National Geographic Magazine/Volume 16/Number 1/Educating the Filipinos
EDUCATING THE FILIPINOS
THE last report of the Superintendent of Education of the Philippine Islands, David P. Barrows, describes very clearly the educational policy that has been adopted for the Filipinos and the manner in which that policy is being carried out. The following paragraphs are from the report :
THE FILIPINO DIALECTS CANNOT BE
DEVELOPED INTO A NATIONAL
LANGUAGE
There are between 40 and 50 dialects in the Philippine Islands. The question has been frequently raised whether these Filipino languages are sufficiently related so as to fuse into one common tongue, and the Bureau of Education has received its most vigorous criticism in the United States because of its alleged attempt to supplant and destroy what might, in the opinion of absentee critics, become a national and characteristic speech. Such criticisms could only proceed from a profound ignorance of the nature of these languages and the people who speak them. All of these dialects belong to one common Malayan stock. Their grammatical structure is the same. The sentence in each one of them is built up in the same way. The striking use of affixes and suffixes, which gives the speech its character, is common to them all. There are, moreover, words and expressions identical to them all. A hundred common words could readily be selected which would scarcely vary from one language to another ; but the fact still remains that, while simi- lar in grammatical structure, these languages are very different in vocabulary — so different that two members of any two different tribes brought together are unable to converse, or at first even to make themselves understood for the simplest steps of intercourse. The similarity in structure makes it very easy for a Filipino of one tribe to learn the language of another ; but never- theless these languages have preserved their distinction for more than three hundred years of European rule and in the face of a common religion and in spite of considerable migration and mix- ture between the different tribes. This is as true where different populations border one another as elsewhere. In no case is there any indication that these languages are fusing. The Filipino ad- heres to his native dialect in its purity, and when he converses with a Filipino of another tribe ordinarily uses broken Spanish.
TO THE FILIPINOS A NATIONAL LAN- GUAGE IS A NECESSITY—THEY PREFER ENGLISH
For common intercourse, as well as for education, the Filipino demands a foreign speech. To confine him to his native dialect would be simply to per- petuate that isolation which he has so long suffered and against which his in- surrection was a protest. Opponents of English education find no sympathizer among the Filipino people. The ad- vantage which the possession of the English language will give him is read- ily understood by the Filipino, and it is fortunate that the acquisition of the Spanish tongue was largely denied him and that it never won his affection. English is the lingua franca of the Far East. It is spoken in the ports from Hakodate to Australia. It is the com- mon language of business and social intercourse between the different na- tions from America westward to the Levant. To the Filipino the possession of English is the gateway into that busy and fervid life of commerce, of modern science, of diplomacy and politics, in which he aspires to shine.
Knowledge of English is more than this — it is a possession as valuable to the humble peasant for his social pro- tection as it is to the man of wealth for his social distinction. If we can give the Filipino husbandman a knowledge of the English language, and even the most elemental acquaintance with En- glish witings, we will free him from that degraded dependence upon the man of influence of his own race which made possible not merely insurrection, but that fairly unparalleled epidemic of crime which we have seen in these islands during the past few years. Another form which criticism frequently takes, not alone in the United States, but among Americans in these islands, is that in giving the Filipino this primary education we are impairing his usefulness as a productive laborer, separating him from agriculture and the trades, making every school- boy ambitious to become an escribiente, and filling their minds generally with distaste for rural life. American investors and promoters in the Philippines at the present moment are deeply disgusted with the Filipino as a laborer and are clamorous for the introduction of Chinese coolies. They claim that the Filipino hates and despises labor for itself, will not keep a laboring contract, and cannot be procured on any reasonable terms for various enterprises in which Americans desire to invest effort and money. When, however, we look a little more closely into the demands 48 The National Geographic Magazine of these men, it is apparent that what they really want here is a great body of unskilled labor, dependent for living upon its daily wage, willing to w 7 ork in great gangs, submissive to the rough handling of a "boss," and ready to leave home and family and go anywhere in the islands and to labor at day wages under conditions of hours and methods of labor set by their foreign employers.
