Lesson 8 From Ateneo To UST Higher Education

Caraga state university
Ampayon, Butuan City 8600, Philippines

URL: www.carsu.edu.ph
Lesson 8
From Ateneo to UST: Higher
Education
He had not yet celebrated his eleventh birthday when he was
accompanied by his brother to Manila to take the entrance
examination. It was four months after the execution of
GOMBURZA, the Jesuits priests he liked. He was unhappy of
leaving again Calamba and while his mother was still in prison who
was accused of poisoning her sister-in-law. On his memoirs he said,
“Our mother was unjustly snatched away from us and by whom? By some
men who had been or friends and whom we treated as honored guests. We
learned later that our mother got sick, far from us and as an advanced age.
“.
Don Francisco Mercado decided not to send him in the
Colegio de San Jose because of the sad experiences of Paciano
in the said school where Fr. Burgos was his mentor.
Ateneo was formerly known as Escuela Pia, a school for boys

in Manila which was established in 1817. On 1859, Jesuits
administered the school after they returned to the Philippines
from their expulsion in the country in 1768. The school
became Ateneo Municipal which later became the Ateneo de
Manila. During Rizal’s time, Ateneo was the most prestigious
college for boys because of their excellent teachers.
Enrolment at Ateneo
Rizal took the entrance examination in Colegio de San Juan de

Letran on June 10, 1872. Paciano accompanied Rizal when he
took the exam which covered on Christian doctrine,
arithmetic and reading. During this time, all the entrance
exams for the incoming freshmen in the different colleges
were administered at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran
because the Dominicans exercised power of inspection and
regulation over Ateneo (Guerrero, 1998).
Enrolment at Ateneo
After passing the qualifying examination, again, accompanied

by Paciano, Rizal sought admission at the Ateneo Municipal.
Jesuit-run Ateneo as the second option was the bitter rival of
Dominican-owned Colegio de San Juan de Letran. At first, he
was rejected to enroll by the college registrar, Fr. Magin
Fernando for two reasons:
➢he was late for registration
➢he looked very frail and undersized for his age.
Enrolment at Ateneo
✓Upon the intervention of Manuel Burgos, nephew of Fr. Jose

Burgos and an acquaintance of Paciano, Rizal was finally
admitted.
✓Jose was the first to adopt the surname Rizal when he was
finally as regular student in Ateneo. It was also a decision of
Don Francisco that he will no longer use the surname
Mercado because it became under suspicion of Spanish
authorities since it was the surname used by his brother
Paciano while studying in Colegio de San Jose.
Jesuit System of Education
Compared with other colleges in Manila, Ateneo was

known for best secondary education for boys. They trained
the character of every student by rigid discipline and religious
instruction. The students were required to hear Mass in the
morning before the beginning of the daily classes. The classes
were usually began and ended with prayers.
Ateneo, at that time, offered a six-year program that entitled

their student to the academic title, Bachiller de Artes. This academic
program exposed students to five learning areas, namely;
✓Christian doctrine,
✓Languages (Spanish, Latin, Greek and French),
✓History and Geography (World Geography and History, History
of Spain and the Philippines),
✓Mathematics and Sciences (arithmetic, geometry, trigonometry,
mineralogy, chemistry, physics, botany and zoology) and the
✓Classical disciplines (poetry, rhetoric and philosophy). The school
also offered vocational courses in agriculture, commerce,
mechanics and surveying.
To stimulate the spirit of competition among the students for

excellence in academics, Atenean teachers enforced a program of
dividing a class into two competing empires: the Romans and the
Carthaginians.
Students who belonged to the Roman Empire were the
boarding students at Ateneo (the internos), while those at the
Carthaginian Empire were non-boarding students. Both empires
had their ranks and dignitaries, namely;
✓emperor as the best scholar, followed by a
✓tribune,
✓decurion,
✓centurion and the
✓standard bearer
Academic Performance at Ateneo
✓Rizal studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877. Despite his loneliness due

to the arrest of his mother, his first year in Ateneo was
commendable but only placed second in the class.
✓He graduated the degree, Bachiller en Artes with the highest
academic honors. From the foregoing scholastic records of Rizal, it
is evident that he excelled in his academic studies during the
entire duration of his stay at Ateneo. Rizal’s academic triumph at
Ateneo can be attributed to three factors; racial pride, monastic
discipline, and seclusion of boarding school life (Guerrero, 1998).
Extra-curricular Activities at Ateneo
Rizal did not only devote his time to academic excellence,

