Make a comparative analysis of the academic climate between Ateneo de Manila and University of Sto. Tomas during Rizal’s time.
Answer:
What is a comparative analysis of the academic climate between Ateneo de Manila and University of Santo Tomas during Jose Rizal's time?
Ateneo de Manila which was formerly Ateneo Muncipal, was a boys’ school and its graduates finish their education with the title bachiller en artes which is in Rizal’s time was equivalent to today’s high school. The University of Santo Tomas on the other hand, was the only institution in the Philippines that provided college degrees. As to the academic climate in both institutions, in the Ateneo, classes last the whole day beginning with a mass at 7 o’clock in the morning. All students are required to attend such masses. The students are under strict supervision by their teachers. This explains why most of Rizal’s poems and other literary works were pro-Spanish and pro-Catholic such as his poem praising the victory of Urbiztondo over the Moros of Jolo and his poem about the Virgin Mary. All the time in Ateneo is devoted to study, academics and co-curricular activities such as contests in Spanish, Latin and Greek.
On the other hand, at the University of Santo Tomas, the students were given more freedom. Half of the day is given to study and the rest was free time. The students are not anymore required to attend mass. This freedom is not leniency but this was allowed by the university authorities on the basis that the college students are believed to be more mature and responsible. Rizal in his spare time used returned to Ateneo to take up a course in land surveying. His other classmate Rafael Palma also went back to the Ateneo to take up commerce. Both courses were considered vocational courses. Some students used the spare time on useless activities such as doing la cuacha - which at that time meant doing nothing or playing truant. They wasted their time courting women. Rizal also did that when he courted three women at the same time. The students also formed their barkadas and in Rizal’s experience formed El Companerismo.
As for the grades of the students, certainly study at the University of Santo Tomas was harder than the Ateneo because UST was a university and the Ateneo was a high school. It would be unfair to compare Rizal’s excellent grades with the latter and those with the former, plus the many distractions that faced young men such as Rizal such as the women, the barkadas and the idle time at Ongpin’s El 88 store and the pancitan at the Panciteria Macanista de Buen Gusto at San Fernando Street.
Another thing Ateneo remained a boy’s school during the Spanish period. The University of Santo Tomas on the other hand, began admitting women in its Escuela de Matronas y Pateras or the school for midwives in its San Jose Building in the far side of Intramuros. The women had to be married or widowed and if their husband was still alive, must have his permission. Furthermore the woman wishing to become a midwife must have the endorsement of the local parish priest.
So in a nutshell, the academic atmosphere in the Ateneo and UST during Rizal’s time was different from each other. One was more strict with students and the other granted them more freedom. That freedom was actually responsible for allowing Rizal to show his true colors especially when he wrote his prize-winning poem A La Juventud Filipina which showed his nationalistic side. The same can be said for his allegorical play Consejo de los Dioses.
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Question:
Make a comparative analysis of the academic climate between Ateneo de Manila and University of Sto. Tomas during Rizal’s time.
Answer:
What is a comparative analysis of the academic climate between Ateneo de Manila and University of Santo Tomas during Jose Rizal's time?
Ateneo de Manila which was formerly Ateneo Muncipal, was a boys’ school and its graduates finish their education with the title bachiller en artes which is in Rizal’s time was equivalent to today’s high school. The University of Santo Tomas on the other hand, was the only institution in the Philippines that provided college degrees. As to the academic climate in both institutions, in the Ateneo, classes last the whole day beginning with a mass at 7 o’clock in the morning. All students are required to attend such masses. The students are under strict supervision by their teachers. This explains why most of Rizal’s poems and other literary works were pro-Spanish and pro-Catholic such as his poem praising the victory of Urbiztondo over the Moros of Jolo and his poem about the Virgin Mary. All the time in Ateneo is devoted to study, academics and co-curricular activities such as contests in Spanish, Latin and Greek.
On the other hand, at the University of Santo Tomas, the students were given more freedom. Half of the day is given to study and the rest was free time. The students are not anymore required to attend mass. This freedom is not leniency but this was allowed by the university authorities on the basis that the college students are believed to be more mature and responsible. Rizal in his spare time used returned to Ateneo to take up a course in land surveying. His other classmate Rafael Palma also went back to the Ateneo to take up commerce. Both courses were considered vocational courses. Some students used the spare time on useless activities such as doing la cuacha - which at that time meant doing nothing or playing truant. They wasted their time courting women. Rizal also did that when he courted three women at the same time. The students also formed their barkadas and in Rizal’s experience formed El Companerismo.
As for the grades of the students, certainly study at the University of Santo Tomas was harder than the Ateneo because UST was a university and the Ateneo was a high school. It would be unfair to compare Rizal’s excellent grades with the latter and those with the former, plus the many distractions that faced young men such as Rizal such as the women, the barkadas and the idle time at Ongpin’s El 88 store and the pancitan at the Panciteria Macanista de Buen Gusto at San Fernando Street.
Another thing Ateneo remained a boy’s school during the Spanish period. The University of Santo Tomas on the other hand, began admitting women in its Escuela de Matronas y Pateras or the school for midwives in its San Jose Building in the far side of Intramuros. The women had to be married or widowed and if their husband was still alive, must have his permission. Furthermore the woman wishing to become a midwife must have the endorsement of the local parish priest.
So in a nutshell, the academic atmosphere in the Ateneo and UST during Rizal’s time was different from each other. One was more strict with students and the other granted them more freedom. That freedom was actually responsible for allowing Rizal to show his true colors especially when he wrote his prize-winning poem A La Juventud Filipina which showed his nationalistic side. The same can be said for his allegorical play Consejo de los Dioses.
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