Now the Filipino detests labor under these conditions. It is probably true that he will not work in a gang under a "boss," subjected to conditions of labor which appear to him unnecessarily harsh and onerous. And, looking at the matter in a broad sense, I am not sure but that those who have this people's welfare most at heart may congratulate the Filipino on this state of mind. Give him a piece of land to cultivate, especially if he can be assured that it is his own ; let him choose for his labor the cool dark hours of the early dawn and evening ; let him work in his own way, unharassed by an over- seer, and the Filipino will make a fairly creditable showing as a laborer. We must recognize these preferences of his. I believe we should accept them and should seek to develop here in the Philippines, not a proletariat, but everywhere the peasant proprietor. Where-ever we find the Filipino the possessor of his own small holding, there we find him industrious and contributing largely to the productive industry of the islands. I have in mind one beautiful little valley in the Ilokano country, famous for the quality of its tobacco, where the land-tax collections showed a year ago 2,200 small independent properties in a single municipality. Now it is with this peasant-proprietor class particularly in mind, and trusting in the outcome of our efforts to greatly increase this class, that we must lay out our course of primary instruction. If he has his small home and plot of ground, the possession of English, the ability to read, the understanding of figures and those matters of business which affect him, and even the knowledge of other lands and peoples will not draw him from his country life and labor. It will, I hope, increase his con- tentment as it increases his independ- ence, and as it raises his standard of life and comfort and increases his desires it will make him a better producer and a larger purchaser. Just now his mind is influenced by the evil example of his past instructors, who, while they taught him much that was good, taught him also that labor was vile.
THE AMERICAN PURPOSE IS TO DIGNIFY LABOR
But this attitude toward bodily labor which so disgusts Americans with the wealthy and more cultivated class ap- pears to be not a racial feeling, but a result of Spanish training. If we look at those Malayan tribes which escaped the Spanish civilization — the Igorrotes in the north and the Moros in the south — we find that the man skillful with his tool and cunning of hand en- joys additional reputation. Moham- medanism has never despised the artisan or the tradesman, and this may some- what account for it ; but, anyway, in Mindanao and Sulu one constantly finds that even the datto, or petty king, may be a famous forger of weapons and spend many hours each day beside his anvil and bellows. I have in mind a salip, or religious leader, on the island of Basilan whose fame is widespread as a builder of boats. These facts should encourage us to hope for a change of attitude on the part of the people toward learning and practicing manual trades, even though at the present time such teaching has met little favor with the Filipinos, the young elega?ite of Manila disdaining to soil his fingers with the grip of a tool.
THE PRESENT WORK
The latest reports obtainable from the province show that we have about 2,000 primary schools in operation. These employ the services of about 3,000 Filipino teachers. Instruction is given wholly in English. The only books used are English text, and the teaching approximates American methods. The subjects taught are English language, primary arithmetic, and primary geography, with supplementary reading in Philippine and American history and in elementary human physiology. About 150,000 children are today receiving instruction in these schools. School-houses are crowded to the very limits of health and efficiency, and the Filipino teachers are teaching an average of 40 pupils.
The probable school population is a million and a half in the christianized provinces.
To properly cover the field we need a force of about 10,000 Filipino primary teachers and at least four times the amount of school-room space that we at present possess. This would make possible the primary instruction of 600,000 Filipino children, and would give to every child in the Christian population of the islands the advantage of four years of primary instruction, to be secured between the ages of 6 and 14.
High schools have been organized in every school division.
The system of public instruction introduced into the islands is thus eminently practical. The purpose of those who are directing the course of studies is to exalt the dignity of labor. Effort is made to train the eye and the hand as well as the head. In the provincial secondary schools two years' courses in mechanical drawing, wood working, and iron working are prescribed for students in arts and crafts, and give the students a fair knowledge of mechanical drawing, blacksmithing, and tool making. A more advanced course includes architecture, cabinet making, carriage building, wood turning, and pattern making. There are also courses for machinists and steam engineering.
Tools and equipment have been secured for eight different schools with wood-making machinery and for three schools in iron-working outfits. Particular attention is given to the care of instruments and tools.
Particular attention has been given to normal school work in order to train up a class of native teachers for the public schools of the islands, and this course has been pursued with eagerness by hundreds of natives, but at present there is no institution in the Philippines in which instruction is given in English of a sufficiently advanced character to fit students to enter American colleges. It is therefore proposed to offer in the normal school preparatory courses of an advanced nature adequate for the attainment of this purpose.
Another school that will have a profound influence in the development of the islands is the Nautical school. The coast line of the islands is greater than that of the United States, and as there is at present almost a total lack of railways, and the highways being in poor condition for the most part, the waters of the archipelago must continue to be used as a means of transportation. There are at present 103 students in the school, and every member of the last three graduating classes are employed (with one exception) at salaries ranging from $275 to $60 per month, one being a mate on a Japanese liner.
The course of study pursued covers a period of four years and includes English, mathematics, navigation, seamanship, geography, chemistry, and history. The students are from 22 different provinces, and, owing to their training, their Malay blood, and acquaintance with the water from childhood, make excellent seamen and are proud of their profession.