AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES.pdf

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Part of The Philippine Educator

extracted text: AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES (A Committee Report in the Superintendents' Convention in Baguio from May 10 to 15, 1948) I 1. As a result of the last war there have been !fundamental and critical changes in the Philippines and the world over. In the Philippines those changes are, among other things, the establishment of the Philippine Republic· the devastation of the country; the w~akening of the social, moral, and emotional fiber of the people; the demand for industrialization; and the prevalence of subversive ideas that threaten to undermine the social order and our democratic way of life. All over the world, there is an Nrgent cry !for the immediate realization of the universal aspiration for the brotherhood o!f men. For the realization of this, the Philippines, as a sovereign state, is one of the most ardent advocates. In view of the foregoing changes, the Committee feels that there should be a re-orientation, in points of view and emphasis, of the philosophy of the present school system; and that this philosophy should draw its inspiration from the Constitution of the Philippines. The Committee recommends the adoption of the fundamental objectives of the Philippine Educational System as approved by the !former National Council of Education, with slight modifications and the inclusion of an additional objective, Number 11. These objectives are the following: 3 (1) To impress upon our people that they are citizens of a republic; to instill in them love of and veneration for their country; and to train them to discharge willingly and faithfully their duties and obligations as citizens of an independent state, imbued with an abiding faith in Divine Providence. (2) To develop in our people health and physical fitness through personal and community hygiene and physical education. (3) To inculcate in our people the ideals of democracy, to make them realize that, if they are to attain selffulfillment, they have to help preserve the fundamental rights of man at any cost. ( 4) To develop in the people habits o!f industry and thrift and to equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge which would enable them to earn an honest livelihood and contribute to the economic well-being of the country. (5) To train our men and women for family responsibility and the obligations of the home. (6) To guide our people in the wise use of leisure so that it may contribute to their personal growth and promote the welfare of the community. (7) To infuse in the individual the desire and the willingness to help his community; to instill in him sympathy for, understanding CY!, and good , ... THE PBLLIPPINE EDUCATOR will toward, his fellow men. (8) To promote in our youth a way of life which embodies the best of our cultural heritage, enriched by the valuable experiences of other peoples. (9) To foster among our people appreciation of the arts, sciences, and letters so that their taste may be refined, their lives enriched, and their sympathies deepened. (10) To cultivate in our people a sympathetic understanding of other nations through a study of the contributions that these nations have made to civilization. ( 11) To promote in our people the ability to think and act rationally, to express their thoughts clearly, and to read and listen with understanding. 2. The objectives in the various levels of instruction in the school system may be stated and distributed as follows: (1) Inasmuch as primary education serves the greatest portion of our population, it should aim to equip the child with those fundamental skills, habits, knowledge, attitudes, and ideals that are ,generally regarded as essential for the unification and integration of members of a democratic society and for effective participation in the activities of that society. Included in this are a command of the fundamental processes, desirable habits, moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience, knowledge of the duties of citizenship in an independent republic, with particular emphasis on the eradication of illiteracy, and an understanding of social and natural phenomena. (2) Intermediate education should complement primary education and should have for its main objective the improvement of community life, particularly rural life, with emphasis on agriculture. (3) Secondary education should aim to continue on a higher plane the integrating function of education and at the same time to provide opportunity for the development of special abilities through the exploration and discovery of the student's interests, abilities, and aptitudes by offering a wide variety of worth-while courses and guiding the students in the choice of, and in training them in, their vocational or professional courses, with emphasis on agricultural and industrial life. • ( 4) College education should have for its main aim the training in specific vocations, with emphasis on service and leadership in community living. Running through all these levels as a unifying and articulating factor are the general objectives of education in the Philippines as defined by this Committee at the beginning of this report. 3. With respect to the relation between the schools and the state, the Committee realizes that the schools are a · creation of the state and, therefore, should serve its interests. Their primary concern, however, is the- implementation of the educational provisions of the Constitution. On the other hand, since the schools are created for the people, they should serve as a decisive social force to help reconstruct society. Furthermore, the schools should endeavor to enrich the state by improving the living conditions of its people and making possible its optimum development. II. So that our schools can help carry out the ideas and plans of the UNESCO, such measures as the following are recommended: THE PHILIPPINE EDUCATOR 1. Portions or passages in the present textbooks and other instructional materials, which may hamper the promotion of world understanding, should be deleted. 