Pre-Colonial Period Education Practices

Education in the Philippines

• The first colegio was Universidad de San Ignacio, founded by the Jesuits in Manila in 1589, which later became part of the University of Santo Tomas, College of Medicine and Pharmacology.
• Colegios were equivalent to present-day senior high schools, and were opened for boys.
• Girls had two types of schools: beaterio, which prepared them for the convent, and another that prepared them for secular womanhood.
• The Spanish introduced printing presses to produce books in Spanish and Tagalog, sometimes using baybayin.
• The first book printed in the Philippines was a Chinese language version of Doctrina Christiana in 1590.
• Spanish and Tagalog versions of Doctrina Christiana were later printed in 1593, in both Latin script and baybayin script.
• Tomas Pinpin, a Filipino printer, writer, and publisher, wrote "Librong Pagaaralan nang manga Tagalog nang Uicang Castilla" in 1610 to help Filipinos learn the Spanish language.

Pre-Colonial Period

• During the pre-colonial period, most children received vocational training supervised by parents, tribal tutors, or those assigned to specific roles within their communities.
• Stories, songs, poetry, dances, medicinal practices, and advice on community life issues were passed down through oral tradition.
• Some communities used a writing system known as baybayin, although other syllabaries were used throughout the archipelago.

Spanish Period

• Formal education was introduced to the Philippines by the Spaniards, conducted mostly by religious orders.
• The Spaniards taught Christianity, the Spanish language, and Spanish culture upon learning the local languages and writing systems.
• The first schools and universities were opened by religious orders as early as the 16th century.
• The Augustinians opened a parochial school in Cebu in 1565, followed by the Franciscans in 1577, the Jesuits in 1581, and the Dominicans in 1587.