Prepared by: Social and Behavioral Sciences Department

THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT OF RIZAL'S EDUCATION

Overview:
Rizal always considered education as a medicine or remedy that could cure the problems of Colonial
Philippines. He believed in education that is free from political and religious control. He asserted that
reform can not be achieved if there is no suitable education, a liberal one available to Filipinos. In this
lesson, it discusses the educational background of one of those renowned heroes in the Philippines, Dr. Jose
Rizal. Education greatly contributed to the molding of Rizal's nationalism as well as of other Filipinos. Like
any typical Filipino families, the early education of youngsters always starts at home. In the case of Jose
Rizal during his childhood days, her mother Teodora Alonzo was considered to be his first teacher.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Evaluate the Spanish colonial education system during the time of Rizal
2. Explain how the Spanish educational system influenced Rizal and his contemporaries
3. Cite Rizal's experiences when he studied in Ateneo and UST
4. Relate the influences of Rizal's schools namely Ateneo and UST in his journey of becoming a national hero
5. Describe briefly the Atenean system of education to which Rizal was subject to in terms of method of
teaching, goals of education, curriculum, extra-curriculum, and promotion of academic excellence
6. Point out the factors that can account for Rizal's quality of academic performance in Ateneo
7. Comment on the kind of education Rizal had experienced in Ateneo
8. Identify the reasons why Rizal joined student activism in UST

Rizal's Early Education

Education is part of the historical context that molded Rizal's nationalism as well asthat of other Filipinos. Like
any Filipino family education started at home and the mother was usually the first teacher. Rizal's mother was an
educated woman who could speak Spanish well. It was from his mother Rizal learned the rudiments of the alphabet
and writing. Rizal's family also had tutors; the last two were Lucas Padua and Leon Monroy who taught Rizal Latin.
Rizal's home was full of possibilities for self-improvement. His relatives like Lorenzo Alberto taught him the
necessity of keeping one's body fit through exercise. Rizal's home had its own library and the
young Rizal could use the time drawing and crude sculpture.When the young boy reached the age of nine he was sent
to the school of MaestroJustiniano Aquino Cruz in Biñan, Laguna. At that time anybody with a Bachiller en Artes
with the approval of the town curate may teach the equivalent of elementary as long as he passed the examinations
given by the Spanish authorities.

Rizal spent three years in the school of Maestro Justiniano and his knowledge of Spanish that was first taught by
his mother improved. Maestro Justiniano recommended that the young boy be sent to Manila for further education.
This next step in Rizal's education would lead to the Bachiller en Artes which was the equivalent of today's high
school.

Role of Dominicans in Philippine Education

In 1865, Queen Isabella II appointed the Rector of the University of Santo Tomas as the supervisor of all
secondary and higher education in the Philippines. Because of this royal order, the University also holds the entrance
and final examinations of all those who wish to enter secondary and higher education and those who have completed
their courses. The University issued the diplomas of the graduates regardless where they have taken the courses. Rizal
went to Manila on June 10, 1872 to take his entrance examination.

After passing the examination, Rizal was given the choice of enrolling at either theJesuit-run Ateneo Municipal
de Manila or the Dominican San Juan de Letran College. He chose the Ateneo Municipal. The Ateneo Municipal was
Manila's Escuela Pia or charity school. Rizal was almost rejected in attending the Ateneo because he was too frail and
was too sickly. However, through a family friend Manuel Xeres Burgos, Rizal was able to enroll.

Education under the Jesuits

Rizal studied at the Ateneo for the next five years (1872-1877). Rizal's classmates inthe Ateneo were a mixture
of Spaniards, mestizos and natives. Rizal wrote down his experiences in the Ateneo in an autobiography entitled
Memorias de Un Estudiante de Manila under the pseudonym P. Jacinto. As educators, the Jesuit professors practiced
emphasis on strict discipline, character building and religious instruction. The day began with attendance to holy
mass and every class begins and ends with prayers. Not a single moment is wasted in idleness and there were
professors to personally mentor the students and watch over their progress. At that time, Rizal was a budding poet
and playwright. Most of his early works were either religious or pro-Spanish in character. Examples of these were Al
Niño Jesus, A la Virgen Maria, and El Embarque to name few.

Rizal’s Curricular and Complementary Activities

Rizal's Jesuit professors also told him to balance his academic interests. One of his professors, Fr. Bech told
him to give equal attention to the sciences as Rizal was drawn too much to literature.The Ateneo also
encouraged competition for academic excellence and they drew from ancient Roman history by dividing the
class into Romans and Carthaginians. The most excellent in either team were publicly acclaimed in the
classroom while the mediocre ones were known.

