What the Philippine public schools are doing in agriculture

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Part of Philippine Craftsman

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What the Philippine public schools are doing in agriculture
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English
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WHAT THE PHILIPPINE PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE DOING IN AGRICULTURE. A BRIEF account of what is being done in the public schools ~ at present is here given, although many of these features are fully discussed in special articles in this number. The work centers around many projects and types of work in order to make the instruction entirely practical and easily assimilated by the people of the community where it is given. l.urnlng to weav$, Aborlan Agrlcultur•l S<:llool. The work may be tabulated under the following headings: (1) Agricultural schools, (2) farm schools, (3) settlement farm schools, (4) school and home gardening, (5) food campaigns, (6) nurseries and tree planting, and (7) yard improvements. AGRICULTURAL SCHOOLS. The Bureau conducts four agricultural schools where the pupils are subsisted and where dormitory accommodations are provided. These schools are located at Mailag, Bukidnon; Bunauan, Butuan; Aborlan, Palawan; and Muiioz, Nueva Ecija. Large 538 WHAT THE SCHOOLS ARE DOING IN AGRICULTURE 539 farms are cultivated and the boys spend one-half of their time in studying farm mechanics and in doing field work. Last year 131 hectares (327 acres) were under cultivation. Animals and tools best suited to the conditions of Filipino farm life are used. This necessarily reduces the cultivated hectarage, as small implements drawn by single bullocks are employed. Furtheremore, they are :o>chools where principles are taught, as well as farms where products are raised. The largest of these schools is the Central Luzon Agricultural School, Mufioz, Nueva Ecija, which controls a farm of 657 hectares (1,642 acres) of which 130 hectares are under cultivation. The school has a faculty of nine instructors and is attended by 174 students. Products to the value of 1'1,500 were produced last year, which was exclusive of the garden produce grown for school use and the construction and repair work done on the farm as a part of Manobo bn~ball tum, Bunauan Agricultural Scl\0(11. the work in farm mechanics. Figures for the present year are not available, but under favorable conditions an increase of 30 per cent will be secured. Jo'ARM SCHOOLS. These schools are special types of intermediate schools giving instruction in the fifth, sixth, and seventh grades. The three years' work includes a study of agricultural texts and other academic branches and daily practice work in the field or shop. The schools are operated in connection with a model farm of from 10 to 12 hectares (25 to 30 acres). The schools are day schools of a coeducational type with special emphasis upon the introduction of all work into the homes by means of supervised demonstration work. Special domestic-science work is given the girls. The farm itself is developed as a model Filipino farm and in this manner is used to teach practical farm 540 THE l'HIUPPINE CRAFTSMAN management. The girls do the work of the three-year course in housekeeping and household art~ in the same practical manner that the farm work is taught the boys. This type of school has been selected as the one most suited to the present needs of the Christian provinces and is being extended as rapidly as funds and facilities are available. At present eight successful schools are conducted at the following places : Batac, I locos Norte; Indang, Cavite; Guinobatan, AI bay; Ballesteros, Cagayan; Iba, Zambales; San Carlos, Pangasinan; Tacloban, Leyte; and Batangas, Batangas. Recent reports show an enrollment of 1,127 boys and 212 girls at these schools. Through the system of home extension work many practical farmers and large numbers of country people are reached. SETTLEMENT FARM SCHOOLS. The home environment of the non-Christians is such that agricultural work adapted to the settled regions is hardly suited to their immediate needs. The people have for several generations Jived more or less nomadic lives and have practised the crudest form of agriculture. As a whole, it consists of but little more than the burning off of a small area and planting it with a few plants, mostly roots. Little if any cultivation is given the land, either before or after planting, as after two or three crops have been harvested grass begins to take the field and the farmer moves to a new clearing. Seldom are the services of work ani!· mals used and but few tools are utilized. JI'H.4T THE SCHOOLS ARE DOING IN A.GRICI./ LTURE 541 Small farms of from 3 to 5 hectares (8 lo 12 acres) are established as the basis of a settlement farm school, and a schoolhouse and teacher's cottage built. From the day that the pupils enter the school they are taught the rudiments of English, farm work, and certain household industries. Practical work occupies one-half of the school time. The boys a1·e engaged in learning to use work animals and agricultural tools and in producing food. The girls assist with the farm crops during the harvest, but at other times are taught plain sewing, cooking, and simple household industries. In most schools the girls are taught to weave the cloth for their clothes. The farms are worked on a communal basis and each pupil takes his share of all harvested products to his home for family consumption. Schoolhoun, Buoc•on Settlement Farm School. Often the food received from this source practically feeds the settlement at certain seasons of the year. The permanent development of the country is assured through this means, as under the influences of these farms permanent settlements and, in some instances, villages of conside1·able size have sprung up. The parents themselves have taken up adjoining land and are using animals and tools in the manner in which the boys are taught. These schools have been established in the following numbers: Twenty-one in the Province of Agusan for Bukidnons, twenty in Agusan for Manobos, one in Zambales for Negritos, two in Nueva Vizcaya for Igorots, and three in Nueva Vizcaya for llongots. Approximately 100 hectares (250 acres) are now under cultivation at these schools. 