Most of the educational institutions of the colony are in Manila,
where the Department of Education has its headquarters. Many of the
native graduates of the various colleges go into the professions;
many of the poorer kind into teaching. The village schoolmaster
receives, on an average, about 180 dollars a year, and out of even
this miserable stipend he has to pay his own expenses to and from the
city once every month, to receive his salary. Thus, it can readily be
surmised that the cause of public education is not in as prosperous a
condition as it might be. The children of the wealthy are sometimes
sent abroad--to Spain, France, or England--to be educated. I myself
went to St. John's College, London, and, afterward, to Pension Roulet,
Neûchatel, Switzerland.
The Royal and Pontifical University of St. Thomas, in Manila, is
maintained by the Dominicans. It has schools of theology and church
law, jurisprudence, notarial law, medicine, and pharmacy. In the
undergraduate department are 40 free scholarships for Spanish boys.
The college of San José gives instruction in medicine and pharmacy. The
Dominican college of San Juan de Letran is justly celebrated for its
excellent equipment, and for its fine museums of history and of the
arts. It is attended exclusively by the sons of the natives.
The Cambobong Orphan Asylum, under the care of the Augustinians,
furnishes elementary instruction, and is a preparatory school for
the University. It also teaches book-keeping, and provides a good
business education.
The Mandaloya Asylum, of the same order and of the same grade, is
for girls, and teaches the proper performance of household duties
and the various feminine accomplishments.
Poor and demented children find shelter in the St. Joseph's Home;
while the Hospital of San Juan de Dios, founded in 1595, is open
to all. This institution has two chaplains, one head nurse, six
physicians, eight resident medical students, one pharmaceutist,
and a corps of trained nurses.
The Hospital of San Lazaro is for lepers. It was founded in 1578
by the Franciscans, under rather peculiar and not uninteresting
circumstances. The Emperor of Japan, full of resentment at the attempts
of the Spaniards to convert his subjects to Christianity, sent the
infant colony a ship-load of lepers with his compliments, saying,
sarcastically, that he had no doubt but that the good brethren to whose
care he felt called upon to send these useless subjects of his kingdom,
would, in their exceeding love for souls, receive them most gratefully.
The Spaniards, however, needless to say, were by no means delighted,
and were at first inclined to send the lepers back. Pity and Christian
feeling, however, at last prevailed, and this hospital was built to
receive them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account