Educational centennials: Thomasites and Silliman

Next month, we will be celebrating the centennial of two educational events. The first will be the arrival of 540 Americans who arrived in manila on August 21, 1901 aboard a converted cattle cruiser named S.S. Thomas. The second will be the establishment of what is now Silliman University by Dr. David Sutherland Hibbard on August 28, 1901.

The coming of the Thomasites marked the introduction of the English language in the Philippines. Today, there are more English-speaking people in the Philippines than in Great Britain itself, Canada or Australia. And it all started with the Thomasites. We can just imagine how difficult it was for the Thomasites to establish elementary schools in the islands. None of them were familiar with any of our dialects and their pupils were being taught in a language that they had never heard of in their young lives. Yet, they managed to communicate and public schools as we know them today became a part of every Filipino’s life.

When it comes to education, we Filipinos have been very fortunate. At the end of the Spanish Regime, the literacy rate in the Philippines was much higher than that of the Mother Country itself– Spain. The credit for that, of course, goes to the missionaries that were assigned here. The classic example of the kind of people their educational system produced was Jose Rizal – truly a Renaissance Man. We have yet to produce another Rizal.

The University of Santo Thomas was established in 1611. It is not only the oldest university in Asia, it antedates even Harvard, the oldest university in the United States that was established a quarter of a century later. Contrary to popular belief, public schools existed during the Spanish times. As early as 1580, Father de Plasencia of the Franciscan order launched a public primary school program that would teach, not only religion, but reading, writing, and arithmetic. Later all public schools were under the jurisdiction of the University of Santo Tomas. When the Americans came, it shifted to the Bureau of Education. Coincidences, they say, are often God’s way of clinching events. Can it be pure coincidence that public education in the Philippines shifted from Santo Tomas to the Thomasites? According to tradition, St. Thomas was the only apostle who preached in Asia. Some say he founded the Christian churches in Malabar and Madras.

We have a great educational tradition. That is why from the very start of our history, we had the most progressive economy in Asia, second only to Japan. After two decades of Marcos administration, we became the second poorest nation in Asia after Bangladesh.

Let us revive our great educational tradition.