RIZAL’S EDUCATION IN

THE PHILIPPINES

vCALAMBA AND BIÑAN

vATENEO MUNICIPAL
vUNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS
JOURNEY TO HIS EARLY EDUCATION

vMaestro Celestino - Rizal’s first tutor

vMaestro Lucas Padua - second tutor
vLeon Monroy - a former classmate of Rizal’s father, he lived
at the Rizal home and instructed Jose in Spanish and Latin.
Unfortunately, he did not live long. He died five months later.
• June 1869 - at the age of eight, Rizal needed to leave his family
to study in Biñan.

ØTHE FIRST DAY TO BIÑAN

Maestro Justiniano Cruz - he had the reward and punishment as his

method of teaching; he used corporal punishment to inculcate discipline
to his students.
• Pedro - he was challenged by Rizal to a fight
• Juancho - Rizal’s teacher in painting
RETURN TO CALAMBA

vDecember 1870 - he received a letter from his sister

Saturnina advising him to ride the steamer Talim that would
bring him back to Calamba.

vDecember 17, 1870 ; 1:00 in the afternoon, Saturday - he

reached his home at Calamba
FORMAL SEARCH FOR KNOWLEDGE AT ATENEO
MUNICIPAL
vRizal entered Ateneo Municipal when he was 11 years old, four
months after the execution of Gomburza and Doña Teodora still in
prison.
vHis father decided not to send him at the Colegio de San Jose
because of the unhappy experience his brother Paciano had in the
said school.
vHis father wanted to send Rizal to Colegio de San Juan de Letran
but later decided to have him enrolled at Ateneo Municipal formerly
known as Escuela Pia.
ATENEO
• Rizal took the entrance
examination at the Colegio de
San Juan de Letran on June 10,
1872.

• After passing the qualifying

examination, Rizal sought
admission at the Ateneo
Municipal.
ENROLLMENT AT ATENEO

§Father Magin Fernando - the college registrar, was at first

very firm in denying Rizal admission.
§Rizal was refused to be admitted in this institution for two
reasons: late registrant and frail and undersized for his age.
§Due to the intervention of Manuel Burgos, the college
registrar finally admitted the young Jose.
§Jose adopted the surname Rizal at the Ateneo because their
family name Mercado had come under suspicion of the
Spanish authorities.
ENROLLMENT AT ATENEO
• Ateneo was located in Intramuros,
Manila. He boarded in a house
on Caraballo St., 25 mins. walk
from the campus. The boarding
house was owned by Titay, who
owed Rizal family P300. Jose
boarded there to collect part of
the debt.
THE ATENEAN SYSTEM OF EDUCATION

vJesuits trained the character of every student through rigid

discipline and religious instruction. Students were required to hear
masses in the morning before the start of the classes. Classes
were usually began and ended with prayers.

vAtenean teachers enforced a program of dividing class into two

competing empires: the Romans and the Carthaginians.

vRoman Empire were the boarding students at Ateneo and the

Carthaginian Empire were non-boarding students.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO

ØRIZAL’S FIRST YEAR

§Rizal’s first professor in Ateneo was Fr. Jose Bech.

§Rizal was placed at the bottom of the class since he was a
newcomer and knows little Spanish.
§He was an externo (Carthaginian), occupying the end of the
line. But at the end of the month, he become emperor of his
Empire.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO
ØRIZAL’S FIRST YEAR

§He was the brighest student in the whole class, and he was
awarded a prize, a religious prize.
§Rizal took private lessons in Santa Isabel College during noon
recess to improve his Spanish language, paying three pesos
for those extra lessons.
§Rizal didn’t enjoy his summer vacation because his mother was
in prison so Neneng (Saturnina) brought him to Tanauan.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO
ØRIZAL’S FIRST YEAR

§But without telling his father, he went to Santa Cruz to visit his
mother in prison. He told her of his brilliant grades.

§After summer, he retuned to Manila and now boarded in

Intramuros at No. 6 Magallanes St.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO

ØRIZAL’S SECOND YEAR

§At the end of the school year, Rizal received excellent grades
in all subjects and a gold medal.
§The Count of Monte Cristo by ALexander Dumas - the first
favorite novel of Rizal which made a deep impression on him.
§Universal History by Cesar Cantu - Rizal persuaded his
father to buy him this set of historical work that was a great
aid in his studies.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO

ØRIZAL’S THIRD YEAR

§Rizal grades remained excellent in all subjects but he won only

one medal - in Latin.
§At the end of the school year, Rizal returned to Calamba for
the summer vacation. He himself was not impressed by his
scholastic work.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO

ØRIZAL’S FOURTH YEAR

§June 16, 1875 - Rizal became an interno in Ateneo.

