Adaptation of work to local needs

Title

Language

English

Source

The Philippine Craftsman Volume V (Issue No. 7) January 1917

Year

1917

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

GENERAL TOPICS 527 task; but the dormitory girls, have given comparatively little trouble, and now they readily respond to discipline. Considerable difficulty was experienced in securing the services of a cook who could properly prepare meals. Whenever a chick en is to be served, it is necessary to call in a hadji, a Moham medan that has made a pilgrimage to Mecca, who makes it a business to slaughter animals for the Moros. The establishment of a Moro Girls’ Dormitory is the first step on the part of the Government to provide locally for the education of the daughters of the aristocracy of Sulu, and the results thus far entirely justify the expenditures incurred. The construction of a modern dormitory and its establishment on a permanent basis are contemplated. ADAPTATION OF WOltli TO LOCAL NEEDS. Dy James C. Scott, Division Superintendent of Schools, Ciik'uynn. In recent years the demand has been made upon the schools throughout the world that they train pupils for commercial and industrial life and the attempt to comply with this requirement has doubled the responsibility of teachers. In the Philippines the problem of correlating education with life has to do with the selection of the most practical industrial courses for primary and intermediate schools. It can be solved only by determining the work which will do most to promote the prosperity of each section. If a school is located in an agricultural community, as is the case with most barrio and many central schools, special attention should be given to field plots, nurseries, agricultural clubs, and gardens both at schools and at the homes of pupils. But unless the school methods are a step in advance of those practiced by the farmers of the vicinity, the results will be of doubtful value. The best known methods of seed selection, cultivation and har vesting should be practiced. If corn in the neighborhood of a school is of poor quality, the school should be made the distribut ing center for a better variety. Through the school, it is feasible to better the breeds of hogs ar.ipoultry in any commu nity. The agricultural work must be Organized to provide for the immediate needs of surrounding farms. The planting in a haphazard fashion of whatever garden s/eds a teacher happens to have on hand, will not accomplish the desired results. The distribution of seeds according to present practibe may well be discontinued, and arrangements should be made to fill requisitions for seeds, plants, and animals to supply the particular require528 THE PHILIPPINE CRAFTSMAN merits of each locality. A careful study of agricultural needs, followed by properly directed efforts to supply these through the schools, is the most effective method of helping the backward farmer, and the public school organization is now complete enough to undertake this work in earnest. The introduction of new industries through the schools will be most successful in overpopulated districts where there is insufficient employment, or where there exists a necessity for more remunerative work. On the densely inhabited island of Cebu, new industries require close study, while in the province of Cagayan where thousands of farmers are wanted to settle on unoccupied fertile lands, training for factory work is not so pressing a need. The production of a limited amount of basketry, lace, and embroidery, in the schools of all provinces, will serve the dual purpose of introducing these articles into common use in the homes and of testing the possibility of success in producing them in large quantities for export sale. Further, there is a pedagogic purpose in supplying to the pupils concrete evidence of the reward for labor expended. Thrift is a leading need. The determination to save money and to accumulate property, to build a comfortable and sanitary home, to make sure of an income to meet the wants of a family and to leave a surplus for investment; these are ideals that should rank higher than they do in most communities. Teachers may well use their personal influence over pupils in urging habits of economy. They should supervise the investment or deposit in a savings bank of the money earned in school indus trial work. Agricultural clubs may be made the means of starting boys in an accumulation of property which will continue until they become farmers. Thrift is a family virtue, and girls as well as boys must be brought to appreciate its value. A few years ago the Oriental idea that schools should equip the youth to live without the necessity of manual labor still prevailed, so the task of teaching the dignity of labor was taken up by the Bureau of Education. There were not lacking critics who prophesied failure hi the attempt to change the prevailing viewpoint, but today th<success of the Bureau in this endeavor is assured; and its present efforts to make education fit special needs will assuredly result in producing greater prosperity and better and happier homes.

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