HISTORICAL ANTECEDENTS IN

THE WORLD
HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY IN THE PHILIPPINES

• CHED

• The agencies tasked to plan our educational

system had already been forewarned by future
oriented scholars that the 21st century, would be
heavily influenced by an emerging science and
technology milieu.
Education in the 19th Century
• 1863 – Spanish government issued a significant royal
decree that was enacted to reform the educational
system in the Philippines.

• 1898 – birth of the first Philippine Republic. University

of Santo Tomas (Dominicans)

• In the following 18th century (UST), the faculty of

jurisprudence and canonical law was added, and in
1871, the schools of medicine and pharmacy were
opened. **
• Leon Maria Guerrero – Father of the Philippine
Pharmacy

• Unfortunately no Philippine educational institution

offered engineering as a course in 1898

• Religious education (Catholic faith)

• Higher education was not encouraged by the

Spanish authorities because they believed that
education would give the impetus to native Filipinos
to conspire and rebel against them.
• The eventual opening of the Suez Canal in 1869
had a big impact on the capability of the
Filipinos to study abroad (Rizal, Del Pilar,
Luna’s, Lopez, Jaena, Paterno, Ponce, De los
Reyes, etc.)

• 1896 – Revolution against Spain

Higher Education in the First Republic

• By a decree on October 19, 1898, the Philippine

Republic decided to create the Universidad
Literaria de Filipinos as a secular, state-
supported educational institution of higher
learning.
Higher Education in the American Period
• In 1901, the Philippine Commission created a
Department of Public Instruction (Act No. 74) and
made a provision for the establishment of schools
that would provide free primary education to
Filipinos and with English as the medium of
instruction.

• June 18, 1908 – the Philippine Legislature created

the University of the Philippines; the Philippine
Medical School was absorbed by the University.
• Pensionados – 125 young Filipino students; education
package in US from the Ph Commission

• Private schools were established during the American

Period (Liceo de Manila / Manila Central University,
Colegio Filipino / NU, Instituto de Manila / UM,
Centro Escolar de Senioritas / CEU, and the Philippine
Women’s College.

• The private school in the aggregate are big business’

and they supplement the public educational system by
providing facilities which thus far the government has
not had funds to supply.
Higher Education in the Commonwealth
• The government abolished Grade VII and
instituted a “double-single session” plan to
reduce the time allotment and dropping of
certain subjects in the elementary schools
(negative effect on college level education)

• Education, economy and society of the

Philippines was totally disrupted during the
Japanese onset, World War II.
Higher Education Since 1946

• University of the Philippines was determined to

be the most developed institution with quite an
extensive graduate and undergraduate degree
programs in all academic fields.

• DECS and CHED

Values and Visions
• During nearly four centuries of Spanish rule, educational
institutions were established primarily to Christianize the
Filipinos, influence the elite class, and ensure the
docility of Filipinos by Spanish masters.

• Fortunately, Filipinos had basked their “OWN” values,

ideas, and visions of higher education for the country.

• These principles of visions could be gleaned from the

writings of the ilustrados and leaders of the
Propaganda Movement in the 19th century **
Contemporary Higher Education
• Higher education is considered a means to harness,
develop, and put into good use not only the productive
capacities of the Filipinos but more importantly, the
constructive use of their full potentials and capabilities
in: (a) realizing the specific Filipino identity and strong
esteem for national pride; (b) cultivating and imposing
the moral fiber and spiritual harmony; (c) reaching
political soundness, economic stability, and equitable
social responsibility; and (d) preserving and enriching
the historical and cultural foundation of the Filipinos
as a distinct people and race.
• National College Entrance Exam (NCEE)

• Long-Term Higher Education Development

plan, 1996-2005 – to “accelerate the
development of high level professionals who will
search for new knowledge, and provide
leadership in various disciplines required by a
dynamic and self-sustaining economy and to
harness the productive capacity of the country’s
human resource base towards international
competitiveness.”
Planning for the 21st Century
• We need to apply new concepts and promote
new programs that will prepare our young
people and our nation as a whole for the dizzying
changes that modern science and technology
have made possible in our globe.

• The world of the 21st century will undergo

change even faster.
Historical Development of Science and
Technology in the Philippines
• The American government formed the
Philippine Science and Technology (S&T). It
mainly focused on agriculture, health, and food
processing.

• Through the establishment of the UP System

and the various S&T-related agencies and
laboratories, the Bureau became effectively the
training ground for Filipino scientists.
• Major shift in the direction of Philippine S&T
took place right after the proclamation of
independence in 1946. It was put directly under
the Office of the President of the Philippines and
it was reorganized into an Institute of Science

• The institute suffered from lack of financial

support, planning, and coordination.
• National Science and Technology Authority
(NSTA) was created in 1982 for effective and
efficient utilization of the outputs of R&D
activities through greater chances of
commercialization for outputs
• Four S&T Council System:
1. Philippine Council for Health and Research
and Development (PCHRD);
2. Philippine Council for Industry and Energy
Research and Development (PCIERD)
3. Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry
and Natural Resources Research and
Development (PCARRD);
4. National Research Council of the Philippines
(NRCP)
• After the bloodless EDSA Revolution in 1986, the
NSTA was re-organized into what is now called
the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) by the virtue of Executive Order 128

• Technology Application and Promotion Institute

(TAPI)
• Comprehensive Technology Transfer and
Commercialization (CTTC)
• Science & Technology Agenda for National
Development (STAND Philippines 200)
• Indeed, the plans and programs were meant to
address the “deterioration of the Philippine
science since the early years of the American
regime” that was rooted in the “lack of
government support; dearth of scientists of high
training and ability; low morale of scientists; and
a lack of public awareness of science.”
SEATWORK:
• If you were given a chance to be a Filipino
Scientist what possible invention you most
probably engage in to support or contribute on
the development of Science and Technology in
the Philippines? Explain and why?
*****