he became actively involved in extra-curricular activities. He
became a member and eventually an officer in the religious
confraternities at Ateneo-Sodality of Our lady, and the
Apostleship of Prayer. These religious confraternities were
opened only to students who demonstrated the highest degree of
scholarship and leadership.
Literary Works at Ateneo
✓Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) which was

dedicated to his mother on her birthday.
✓Un Recuerdo a Mi Pueblo ( A Memory of My Town). It was
written in 1876 of his way of paying homage to his birthplace,
Calamba.
✓Por la Educacion Recibe Lustre la Patria (Through Education Our
Motherland Receives Light) , significant role which education lays
in the progress and welfare of a nation.
✓La Alianza Intima Sobre Religion y la Buena Educacion, showed
the importance of religion in education
Enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas
✓Rizal’s completion of the Bachiller en Artes at Ateneo Municipal

entitled h for admission 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.
✓For Doña Teodora, Rizal’s Ateneo education was already knows
enough. Rizal was surprised why his mother who was a woman of
education and culture should object his desire for a university
education.
✓Don Francisco decided him to send him to UST,the Pontifical
Catholic university in the Philippines managed by the Dominicans.
Enrollment at the University of Santo Tomas
✓Uncertain of what to take up, at the age of sixteen, Rizal enrolled the
course Philosophy and Letters during his first year in the university
(1877-1878). The course was his father’s choice for him to pursue. He
wanted also to solicit advice of Father Ramon Pablo, but the rector of
Ateneo was then in Mindanao that time.
✓Rizal also took one year vocation course in Ateneo which is land
surveying.
✓On his second year at UST, Rizal received the advice from Father
Pablo to pursue medicine and enrolled in the said course. Rizal also
wanted the course due to the failing eyesight of his mother.
Academic Performance at UST
✓Rizal did not show commendable academic performance in UST

because he was not happy in the university (Zaide & Zaide, 1998).
His unhappiness at UST can be traced to three factors, namely; the
Dominican professors were hostile to him, racial discrimination against
Filipino students, and the method and instruction was obsolete and
repressive.
✓Rizal’ scholastic records was obviously not good enough for him in a
medical course. His academic performance was affected because he
was attributed to many distractions such as joining parties with
Filipino students and attending fights against the Spanish students.
Literary Works at UST
✓ A la Juventud Filipina. Written when Rizal was 18 years old, an

inspiring poem which beseeched the Filipino youth to rise from lethargy,
to let their genius fly swifter than the wind and descend with art and
science to break the chains that have long bound the spirit of the people.
✓ El Consejo de los Dioses (The Council of the Gods). Rizal joined the
competitions to prove one thing-that the Filipinos can equal and even
surpass the Spaniards in literary prowess.
Decision To Go To Europe
There 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.
References
Garcia, C. & Cruz, C. (2005). Rizal and the Development of Filipino Nationalist: A
Textbook on the Life, Works and Writings of our National Hero. Mandaluyong
City: Books Atbp.Publishing Corp.
Guerrero L.M (1998). The First Filipino
Zaide, G. & Zaide S. (1999). Jose Rizal: Life, Works and Writings of a Genius,
Writer, Scientist, and National Hero. Quezon City: All Nations Publishing.
•

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Caraga state university

Ampayon, Butuan City 8600, Philippines

Ateneo was formerly known as Escuela Pia, a school for boys

Rizal took the entrance examination in Colegio de San Juan de

After passing the qualifying examination, again, accompanied

✓Upon the intervention of Manuel Burgos, nephew of Fr. Jose

Compared with other colleges in Manila, Ateneo was

Ateneo, at that time, offered a six-year program that entitled

To stimulate the spirit of competition among the students for

✓Rizal studied at Ateneo from 1872-1877. Despite his loneliness due

Rizal did not only devote his time to academic excellence,

✓Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) which was

✓Rizal’s completion of the Bachiller en Artes at Ateneo Municipal

✓Rizal did not show commendable academic performance in UST

✓ A la Juventud Filipina. Written when Rizal was 18 years old, an

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