RIZAL’S

EDUCATIONAL
IDEAS
PERESENTOR:
RAMIL C. MELO
MAED FILIPINO STUDENT

June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896

RIZAL’S EDUCATION BACKGROUND

He studied at the Ateneo Municipal

de Manila, and obtained a diploma
in Bachelor of Arts and studied
medicine at the University of
Santo Tomas in Manila. He
continued his studies at the
Universidad Central de Madrid in
Madrid, Spain, and obtained a
Medical License, which gave him
the right to practice medicine. He
also studied at the University of
Paris and the University of
Heidelberg.
• Philosophy may be defined as the study
and pursuit of facts which deal with the
ultimate reality or causes of things as
they affect life.

• The philosophy of a country like the

Philippines is made up of the intricate and
composite interrelationship of the life
histories of its people; in other word, the
philosophy of our nation would be strange
and undefinable if we do not delve into
the past tied up with the notable life
experiences of the representative
personalities of our nation.

• Being one of the prominent

representatives of Filipino personalities,
Jo se Rizal is a f i t s u b j e c t w h o s e l i f e
philosophy deserves to be recognized.
• Having been a victim of Spanish brutality
early in his life in Calamba, Rizal had thus
already formed the nucleus of an
unfavorable opinion of Castillian
imperialistic administration of his country
and people.

• Pitiful social conditions existed in the

Philippines as late as three centuries after
his conquest in Spain, with agriculture,
commerce, communications and
education languishing under its most
backward state. It was because of this
social malady that social evils like
inferiority complex, cowardice, timidity
and false pride pervaded nationally and
contributed to the decay of social life.
This stimulated and shaped Rizal’s life
phylosophy to be to contain if not
eliminate these social ills.
Educational Philosophy
• Rizal’s concept o f the im po r tance o f
education is clearly enunciated in his work
entitled Instruction wherein he sought
improvements in the schools and in the
methods of teaching. He maintained that
the backwardness of his country during
the Spanish ear was not due to the
Filipinos’ indifference, apathy or indolence
as claimed by the rulers, but to the
neglect of the Spanish authorities in the
islands. For Rizal, the mission of
education is to elevate the country to the
highest seat of glory and to develop the
people’s mentality. Since education is the
foundation of society and a prerequisite
for social progress, Rizal claimed that only
through education could the country be
saved from domination.
• Rizal’s philosophy of education, therefore,
centers on the provision of proper
motivation in order to bolster the great
social forces that make education a
success, to create in the youth an innate
desire to cultivate his intelligence and
give him life eternal.
• Rizal always considered education as a
medicine or something that could cure the
problems of Colonial Philippines. H e
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.
“Life is very serious thing and only
those with intelligence and heart go
through it worthily.”
-Rizal
• In 1893, Rizals idea of education as an
instrument of change has not diminished
a bit. In one of his letters to Alfredo
Hidalgo, a nephew, Rizal stated: Life is
very serious thing and only those with
intelligence and heart go through it
worthily.
• His leaving the UST to pursue his studies
at the Madrid Central University was in
conformity with the ideas of Fr. Jose
Burgos, one of the three martyred priests
of 1872. Fr. Burgos strongly advocated
that Filipinos should study abroad
because overseas education was
considered an essential step to achieving
reform. And this thinking he shared with
his only brother, Paciano Rizal.
• Why all these reactions? Was Rizal not
over reacting? Was he reasonable? Let us
look into one of his works to find some
The Indolence
answers. Specifically his
of the Filipinos , an essay he wrote in
1890 which described the education of
the masses under the Spanish regime.
Rizal said the education of the Filipinos
from birth until the grave is brutalizing,
depressing, and anti-human.
• In the same piece Rizal talked of the
situation in detail. He said, since
childhood, they have learned to act
mechanically, without knowing the
purpose, thanks to the exercise imposed
upon them very early in life to pray for
whole hours in an unknown language, of
worshiping without understanding, of
accepting beliefs without questioning, of
imposing upon themselves absurdities,
while the protests of reasons are
repressed.
• This condition, he continued, made the
Filipinos accept the ideas that they belong
to an inferior race and this assertion has
been repeated to the child and became
engraved in his mind and finally seals and
shapes all his future actions.
• To ensure that this orientation retained in
the childs mind, Rizal observed that the
child who tries to be anything else is
charged of being vain and presumptuous.
The curate ridicules him with cruel
sarcasm, his relatives look upon him with
fear, and strangers pity him greatly.
There was no chance to go forward, just
follow the faceless crowd, was the order
of the day.
• It is through this scenario that we could
better understand why Rizal was
clamouring for a different education, a
new idea of teaching the Filipino youth.
Rizal believed that even modest education,
no matter how rudimentary it might be, if
it is the right education for the people,
the result would be enough to awaken
their ideas of perfection and progress and
eventually, change would follow.

• This is the situation how education was

acquired during that period. Rizals idea of
education was therefore the most
enlightened. His concept of education was
felt as early as when he was only 16
years old.
Rizals dream of an education for the youth
has been embodied in his conception of a
modern school or Colegio Moderno. A
working practical, liberal education and a
system of instruction for the youth of the
land was envisoned.

This school was actually planned to be

established in Hong Kong but found reality
in Dapitan during his four year exile in
Mindanao.

In Talisay, a few kilometres away from the

town of Dapitan, now called Rizal Shrine,
Rizal operated a school following the
modern conception he envisioned for his
countrymen.
It was a school fifty years ahead of its time.
A school the main purpose of which was to
teach the students to behave like men.
Agriculture was completely integrated with
formal instruction and the development of
self-reliance was emphasized.

The school was unique. Intelligence was

necessary to be part of it. The school
existed for more than two years. Rizals
students became successful farmers and
honest government officials. A Muslim
student, became a Datu while another
became the governor of Zamboanga.
In brief, Rizals idea or concept of education is
determined by the following requirements:
1. The curriculum of a modern liberal education
should include either: religion, hygiene,
mathematics, the physical, natural and social
sciences, literature (Spanish, rhetoric and
poetry), languages (Spanish, English, French,
German, Chinese and Tagalog), physical culture,
and the arts.
2. There should be a weekly accounting by
teachers of student progress and conduct, the
well-behaved ones to be rewarded with a
posting of their names, and parents should be
informed monthly of the progress, conduct, and
health of their children.
3. The school should insist on accuracy and
punctuality.
4. Teachers ware to be employed on passing an
admission examination on a competitive
5. There is to be no racial discrimination in
the admission of students.
6. Gymnastics and swimming are obligatory.
7. Classes would be six hours a day
including a total of two hours of physical
culture and the arts.
8. Human relations between teachers and
pupils should not be ignored. The teacher
should work with the students and be their
leader and co-workers as well as their
mentor.
9. Instruction should be practical and should
stimulate thinking rather than be a parrot
like reproduction of book learning. Students
should learn by participation in a natural
situation. Field work has its place in
effective instruction.
10. Education should received substantial
aid to make instruction effective. It is not
sufficient that there are students to be
taught. There must be proper
accommodation and equipment conducive to
learning.
11. The teacher should have prestige,
reputation, moral strength and some
freedom of action.
“Walang kabuluhan ang buhay
na hindi iniukol sa isang dakilang
layunin”

- Juan Crisostomo Ibarra Y Magsalin

REFERENCE:
an article entitled

RIZAL’S CONCEPT OF
EDUCATION
By Renato Perdon
Sydney, Australia
December 8, 2016
“Muchas Gracias.”