1908 arithmetic exam in the Philippines

The first American teachers in the Philippines were soldiers. US Army Gen. Harrison Otis established in March 1900 the Dept. of Public Instruction, under the direction of Capt. Albert Todd. The latter built upon and expand the public primary schools that the Spaniards had founded in the 1860s. By September 1900 roughly 100,000 Filipino children were enrolled in schools, and Todd’s agency had distributed almost $100,000 worth of school material, including readers, geography texts, pens and US flags.

University of Oregon historian Glenn May cautions against exaggerating the success of the Army educational work. Schools were few and crowded, and some received no instructional aids at all; books were outdated and poorly printed; soldiers taught only one subject, Reading. "Finally, as Todd himself admitted, the primary goal of the Army’s teaching program was not to educate Filipinos but rather to pacify them by convincing them of US goodwill," Prof. May writes in his book, Social Engineering in the Philippines (The Aims, Execution and Impact of American Colonial Policy, 1900-1813). "The Army’s schools were in effect a mere adjunct of its military activities."

Then came waves of Thomasites, civilian volunteer teachers so-called because the first batch of 509 arrived in Manila in Aug. 1901 aboard the US transport ship Thomas. Under a succession of Superintendents of Public Education, the Thomasites aimed for true education. They dropped the memorization method of the Spaniards, and encouraged analytical thinking and individual expression from Filipino pupils. After months of heated debate, their superiors decided on English as medium of instruction, but the teachers developed lesson plans and books for "insular readers". Notes Prof. May: "Maria, Juan, Manuel and Rosita were now the protagonists of the stories, and the pages were sprinkled with words and pictures familiar to the Filipino: mangoes and carabaos, carromatas and cascos, coconuts and abaca. The texts pictured Maria and Juan much as they really were: walking barefoot to school, playing with their dogs and kites, pounding rice. Teachers quickly attested to the appeal of the new readers." (Some readers wrote that the real 8th Grade test from 1895 that I had featured in Gotcha, 31 Oct. 2005 may not have been for pupils but for applicant teachers.)

Notably by 1907 the Bureau of Education also taught the American brand of civics. Teachers used classes and club meetings to laud democratic government and denounce corruption and caciquismo. The Filipino Teacher’s Manual, designed for use by newly recruited local tutors, urged them to preach: "Officials are appointed by the people to act for them... Too often, the local official in the Philippines acts as if he had forgotten that his position and authority came from the votes of the people." Dr. David Barrows, an anthropologist from the Univ. of Chicago who ran the Bureau of Education in 1903-1909, adopted the Jeffersonian tenet of mass education to break down social barriers. Wrote Barrows at the start of his term: "I believe we should ... seek to develop in the Philippines, not a proletariat, but everywhere the peasant proprietor... Wherever 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... Now it is with this peasant-proprietor class particularly in mind, and trusting in the outcome of our efforts to increase this class, that we must lay out our course of primary instruction."

And so from Barrows’ objective, land ownership was inserted into even Arithmetic. From Primary Arithmetic Part III, by Mabel Bonsall and G.E. Mercer, is this sample Arithmetic exam for Filipino pupils in 1908:

Exercise 141.

(Note to teachers: Under Land Act No. 926, any native of the Philippine Islands over 21 years of age, who does not already own 16 hectares of land, has the right to take up 16 hectares of government farm land for his own use and cultivation. Any person wishing to take up government land must make application to the local land officers or to the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands in Manila. He must give the location and description of the land desired and show that he has the right to take up government land. He must reside upon the land taken up and cultivate it for five years. If then he pays the government a small fee, he is given a patent which makes him the owner of the land.)

1. Juan took up a piece of government land 400 meters long and 400 meters wide. How many hectares did he get? What did it cost to fence it at P.20 a meter?

2. He planted _ of it in sugarcane, _ in corn, 1/8 in rice, and the rest in tobacco. How many hectares had he in each kind of crop? How many more hectares did he plant in sugarcane than in tobacco?

3. At the end of 16 months, he had 500 piculs of sugar worth P4.10 a picul; 200 cavans of corn worth P1.75 a cavan; and P300 worth of tobacco. What was all of his crop worth?

4. His expenses during the 16 months were P2,000 besides the cost of the fence. How much money had he after all expenses were paid?

5. With some of the money he had left, Juan built a nipa house on his farm. The nipa cost him P36.80; the bamboo for the frame and the floors, P8.65; and he paid a man P.95 a day for 7 days to assist him in building. What was the cost of his house?

6. The next year he paid P83 for a carabao; P6.85 each for two plows; P67 for a horse; and P35 for a cart. What did they all cost?

7. Find the cost of 2 bamboo beds at P3.65 each; 3 petates at P.83 each; 4 chairs at P1.45 each; and a table at P7.28.

8. Juan exchanged 7 cavans of rice worth P4.45 a cavan for pigs worth P6.23 each. How many pigs did he get?

9. When they were not busy on the farm, Juan and his son worked on a new road which was being built through their province. If Juan worked 21 days at P1.25 a day, and his son 18 days at P.88 a day, what was the sum of their wages?

10. For a neighboring farmer, Juan hauled 25 loads of stone at P.40 a load, and 5 loads of lumber at P.35 a load. How much did he receive for his work?

11. A railroad company built a line of railroad through the corner of Juan’s farm. They paid him P1.20 an ar for the strip of land 200 meters long and 12 meters wide. How much did he receive?

(Note to teachers: Explain to the pupils carefully the right which the Filipinos have to take up land and urge them to carry the information to their parents.)

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