED BV PUPILS ENROLLED IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS 



normal courses were offered in six provincial 

 capitals. In 1918 the commercial course 

 was established in one provincial capital; 

 agricultural courses, in three provincial high 

 schools; and the domestic-science course, in 

 ten provincial high schools. For the devel- 

 opment of additional normal schools, ap- 

 propriations aggregating $200,000 were in- 

 cluded in the budgets for 1918 and 1919. 



During 1918 the governments of Guam, 

 of the Straits Settlements, and of Penang 

 started employing Filipino teachers to give 

 instruction in industrial work and in English. 

 Approximately a dozen Chinese commissions 

 and several Japanese and Korean commis- 

 sions visited the Philippine Islands during 

 1917-18 to inspect the school system. The 

 hiring of Filipino teachers in foreign lands 

 and the visits of these commissions indicate 

 the position which the Philippine educational 

 system holds in the Far East. 



The two most significant factors in con- 

 nection with the attendance in the public 

 schools are the increasing number of pupils 

 in the higher bourses and the constantly 

 increasing proportion of girls to boys. For 

 several years the revenues of the Bureau 

 were practically at a standstill. During this 

 time, the number of pupils enrolled in the 

 primary schools was maintained at approxi- 

 mately the same figure, but the average daily 

 attendance increased steadily. During the 

 past five years, however, the attendance at 

 intermediate schoolshasincreased abouttwelve 

 per cent each year and the attendance at 

 secondary schools has increased from twenty 

 to twenty-five per cent each year. This 

 increase in the higher grades without any 

 diminution in lower grades was made possi- 

 ble largely by the payment of tuition fees 

 in intermediate schools. Now, however, 

 the improved financial condition of the 

 country makes it possible to increase the 

 number of primary pupils to an unlimited 

 extent and at the same time makes it possi- 

 ble to maintain all intermediate and all 

 secondary schools at Government expense. 

 The continually increasing proportion of 

 girls to boys in the higher grades is another 

 source of intense satisfaction. During the 

 Spanish regime co-education was not known 

 in the Philippines and the education of girls 

 was even more neglected than that of the 

 boys. Although the women of the Philip- 

 pines hold a far higher place in society than 

 do the women of any other oriental country, 

 the idea of co-education was somewhat re- 

 volutionary and it was some time before 

 it was generally accepted. Even after its 

 acceptance, it was found difficult to keep the 

 girls in school until they finished the primary 



grades. Statistics show, however, that dur 

 ing the past five years the attendance of 

 boys in intermediate schools increased 82 

 per cent while the attendance of girls in- 

 creased 222 per cent. In the high schools 

 the attendance of boys increased 250 per 

 cent and the attendance of girls 267 per cent . 

 It is believed that the introduction of second- 

 ary domestic-science courses will result in 

 a similar increase in the attendance of girls 

 in the high schools. One of the most apparent 

 results of the school training of girls of the 

 Philippines is shown in the constantly in- 

 creasing number of women in the employ- 

 ment of the government and in the employ- 

 ment of business firms, the latest develop- 

 ment along this line being the employment 

 of women as conductors on omnibuses in 

 Manila. 



Filipino pride and Filipino confidence in 

 the public-school system resulted in the ex- 

 penditure of an additional $500,000 in 1917 

 for further extension of work among the 

 pagans and among the Mohammedans who 

 constitute ten percent of the population of 

 the Islands. The budget for 1919 increased 

 the appropriations for Philippine public 

 schools by $1,200,000. On December 5, 



CLASS IN SURVEYING. ONE OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL VOCATIONAL COURSES 



NE OF THE 104,000 HOME GAKDENS OF PUPILS ATTENDING THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



