﻿132 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



the rudiments of geography and history. Religious instruction 

 was superficial and flimsy, amounting to a mere repetition of 

 the catechism, and there was absolutely nothing taught in the 

 way of morals and manners. 



No other state of affairs could be possible, as any one who 

 desired to teach was permitted to do so, even if he were prompted 

 only by the most audacious ignorance : teachers were often found 

 who could barely read and write. 12 



To remedy this condition of affairs, the government proposed 

 to establish a normal school, and created a board composed of 

 some of the most respectable and competent men in Manila 

 to study conscientiously and in detail the manner and method 

 of instituting primary teaching. This board, after six months 

 of careful investigation and frequent discussion, submitted a 

 favorable report, setting forth a plan of elementary education 

 for the natives, to be conducted under the auspices of the normal 

 school. It was not the purpose of the board to provide a high 

 academic education which would not be necessary for the 

 teachers, but rather to provide an ordinary, elementary training, 

 suitable for the class of individuals for whom it was intended, 

 and at the same time to make the training adequate for those who 

 might afterward enter commercial life or take higher academic 

 work. 



THE FORMAL OPENING 



As we have already seen, the organization and management 

 of the normal school was intrusted to the fathers of the Society 

 of Jesus. Those who were to take charge of the school arrived 

 in the Islands late in June, 1864, having embarked at Cadiz, 

 Spain. 13 



After resting for a few days, these priests prepared for the 

 opening of the normal school in a building located on Calle 

 Palacio in the Walled City, Manila. The inauguration and open- 

 ing exercises of the school were held on January 23, 1865, the 

 Governor-General, Rafael de Echague of Biemingham (1862- 

 1865), presiding. Attending this function were the members 

 of the Superior Commission of Primary Instruction and many 

 other noted guests, all of whom showed their pleasure at being 

 present at the inauguration of the first normal school in the 

 Philippine Islands. 



u See No. 27 of the bibliography. 



" Historia de la Escuela Normal de Manila, a ten-page MS. in the Ateneo. 