542 THE: PH/UPI'INE CRAFTSMAN SCHOOL AND HOME GARDENING. Gardening is prescribed as a definite requirement in all primary and intermediate schools, except those offering the trade course, the business course or the course in housekeeping and households arts. The work consists of school gardens and home extension work in the form of required home gardens which the pupils must cultivate. Upon this work they are graded and for it credits toward promotion are given. All features from seed selection to the use of vegetables A Reid of Moro corn, lndang hom~ Pro)tcl and Seed preservatiOn are taught No.4. in a ver~' practical manner. Native vegetables and especially those which are common in the community and well liked by the people are preferred for the wo1·k. The extension of gardening into the homes has met with marked success. Reports for the school year 1912-13 show that school gardens are maintained at 2,310 schools and 35,719 pupils have horne gardens. An area of 115 hectares (287 acres) is under cultivation and 58,031 boys. and 5,036 girls are instructed in vegetable growing. FOOD CAMPAIGNS. Special work with the object of furthering either the production or the use of some foorl has received attention as an integral part of the agricultural education given in the Philippine public schools. It has taken the form of added emphasis to legumes and yams with the object of seed selection, plant improvement, and distribution of desirable types. Sweet potatoes have also receh•ed special emphasis. The most important cam- Edlblegourd1. paign is the one to promote the growth and use of corn in the Philippines. This work is now being conducted for the second ye·ar. Legumes are included with the com, both as an agricultural feature of production and as a human food. Very successful reWHAT THE SCHOOLS ARE DOING IN AGRICULTURE 543 suits have been secured, though the work may now be considered as having just well begun. Latest reports show that 43,561 boys are engaged in corn growing and that 6,000 girls are being instructed 1 in ways of preparing palatable corn dishes with the simple ingre~ dients and cooking uten~ sils common in the aver~ age Filipino home. By means of lectures, posters, and follow~ups, a large percentage of the people have been reaChed. Making .t .. oh from eanav•. Alb•y Provincial School. The food campaign work in the Philippines is unique in that special stress is placed upon the preparation of harvested products as a human food. It is estimated that more than 300 corn demonstrations will be held this year and that in connection with the lectures and corn ex· hibits 1,000,000 people will be reached. NURSERIES AND TREE PLANTING. by having the pupils each year plant and care for a few trees as a part of their home industrial requirement. The work as yet is simple in nature, but it will make a basis for future development work along this line. Recent figures show that 94 school nurseries are maintained and that 46,687 tree!> and young 544 THE PHJUPPINE CRAFTS.II.4.N plants are growing in them. The tree planting idea prevails throughout the year. Available figures also show that 53,439 fruit trees and 13,633 shade trees were planted and cared for by pupils during the past school year. YARD IMPROVEMENTS. Knowing that farm homes must be attractive if the most energetic boys are to be kept on the farm, the improvement of the school premises and the introduction of similar conditions at the homes are encouraged. Permanent concrete schoolhouses are constructed, lawns and playgrounds laid out. and sanitary arrangements looked after. All pupils of the primary grades are required to take an active interest in the care and improvement of grounds. During the first year of the intermediate course each pupil is required to devote one industrial period each week to work on the school grounds. The work is taken into the homes in an indirect way by the teacher on his weekly inspection trips to the home gardens. By means of home credits and certificates of merit it is planned to further encourage lawn making as well as shrub and flower culture at the homes. From recent reports it appears that 1,032 schools own sites of one-half hectare (1{acres) and more; that 198 schools have their grounds inclosed with permanent fences; and that 312 schools have made lawns and otherwise improved the grounds. The agricultural acth·ities of the Bureau of Education a1·e best demonstrated by the fact that through some form of instruction 500 hectares (1,250 acres) are actually being cultivated by Filipino schoolboys under the direct supervision of teachers. This land is divided into some 50,000 different tracts varying in size from a boy's home garden of 16 square meters to the 130 hectares cultivated at the Central Luzon Agricultural School. Taken as a whole, our work is a great system of practical demonstrations conducted and studied by the people themselves. The plan is both to improve that which exists and to secure better results under the exact conditions which are encountered at the homes. Only after their merit has been established are new plants, tools, and methods introduced. Bodily labor alleviates the pains of the mind; and hence arises the happiness of the poor. (La Rochefoucauld.) Labor rids us of three great evils-irksomeness, vice, and poverty. (Voltaire.)