There was still spare time after classes and Rizal used that spare time for self-improvement such as learning
how to speak better Spanish from a private tutor. It is in these spare times that Rizal learned sculpting from a
simple sculptor named Teodoro Romualdo de Jesus. Aside from sculpting, he learned from de Jesus the need
to remember the great precolonial past of the Filipinos and to embrace their identity as a people. De Jesus'
influence is reflected in his novel Noli Me Tangere through the words of Filosofo Tasio and Simoun.

Rizal ended his studies in Ateneo as an excellent student but he was not alone because most of his classmates
were given the same excellent grade or sobresaliente. He treasured his saty in the said school and even came back to
study and obtain the title of perito agrimensor or expert surveyor aside from engaging extracurricular activities in the
Ateneo even when he was already enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas.

Education under the Dominicans

In its more than 400 years of existence (as of 2019), the University of Santo Tomas is administered by the
Dominican Order. There were attempts to secularize it and place itsleadership in the hands of laymen. Governor
General Jose Raon and Governor General Simon de Anda tried to secularize the university during that time but failed.
The Spanish Minister of the Overseas Territories, Segismundo Moret enacted a series of decrees aimed at secularizine
not only the University of Santo Tomas but also other institutions such as the Ateneo Municipal the Escuela de
Dibujo and the Academia Maritima of the Philippines. These institutions would have been abolished and reorganized
as the Instituto Flilipino (Philippine Institute) with a layman as its President.

The Dominican administrators of Santo Tomas protested vigorously to the impending loss of influence over the
people. They would have failed if not for the change of regime in Spain when in 1870, the liberal government
resigned and a conservative administration that was friendly to the friars took over the country.

Educational institutions under the Church in Spain were secularized but not the ones in the Philippines. In order
to keep the rising educated class in check, the colonial government recognized the role of the friars in maintaining
Spanish rule in the islands. Thus, institutions like the University of Santo Tomas remained in the hands of the
religious orders. It would be in 1898 when the University of Santo Tomas will be totally suppressed by the
Revolutionary Government under General Emilio Aguinaldo and its place would rise the short-lived Universidad
Cientifico-Literaria which will be succeeded by the University of the Philippines in 1908. The suppression of UST
was short-lived and it allowed to reopen in 1899 under American rule.

In 1871, the new college of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine was established in the University of Santo
Tomas. Rizal would later enroll under this faculty.Rizal was still unsure on what to take up in college so the safest
course to take was Philosophy and Letters course which were preparatory courses to the priesthood and the study of
law. When he made up his mind, he shifted to medicine upon the advice of his former professors at the Ateneo.

Why did Rizal choose medicine over law?

It was a safe choice. At that time the Philippines was receiving officials from Madrid and some positions were still reserved
for Spaniards Rizal said he took up medicine with a desire to cure his mother of her failing eyesight.Though no matter how
noble Rizal's decision was, it was motivated by other factors. The more believable factors were that the following;

o First, students who enrolled at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine immediately found employment in the
government's health department. The university authorities petitioned the Spanish government to give preference to
local graduates over Spanish physicians who had their training in Spain.
o Another reason was the enrollment in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters was declining while that of Pharmacy
and Medicine was increasing.
o The third reason was medicine was a new and exciting frontier for young men at the time.
o The last reason had something to do with becoming popular because women were attracted to people who had high
professional degrees like medicine, and pharmacy.

Rizal's Rare Privilege

When Rizal shifted to medicine, he had the rare privilege of taking two courses (preparatory and medicine
proper) at the same time. According to Fr. Fidel Villarroel, O.P. Rizal was permitted to take the two courses because
he was allowed by none other than the Governor General of the Philippines Governor General Domingo Moriones. So
far from the allegations that Rizal was discriminated at the University of Santo Tomas, he was in fact favored. It was
certain that there was a petition that Rizal study the two different courses because the beneficiary asked for it.

The culture of the university was different from the Ateneo. Classes were held in the morning and it was free
time in the afternoon. The free time was necessary to aliow the students to study and pursue other interests. It was
also a time to court women not because he was wild or a playboy but because at the age of 17, Rizal's age when he
was studying at UST, he was already eligible for marriage. Rizal's years in UST was a time when he was seeing three
women at the same time. These were Leonor Valenzuela, Leonor Rivera and Vicenta Ybardaloza whose courtships
with Rizal overlapped each other between 1879 and 1882. Rizal like any teenager of his time joined or created groups
like Compañerismo, and Les Compañeros de Jehu.