2. Steps should be taken for the adoption of more up-to-date texts, expressive of the new world trends and consistent with our present independent status. 3. There should be a balanced view of world culture instead of undue emphasis on Latin and AngloSaxon civilizations. 4. Adequate literature on the UNO and its various instrumentalities, especially the UNESCO, should be made available in the schools for reference. 5. Special stress should be laid on character and citizenship training of the youth. 6. Pre-Military Training in the secondary schools should be abolished. 7. Practical, sound, and dynamic nationalism should be built up and cultivated so that we can contribute more to the fund of world heritage and culture as basis for internationalism. 8. In the study of history, the development of the human race should be traced to the common origin of mankind. 9. The teaching of the social studies should be approached from the point of view of international trade, exchange, and the like. 10. Inventions, arts, and letters should be considered a common heritage of all countries and nations. 11. Students should be trained to distinguish facts from propaganda, the patriot from the mountebank. 12. Abundant opportunities in the school should be provided ·for the exercise of reflective thinking. 5 13. Cooperation of the home and the community should be secured. 14. An International Goodwill Day, featuring dances of the nations, pageants, and goodwill gifts, should be held once a year on the day the UNO was born. 15. There should be an exchange of teachers, students, textbooks, and correspondence among the nations of the world. UI. With respect to the articulation of the various curricula with the objectives of education as expressed in the Constitution, the Committee lists the following existing curricula: 1. General primary 2. General intermediate 3. Agricultural intermediate 4. General secondary 5. Agricultural secondary 6. Trade secondary 7. Nor mal secondary 8. Junior normal 9. Junior-college trade 10. Junior-college agricultural The objectives of education which are expressed in the Constitution are given in the following: "All schools shall aim to develop moral character, personal discipline, civic conscience, and vocational efficiency, and to teach the duties of citizenship." It is apparent that there is a good deal of overlapping among the virtues enumerated in the above-quoted provision. With the above considerations in mind, your Committee prefers to view the aims of education, as constitutionally provided, in their total effectthe production of "well-balanced citizens who are prepared to take their places as individuals and as members \ THE PHILIPPINE EDUOA.TOR of their respective social groups in a in the Philippines. democracy." Topic No. III must, therefore, be considered in the light cYf the total effect of the different curricula taken together. The extent to which these various curricula articulate with the aims of education is in direct proportion to the proper balance which these various curricula contribute to the entire educational effort of the Bureau of Public Schools. In short, everything considered, all the present curricula contribute to the attainment of the aims of education IV. As far as the subjects offered in them are concerned, it seems that the various curricula provide opportunities for carrying out the mandate of the Constitution. If they are deficient in carrying out this constitutional mandate, the deficiency is due to inadequate facilities, lack of trained teachers and, perhaps, lack of appropriate and upto-date content to take care of the social changes in the world today, particularly in the field of human relationships . . ~. INAUGURAL ADDRESS ... (Continued from page 48) to talk to him on the objectives of this Association. Mr. Langcauon gave an exposition cYf our plans and principles and the President was satisfied. It is, therefore, the duty of every delegate here, when he goes back to his province, to elcplain to the teachers and to the people our mission. The main concern of the present PPSTA administration is to implement the objectives of the Association. It has 3 objectives, which are: 1. To advance the course of education as agency for Filipino Nationalism and to promote the principles o£ the UNESCO. 2. To protect and help the members. 3. To keep members in close contact with one another. The first objective is a lofty one. When we expound to the people our 6 mission, let us not over-emphasize number two; that would be selfishness. We want to improve the system because it is ours. No other people will know that the system is bad. No other people will say it is bad. Who are better prepared than we to work for the improvement of the system? So we should try our best to implement the three objectives. I am sure that your efforts and with the efforts of an active executive secretary-treasurer and the members of the Board, we can carry out the objectives of this Association. One thing I am sure of is that we shall succeed in all our endeavors if we can get the support of 60,000 teachers in the field. When we get that much support, we know that the enthusiasm for the PPSTA will never wane. Because of that enthusiasm, the PPSTA shall not fail!
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