[ Act No. 477, October 08, 1902 ]
AN ACT TO REPEAL ACTS NUMBERED ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY, TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO, AND THREE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THREE, AMENDATORY OF ACT NUMBERED SEVENTY-FOUR, ESTABLISHING A DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, TO REPEAL A CERTAIN PARAGRAPH IN ACT NUMBERED FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY, RELATING TO NIGHT SCHOOLS, AND TO AMEND ACT NUMBERED SEVENTY-FOUR BY PROVIDING FOR THE DIVISION OF THE ARCHIPELAGO INTO THIRTY-SIX SCHOOL DIVISIONS, TO AMEND SECTION THIRTEEN OF THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT ACT, NUMBERED EIGHTY-THREE, AS AMENDED, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
By authority of the United States, be it enacted by the Philippine Commission, that:
(a) By striking out wherever it is used in said Act the words "Department of Public Instruction" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "Bureau of Education. "
(b) By striking out sections numbered one, three, five, six, nine, and fifteen and inserting in lieu thereof the following sections:
" Section 1. A Bureau of Education for the Philippine Islands, under the executive control of the Department of Public Instruction, is hereby established, the central office of which shall be in the city of Manila. All primary instruction in the schools established or maintained under this Act shall be free, and all secondary instruction in the schools established by the several provinces shall be free at least to the pupils resident in the provinces in which the schools are established.
" Section 3. The chief officer of this Bureau shall be denominated the General Superintendent of Education and shall be appointed by the Civil Governor, with the advice and consent of the Commission. His annual salary shall be six thousand dollars, payable monthly. He shall have the following powers and duties, to be exercised and discharged under the general supervision of the Secretary of Public Instruction:
" (a) He shall establish primary schools in every pueblo in the Archipelago, where practicable, and shall reorganize those already established where such reorganization is necessary.
" (b) He shall appoint, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Public Instruction, a city superintendent of schools for Manila, and division superintendents of schools for other parts of the Archipelago, and the teachers and clerks authorized by law, and shall prescribe the duties of such teachers and clerks.
" (c) He shall fix the salaries of teachers within the limits established by law.
" (d) He shall fix a curriculum for primary, secondary, and other public schools.
" (e) He shall prescribe the authority to be exercised by the principal teacher of each school over the other teachers, if any, and his duties as teacher actually engaged in the work of instruction and in caring for the schoolhouse and school property.
" (f) He shall, approve plans made by the Chief of the Bureau of Architecture, for the construction of schoolhouses to be built by the municipalities or provinces, shall fix the amount of land required in each case, and shall prescribe rules of hygiene which shall be observed in connection with the schools of the Archipelago.
" (g) He shall have power to determine the pueblos in which English teachers, to be paid out of the Insular Treasury, shall teach. He may exercise this discretion in favor of those pueblos which shall construct and maintain suitable schoolhouses by local taxation or contributions.
" (h) In case of a vacancy in the office of a division superintendent or that of the city superintendent of schools for Manila, he may discharge all the duties of such position during the vacancy, or he may designate a subordinate of the Bureau to discharge such duties temporarily in the same manner and with the same limitations as are provided in section two of Act Numbered Pour hundred and eight.
" (i) He shall examine and pass upon all estimates made for funds by division superintendents and forward them, with his recommendation, to the Secretary of Public Instruction for submission to the Commission.
" (j) On or before September first of each year he shall make a report of his administration for the previous twelve months to the Secretary of Public Instruction, who may call for special reports from time to time.1aшphi1 In the regular annual report it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to recommend changes in the school law which be deems expedient.
" (k) He shall exercise general supervision over the entire Bureau and shall prepare and promulgate rules for the examination and determination of the qualifications of applicants for positions of division superintendents and teachers, and for the guidance of the teachers and officers of the Bureau, adapted to carry out this law and not: inconsistent with its provisions.
" (l) He shall have authority to establish night schools, but no night-school class shall be maintained at the expense of the city of Manila or the Insular Government in which the average nightly attendance in each school month under each teacher is not at least fifteen pupils over the age of fourteen years. If it is found at the end of any month that the average nightly attendance of any class has been less than fifteen, such class shall be discontinued. The teacher of such class shall, however, be entitled to pay for each night of actual teaching during the month even if the average attendance has been less than fifteen, but a class discontinued for lack of the required attendance shall not again be organized except with the consent of the division superintendent and unless at least twenty-five pupils shall have been enrolled and shall have signified their intention of becoming regular members of the class. Teachers of night-school classes shall be paid only for nights of actual teaching.
" Section 5. The Archipelago shall be and is hereby divided into thirty-six school divisions. In the First Division (the city of Manila and its barrios) there shall be a city superintendent of schools, and in each of the other divisions, except the Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth, there shall be a regularly appointed division superintendent. The divisions and the annual salaries of the superintendents thereof shall be as follows:
" First Division, the city of Manila and its barrios, three thousand dollars.
" Second Division, Albay and Sorsogon, one thousand eight hundred dollars.
" Third Division, Ambos Camarines, two thousand dollars.
" Fourth Division, Antique, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Fifth Division. Batangas, two thousand four hundred dollars.
" Sixth Division. Bohol, two thousand dollars.
" Seventh Division. Bulacan, one thousand six hundred dollars.
" Eighth Division, Cagayan and Isabela, two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.
