﻿158 The Philippine Journal of Science 1914 



The peroration of the speech contained an expression of gratitude to his 

 excellency, the governor-general, to the metropolitan archbishop, to the di- 

 rector-general of civil administration, to the superior of the Company of 

 Jesus, and to the director of the Superior Normal School, for their protec- 

 tion and patronage of the first pedagogical contest held in the Philippines 

 and for the prizes which they had offered to the winners of the five themes. 

 The speaker also thanked the teachers, who had rendered their services to 

 make the contest a success, praising those who were awarded prizes, giving 

 them his good wishes, and encouraging those who were less fortunate, so that 

 in future contests they may also wear the wreath of victory. 



This was followed by the reading of a paper, containing the result of 

 the work done and the prizes obtained. The gist of the paper read was 

 as follows: Five compositions were awarded prizes for excellence, 28 others 

 were rated as "good," while 7 were rejected because the writers did not 

 observe the instructions. The paper whose subject was To the Progress 

 of the Philippines was unanimously considered by the judges as the best, 

 and therefore received first honors. 



After the secretary had read the subject of this composition, the sealed 

 envelope containing the paper was brought on a silver plate to his excel- 

 lency, the governor-general, who announced the name of the author, Don 

 Catalino Sevilla, a teacher, by merit, of the first municipal school of Binondo. 

 The author having declined to read his paper, his emotions preventing him 

 from doing so, the task was undertaken by Sehor Baldosano, whose excellent 

 reading helped to emphasize the beautiful thoughts of the composition. 

 Immediately after the reading, Sehor Sevilla was called to the front to 

 receive from the hands of his excellency, the governor-general, the prize 

 offered by his excellency. It consisted of the works of Sehor Benor in 

 three volumes, Arquitectura de las Lenguas. The volumes were elegantly 

 bound in Russian leather; on the obverse was a monogram of the name of 

 Jesus, inlaid with silver; in the center was inscribed, in plated letters, First 

 Pedagogical Contest. Just below this was inlaid in silver the arms of the 

 city of Manila. On the back of each of the three volumes was the silver 

 inscription, First Prize, and in the lower part were the silver initials of 

 the governor-general, with the crown of a marquis. 



In this paper, the writer expressed his sorrow at the scarcity of children 

 attending schools in most of the towns of the Philippines, and gave three 

 causes for this sad misfortune, with the corresponding remedies. 



1. Lack of schoolhouses, materials, and furniture. — He proposed a rem- 

 edy to the effect that the municipalities should work out a plan for the 

 building of schoolhouses. He treated this point with practical wisdom, 

 praising all, without laying blame on anybody. 



2. Internal organization of the schools. — He prescribed moderate treat- 

 ment. He divided the schools into three classes which might be subdivided 

 indefinitely, according to the number of children, and he also presented 

 the program of study for each of the sections. He insisted that a teacher 

 should prepare the lesson before going to the class and that his explanations 

 should be made simple in order to reach the understanding of the pupils. 

 He recommended the method of teaching by object lessons. He treated of 

 reward and punishment of pupils, citing opinions to substantiate his state- 

 ments and alluding to the fact that the Eternal Judge rewards the good 

 and punishes the bad. He concluded this argument by saying that prizes 

 are not sufficient to gain the love and good will of the pupils. He condemned 



