Catholic Education in the Philippines

The Reflection (ISSN 2546-0544) , 2017

This paper articulates the possible emerging themes of Catholic education in the Philippines. A profile review of some well-known Catholic educational institutions was done to analyze their own charism or identity. The paper concludes that Catholic educational institutions formulated their charisms based on the life and teachings of their patron saints or founders making their institutions unique but they adhered to the same principles of Catholic education. Though many but one heart and mind in mission, Catholic educational institutions bring Filipinos closer to Jesus. After all, they only serve their true purpose when they can turn their students to emulate Christ. Catholic educational institutions should also make it a point that they remain " Catholic " and " Filipino " in fulfilling their mission to the society.

Primary education in the Spanish regime launched the importance of learning the four R’s: reading, writing, arithmetic, and religion. The curriculum encompassed the study of Doctrina Christiana, the first book printed in the country with its collection of prayers and other teachings on Roman Catholic Catechism, and subjects such as singing, music, dance, science, with Spanish history and language taught in higher levels. The main purpose of education at the time was to raise students who would serve the Church and the king. Writes Bazaco (p.78), “The Spaniards believed that the best government was founded on Christian education.”

Anuario De Historia De La Iglesia, 1999

Edinburgh Companion to Global Christianity: East and Southeast Asia, 2020

This chapter offers new ways of critically assessing the vibrancy of Christianity in the Philippines. The premise is that it is diverse. While it is important to discuss the fortunes of Catholicism, the dominant religion, it is also crucial for new analyses to factor in the emergence of new religious groups. In other words, the analytical way forward is to frame the discussion in terms of Christianities in the Philippines. To spell out their salient attributes is the aim of this chapter. In the latter part consideration will be given to how Roman Catholicism fares in relation to this diversity. The first point is that Christianity in the Philippines is militant. In the literature, Militant Christianity refers to fundamentalism and its triumphalist disposition toward different spheres of society. These facets have some local resonances. Although many new groups and denominations have emerged over the years, their general theological character is fundamentalist, which spills over into their political choices. In this sense, the religious economy, while competitive, also has a predictable and dominant trait. The second characteristic is that it is global. The global expansion of many groups has been made possible by the movement of Filipinos to work around the world. But explaining it only in this manner is no longer adequate. I will argue that the global character of Filipino Christianity is a result too of a postcolonial assertion. Many religious leaders are convinced that Filipinos have a calling to evangelize the world. The chapter ends by situating Roman Catholicism in relation to these developments. While other Christian groups are asserting themselves in militant and global ways, there are indications that Roman Catholicism’s influence in the public sphere is waning.

2018

Evangelization is the primary purpose of Catholic education. However,due to the depreciation of moral values brought about by secularismand globalization, the identity and mission of Catholic schools arecompromised. Thus, this paper primarily intended to assess the levelof quality of Catholic education in a Diocesan School in accordance tothe five domains of the Philippine Catholic Schools Standards (PCSS). Aquantitative study was used through a standardized survey questionnaireto gather data from 337 respondents―administrators, teachers,non-teaching personnel, students, and parents of the school. Usingdescriptive and inferential data analyses, the results revealed that theDiocesan school adheres to the quality standards for Catholic educationbut needs to continuously improve to meet the highest possiblestandards. Of the five (5) domains, learning environment was rated highby respondents while leadership and governance ranked low. Moreover,the study showed that parents have signific...

The early Filipinos had a traditional religion before the Spanish expedition reached the Philippines in the fifteenth century. They have their own set of cultural traditions, beliefs, and practiced a religious system. But the question on why and how did the majority of Filipinos have come to accept the Catholic religion as an alternative to their indigenous religious beliefs is a question asked by many historians and anthropologists. This paper contributes to the discussion on how Christianity developed in the Philippines by drawing out similar constructs between the indigenous religion of the early Filipinos and Christianity. The paper concludes that the lack of tension between the traditional religion of the early Filipinos and Catholicism allowed Christianity to prosper and dominate in the Philippines.