﻿146 The Philippine Journal of Science »n 



New teachers who have recently left the normal school should spend two 

 or three years on probation, helping others who should be experienced and 

 well known for their behavior to the village and the local and provincial 

 inspectors. After this apprenticeship, the normal-school graduate would 

 enter upon his duties with greater care. 



There ought to be established, under the presidency of the parish priest, 

 a board or committee composed of a certain number of resident parents 

 chosen for their possession of property and by other qualifications to take 

 their turn in looking after the school and giving the teacher moral support. 



These municipal boards should assist the young teachers at the outset; 

 should second the watchfulness of the local inspector; and, if they did their 

 duty, they would render very difficult, if not impossible, the common fault 

 that, where the parish priest fails in his duty of inspection, the teacher does 

 as he wishes, and often behaves in a manner that is both reprehensible and 

 impossible to correct. 



As for textbooks, their absence is almost unbelievable. We can look for 

 no remedy except on the part of the government; since they must be cheap, 

 and cheapness can only be obtained by publishing large editions by contract 

 and by distributing them wholesale through the provinces. Without text- 

 books, it is foolish to hope for the diffusion of Spanish. 



WAS THE PURPOSE OF THE SCHOOL ACHIEVED 



On this point let us hear the testimony of the director of 

 the normal school in a letter to the director of civil administra- 

 tion dated May 31, 1889: 



The normal school entered upon its academic career and always kept its 

 purpose in mind until it could boast of having given the Archipelago over 

 1,100 teachers and assistants. As to the quality of the professional training 

 which they have received, the normal school has vigorously complied with 

 the government regulations, and has lately even done more by devoting 

 more attention than the government prescribes to certain subjects. Its 

 methods have never been unfavorably criticised, nor have any suggestions 

 been modified. On any occasion where the government officials have honored 

 the school with their presence, they have expressed themselves as thoroughly 

 satisfied with its labors on behalf of education, as happened this year when 

 Governor-General Weyler attended the commencement exercises. 



Despite all this, there is a common complaint as to poor teachers and their 

 inability to speak Spanish. While there is much exaggeration on this 

 subject, due to the fact that modernism is always opposed to the religious 

 atmosphere of the normal school, it must be recognized that many of the 

 teachers are stupid and careless, that unless their minds are continually 

 sharpened they grow rusty as they grow old, and that private affairs usurp 

 the place of their studies and their professions. 



But there are honorable exceptions. There are model teachers who carry 

 out in full the plan of instruction authorized by the government. And all 

 may reach this standard by strict inspection, continuous watchfulness, and 

 the stimulus of rewards and punishments. 



There is a general reason why there are only a few good Filipino teachers, 

 but there are also many external causes which are partly excusable. The 

 most important one is that every year about 50 graduates leave the school. 