§Fr. Francisco de Paula Sanchez - a great educator and

scholar, one of Rizal’s professors who inspired him to study
harder and to write poetry.
§Rizal topped all his classmates in all subjects and won five
medals at the end of the school term.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO

ØRIZAL’S LAST YEAR

§ Rizal - the most brilliant Atenean of his time, and was truly the pride
of the Jesuits.

§ Graduated With Highest Honor.

§ March 23, 1877 - Rizal received from his Alma Mater, Ateneo
Municipal, the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with highest honors.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT ATENEO

§ Rizal’s academic triumph at Ateneo can be attributed to three

factors, namely: racial pride, monastic discipline and
seclusion of school boarding life.
§He exerted extraordinary efforts to prove to his Spanish
classmates that the Filipino students can compete with them
academically.
§The monastic discipline of competition inside the classroom
triggered in him the motivation to outdo his classmates.
§Owing to the seclusion of his boarding school life, he was able
to devote more time to his studies.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AT ATENEO

§ He became a member of and eventually an officer in the

religious confraternities at Ateneo - Sodality of Our Lady;
and Apostleship of Prayer.

§He also joined the Academy of Spanish Literature and the

Academy of Natural Sciences.

§Rizal took painting lessons under Agustin Saez, and the

sculpture lessons under Romualdo de Jesus.
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AT ATENEO

§ As a result of the talent he had in fine arts, Rizal was able to

carve the image of Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.

§He also sustained the physical fitness training started under his
Tio Manuel.
LITERARY WORKS AT ATENEO
§ The first poem he wrote as a student was entitled Mi Primera
Inspiracion (My First Inspiration). This poem was dedicated by Rizal
to his mother on the occassion of the latter’s natal day.

§ Un Recuerdo de Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town) - this poem

was his ways of paying homage to his birthplace, Calamba.

§ Al Niño Jesus (To the Child Jesus) - written by Rizal during his
student days, when he was 14 years old. This poem was his
expression of his devotion to Catholicism.
LITERARY WORKS AT ATENEO

§ Through Education The Country Receives Light - Rizal

compared education to a lighthouse, considering that it can
guide people in their behaviors and actions.

§The Intimate Alliance Between Religion and Good

Education - Rizal stressed the importance of religion to
education. For Rizal, education not centered on God cannot
be considered true education.
UST
• Rizal’s completion of the Bachiller en
Artes at Ateneo Municipal entitled him
for an admnission to higher studies at a
university.
• Although Doña Teodora was opposed
to Rizal’s pursuit of higher education
for fear of what might happen to him
due to the martyrdom of Gomburza,
Don Francisco decided to send him to
UST.
ENROLLMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

§ At first, Rizal was not certain of what course to pursue

after graduating with honors at Ateneo. His former Jesuit
mentors were suggesting that Rizal should take either
priesthood or farming.
§Rizal considered going into literature, law or medicine.
§His brother Paciano discouraged him to pursue law, owing to
his belief that Rizal will not be able to practice the profession
later due to the political conditions in the country during those
times.
ENROLLMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

§ Uncertain of what course to take up, the sixteen-year-old

Rizal enrolled the course Philosophy and Letters, during his
freshman year at UST.

§In the first place, the said course was what his father wanted
him to pursue. Secondly, his decision to enroll in the said
academic program could also be attributed to his failure to
solicit the advice of Father Ramon Pablo.
ENROLLMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS

§ After his freshman year, Rizal shifted his course from

Philosophy and Letters to Medicine. This was brought by these
factors:

§He was advised by Father Ramon to pursue the course. Owing

to his mother’s failing eyesight, Rizal felt that he should finish
medicine so that he could cure his mother’s physical ailment.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT UST

§ Rizal’s academic performance at UST was not comparable

with how he fared in Ateneo.
§His unhappiness at UST can be traced to three factors, namely:
the hostility of Dominican professors to Rizal; racial
discrimination against Filipino students; and obsolete and
repressive method of instruction at UST.
§From Rizal’s scholastic records, it was obvious that he was not
a good material for a medical course. His grades in most of
his medical subjects were generally average, indicating that
medicine was not his real vocation but in the arts.
ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AT UST

§ Rizal’s unsatisfactory performance can be attributed to the exciting

distractions of youth he experienced as a student in Manila. Rizal
became fascinated with women during his student days at UST.
§ At first, he became infatuated with Segundina / Segunda Katigbak
of Batangas, whom he visited often in her boarding house frequently.
§ In fact, there is a time that he was courting Leonor “Orang”
Valenzuela and Leonor Rivera. After learning that Orang was
already engaged with another man, Rizal concentrated his efforts on
Leonor Rivera.
LIBERALISM AND FILIPINO STUDENTS AT UST