The student culture at the University of Santo Tomas was very different from that of Ateneo. Unlike in the
Ateneo where the day starts with a holy mass in the morning, a student in UST is not required to attend mass. This
new arrangement as well as the no classes in the afternoon did not mean that the Dominicans were lenient. But since
Santo Tomas is a university and the students were older. the Dominicans believed it dịd not need to impose ideas on
students, they are supposed to be more responsible and mature. They may attend mass if they like and they are free to
spend their vacant time in the afternoon on whatever endeavor they desire.The relative freedom in UST allowed Rizal
to show his true colors especially in the nationalist aspect. It was while he was a student in the pontifical university he
was able to write his prize-winning and nationalist poem A la Juventud Filipina in which he said that the youth is the
beautiful hope of the motherland.

Rizal in University of Santo Tomas

Even as it was the only university in the Philippines at the time and under control of the Dominicans who were
portrayed as conservative, the university was actually a haven of diversity. It had Spaniards, insulars and peninsulars
and some mestizos as professors. There were both laymen and clergymen as educators. As the 19th century was a
period of change, major changes took place in the educational system. Schools offering bachiller en artes were
established in the provinces such as the school of Fr. Valeriano Malabanan in Batangas. These schools however were
still subject to the supervision of the University of Santo Tomas. In the University itself, its doors swung open to
women as it began offering a course for midwives when it inaugurated the Escuela de Matronas y Parteras. The
opening of this school was authorized by Governor Dominyo Moriones in response to the need to reduce deaths of
mothers and babies as child births were presided over by the traditional hilots.

Modernization thrusts of the University was the acquisition of new scientific instruments and the latest
inventions such as phonographs, telephones, Michael Faraday's electro magnet, Morin's machine for measuring
gravity and Cooke's radiometer. Its library had 12,000 volumes of books for the students. The truth about the state of
the university was it was not an ancient and backward institution as this was part of the anti-Spanish propaganda.Life
as a UST student had its great privileges.

Some Privileges of UST Students

A UST student was exempt from polos y servicios and from taxes like the samboangan or the tax used
to pay for the maintenance of the forts and military installations. Students walked around wearing coats and
walking sticks. Like any university student, they spent time eating at the panciteria in nearby Binondo
district and frequented stores like Roman Ongpin's El 88 where they bought drawing and writing supplies.

Rizal's First Taste of Injustice

With their exalted status, the university students thought they deserved respect. This was not the
thinking of the lieutenant of the Guardia Civil who believed that he should be saluted by anyone whom he
meets in the street. Rizal was whipped for failing to salute the civil guard lieutenant and went to Malacañang
to complain to the Governor General. Rizal was very angry. His complaint before the Governor General
remained unheeded.

After their graduation many of Rizal's contemporaries distinguished themselves in theirchosen fields among
them was Nicanor Padilla who was among the graduates of medicine in UST and he later became the head of the
Medical Corps of the Philippine Army during the first Philippine Republic. Other graduates like Numeriano Adriano,
Marcelo H. del Pilar, and Juan Manday were prominent lawyers. Mariano V. del Rosario would be known in the field
of Philippine pharmacy. At the establishment of the Philippine Republic most of the delegates to the Malolos
Congress were UST graduates. Even at that time foreign education is very much esteemed. Juan Luna managed to
study abroad through a scholarship. But majority of the Filipino intelligentsia managed to study abroad by paying
from their own pockets.

Learning Materials:
1. PowerPoint Presentation
2. Educational Video Clips

Expected Output:
1. Worksheet from the textbook (Exercise 9.1 found on page 117)
2. Lesson Quiz

Time Allotment:
1.5 Hours (One week)
Reference:

Online: https://ourhappyschool.com/philippine-studies/jose-rizals-education
https://www.biography.com/political-figure/jos%C3%A9-rizal

Journal: Ravin, T. B., (2001). José Rizal: Philippine National Hero and Ophthalmologist. Arch Ophthalmol.
2001;119(2):280–284. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/265463

Book: De Viana, A. V. (2019). Laon-Laan: A Guide for the Study and Understanding of the Life and
Contributions of Jose Rizal to Philippine Nationhood and Society. Mandaluyong City. Books Atbp. Publishing
Corp.