" Ninth Division, Capiz, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Tenth Division, Cavite, one thousand six hundred dollars.
" Eleventh, Division, Cebu, two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.
" Twelfth Division, Ilocos Norte, two thousand dollars.
" Thirteenth Division, Ilocos Sur and Abra, two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.
" Fourteenth Division, Iloilo, two thousand five hundred dollars.
" Fifteenth Division, La Laguna, two thousand dollars.
" Sixteenth Division, La Union, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Seventeenth Division, Leyte, and Samar, two thousand four hundred dollars.
" Eighteenth Division, Marinduque, and Mindoro, two thousand dollars.
" Nineteenth Division, Masbate, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Twentieth Division, Mindanao and Jolo (with the exception of Misamis and Surigao), two thousand five hundred dollars.
" Twenty-first Division. Misamis, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Twenty-second Division, Nueva Ecija, two thousand dollars.
" Twenty-third Division, Occidental Negros, two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.
" Twenty-fourth Division, Oriental Negros, one thousand six hundred dollars.
" Twenty-fifth Division, Pampanga and Bataan, two thousand two hundred and fifty dollars.
" Twenty-sixth Division, Pangasinan, two thousand five hundred dollars.
" Twenty-seventh Division, Rizal, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Twenty-eighth Division, Romblon, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Twenty-ninth Division, Surigao, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Thirtieth Division, Tarlac, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" Thirty-first Division, Tayabas, one thousand eight hundred dollars.
" Thirty-second Division, Zambales, one thousand five hundred dollars.
" In the Thirty-third, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-fifth, and Thirty-sixth Divisions, comprising the Provinces of Benguet, Lepanto-Bontoc, Nueva Vizcaya, and Paragua, the respective governors shall act, without additional compensation, as division superintendents.
" Section 6. Whenever the business of his office renders it necessary, each division superintendent may select a clerk in accordance with civil service rules, who shall be appointed by the General Superintendent and approved by the Civil Governor on the recommendation of the Secretary of Public Instruction. The respective salaries of the clerks in the Fifth, Eighth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Seventeenth, Twentieth, Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth, and Twenty-sixth Divisions shall not exceed a sum at the rate of one thousand two hundred dollars per annum; the respective salaries of the clerks in the Second, Third, Sixth, Twelfth, Fifteenth, Eighteenth, Twenty-second, and Thirty-first Divisions shall not exceed a sum at the rate of nine hundred dollars per annum; and the respective salaries of the clerks in the Fourth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth, Sixteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-first, Twenty-fourth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth, Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, and Thirty-second Divisions shall not exceed a sum at the rate of six hundred dollars per annum.
" Section 9. Each division superintendent shall, subject to rules prescribed by the General Superintendent under section three (m) appoint the native school-teachers to serve in the schools within his division and shall fix their salaries from year to year within the limits prescribed by law, care being taken that only such teachers shall be appointed and such salaries fixed as the funds of the province or the municipality concerned may warrant. He shall examine the schoolhouses occupied for public instruction within his division with a view to determining their suitableness and hygienic condition. Should the schoolhouse in which any school is conducted appear to the division superintendent to be unsuitable and dangerous to the health of the children, and should no other schoolhouse be available he shall have power, subject to the approval of the General Superintendent, to discontinue such school, and it shall be unlawful thereafter to use the schoolhouse thus condemned for public school purposes. He shall make careful investigations into the agricultural conditions existing in his division and shall make reports thereon to the General Superintendent of Education. He shall see to it by personal visits and by requiring reports from the principal teacher of each school that the curriculum for primary and secondary schools prescribed by the General Superintendent of Education is complied with. He shall make himself familiar with the supplies and text-books needed in each school in his division and shall make report of the same at as early a date as possible to the General Superintendent, who may furnish the supplies needed. He shall appoint one-half of the local school board in each pueblo in his division as provided in section ten. He shall have and maintain his residence and keep his office in the town in which the provincial school is established, if such school exists, and if no such school exists he shall have and maintain his residence and keep his office in one of the large towns in his division, from which all of the pueblos in such division can be most conveniently reached.
" Section 15. Authority is hereby given to the General Superintendent of Education to establish a force of trained teachers, not to exceed one thousand in number, for the primary schools, such force to be made up of teachers obtained in the United States or in the Philippine Islands at salaries at the rate of not more than one thousand five hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly. Authority is also hereby given to the General Superintendent to obtain such other additional trained teachers as may be necessary for the provincial schools of secondary instruction at salaries at the rate of not more than one thousand eight hundred dollars per annum, payable monthly. The exact salary of each teacher shall be fixed by the General Superintendent of Education in accordance with the efficiency of the teacher in question and the Importance of the position held. These teachers shall be maintained in the service of the Insular Government until such time as the financial condition of the provinces, and the municipalities may warrant their payment from provincial or municipal funds, as may be determined by the Commission. The appointment of persons residing in the United States to service in the Bureau of Education after the passage of this Act shall be subject to the provisions of section four of Act Numbered Eighty, as amended by Act Numbered Three hundred and thirty-eight. "
" (o) To provide for the division superintendent of schools the necessary room or rooms for his office and for use in storing and distributing supplies. In case any division embraces more than one province, such room or rooms shall be provided by the province in which the division superintendent maintain his residence. "
Enacted, October 8, 1902.