§ The influx of liberal ideas can be attributed to the opening of

the Suez Canal, and the opening of the Philippines to world
trade.
§Filipino students in Manila came to be affected by the entry of
these liberal ideas in the country.
§They desired to understand and explain everything (Guerrero,
1998).
LIBERALISM AND FILIPINO STUDENTS AT UST
§ This stemmed from their exposure to three important revolutions of
the 19th century on the country: revolution of the senses against the
other worldliness of monasticism; revolution of human reason against
the comforting certitudes of the catechism; and revolution of race and
nation against inequality and subjection.
§ To encourage the production of literary works in Manila, the Liceo
Artistico Literario de Manila, an organization of art lovers in the city,
conducted regular competition in literary writing.
§ Rizal joined the contests. His entries, A La Juventud Filipina (To The
Filipino Youth) and El Consejo de los Dioses (The Council of the
Gods) were adjudged as the best entry in the said competition.
IMPORTANT LITERARY WORKS AS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT

vA LA JUVENTUD FILIPINA (TO THE FILIPINO YOUTH) - a

classic in Philippine literature for two reasons. First, it was the
great poem in Spanish written by a Filipino, recognized by
the Spanish authorities. Second, it was the first expression of
the nationalistic concept that the Filipinos were the fair hope
of the motherland.
§Another important point that Rizal stressed in the poem relates
to the role of the youth in nation building. From the poem, he
called the youth, The Fair Hope of the Motherland.
IMPORTANT LITERARY WORKS AS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT

§Rizal challenged the youth of his day to do three things: to

cultivate their talents in the arts; to develop their knowledge
of the sciences; and to look forward and break their chain of
bondage.
vEL CONSEJO DE LOS DIOSES (THE COUNCIL OF THE GODS)
- it was an allegory in praise of Cervantes as a co-equal of
Homer and Virgil. The entry was judged the best entry in the
competition that year. The jury, however, upon discovering that
its author was a Filipino decided to confer the grand prize to
a Spaniard.
IMPORTANT LITERARY WORKS AS A UNIVERSITY STUDENT

vJUNTO AL PASIG (BESIDE THE PASIG) - it was a play written by

Rizal at the request of the Jesuits and was staged at Ateneo, in
connection with the celebration of the Feast Day of Immaculate
Conception.

vA FILIPINAS - a sonnet was written by Rizal in 1880 not only to

praise the Phiippines for its beauty but to encourage Filipino artists to
glorify the country through their art works.
vRizal joined the competition to prove one thing - that the Filipinos
can equal and even surpass the Spaniards in literary prowess.
STUDENT ACTIVISM AT UST

vIn order to show their Spanish detractors that Filipino students were
united, Rizal organized a secret society of Filipino students. This
society came to be called Compañerismo. The members called
themselves Companions of Jehu. Rizal naturally became the
president of this secret society, with Galicano Apacible as secretary.

vHe criticized the humiliating treatment of brown Filipino students,

who were often insulted by their Dominican mentors.

vHe also condemned the archaic/old method of instruction at UST.

STUDENT ACTIVISM AT UST

vHe described comically the teaching of Physics devoid of

laboratory experiments. Students could not even touch the
different laboratory apparatus and equipment.

vMoreover, favoritism and skin color, not meritocracy and

intellectual brilliance, were the criteria for judging the actual
academic performance of students.
FIRST TASTE OF SPANISH BRUTALITY

vRizal had his first taste of Spanish brutality during his first
summer vacation at Calamba after his freshman year at UST.
While he was walking in the street, he failed to see the man
passing by owing to the darkness of the night. Because he was
not able to recognize the man, who happened to be lieutenant
of the Guardia Civil, Rizal did not bother to salute nor greet
him Buenas noches. Since, the lieutenant was expecting that
he be treated with respect, and courtesy by everybody in the
town, what he did was to whip out his sword and slashed it at
Rizal’s back.
FIRST TASTE OF SPANISH BRUTALITY

vRizal was wounded. He sent a written complaint to Governor-

General Primo de Rivera about the incident. Nothing positive
came out from his complaint, considering that he was an Indio.
vThis incident left a deep impression on Rizal.
vCognizant of his dignity, and of his ability to compete with a
Spaniard on equal terms, he found that as an Indio, he was not
accorded equality with a Spaniard before the bar of justice.
DECISION TO GO TO EUROPE

vAfter completing his fourth year in the medical course, Rizal decided
to leave the country for Europe. While obviously, Rizal was to leave
the country to complete his medical course in Barcelona, Spain, this
was not the real reason for his sudden departure.
vThere were hidden purposes for his voyage to a new world. It can
be inferred from Paciano’s letter to Rizal that the following were the
real purposes of Rizal’s voyage to Europe: to make a name for
himself in the realm of journalism; to observe and study European
society; and to prepare himself for the task of liberating the Filipinos
from Spanish tyranny.