Jose Rizal’s Education

The familiar statement that Doña Teodora was Rizal’s first teacher is not just a sort of
venerating his mother who sacrificed a lot for our hero. It was a technical truth. In his
memoirs, Rizal wrote, “My mother taught me how to read and say haltingly the humble
prayers which I raised fervently to God”
Education in Calamba
In Rizal’s time, seldom would one see a highly educated woman of fine culture like
Doña Teodora who had the capacity to teach Spanish, reading, poetry and values
through rare story books. Under her supervision, Rizal had thus learned the alphabet
and the prayers at the age of three.
Aside from his mother, his sister Saturnina and three maternal uncles also mentored
him. His uncle Jose Alberto taught him painting, sketching, and sculpture. Uncle
Gregorio influence him to further love reading. Uncle Manuel, for his part, developed
Rizal’s physical skills in martial arts like wrestling.
To further enhance what Rizal had learned, private tutors were hired to give him lessons
at home. Thus, Maestro Celestino tutored him and Maestro Lucas Padua later
succeeded Celestino. Afterward, a former classmate of Don Francisco, Leon Monroy,
lived at the Rizal home to become the boy’s tutor in Spanish and Latin. Sadly, Monroy
died five months later.
Education in Biñan
Rizal as subsequently sent to a private school in Biñan. In June 1869, his brother
Paciano brought him to the school of Maestro Justiniano Aquino Cruz. The school was
in the teacher’s house, a small nipa house near the home of Jose’s aunt where he
stayed. In Rizal’s own words, hiss teacher “knew by the heart the grammar by Nebrija
and Gainza”
During Rizal’s first day in Biñan School, teacher asked him:
“Do you know Spanish?”
“A little, sir”, replied Rizal.
“Do you know Latin?’
‘A little sir”.
Because of this, his classmates, especially the teacher’s son Pedro, laughed at the
newcomer. So later in that day, Jose challenged the bully Pedro to a fight. Having
learned wrestling from Uncle Manuel, the younger and smaller Jose had defeated his
tormenter. Compared to bullying victims today, we can say that Rizal did not wait for
anyone to enact a law against bullying, but rather took matters into his own hands.
After the class however, he had an arm-wrestling match with his classmate Andres
Salandanan in which Jose lost and even almost cracked his head on the sidewalk. That
only proves that merely being a ‘desperado’ won’t make you win all your fights.
In the following days, it was said that Jose would have brawls with Biñan boys. For his
scuffles, he nonetheless received many whipping and blows on the open palm from his
disciplinarian teachers.
Rizal may have not won all his brawls but he nevertheless beat all Biñan boys
academically in Spanish, Latin and other subjects.
Education in Manila
There’s a claim that from Biñan school, Rizal studied in Colegio de San Juan de Letran.
The story states that after attending his classes for almost three months in Letran, Jose
was asked by the Dominican friars to look for another school due ti his radical and bold
questions.
However, standard biographies agree that Rizal just took the entrance examination in
that institution but Don Francisco sent him to enroll instead in Ateneo Municipal in June
1872. Run by the Jesuit congregation, Ateneo upheld religious instruction, advanced
education, rigid discipline, physical culture and cultivation of the arts, like music,
drawing and painting. Ironically, this school which is now the archival of La sale in being
exclusively luxurious, among others, was formerly the ‘Escuela Pia” (Charity School) a
school for poor boys in Manila established by the city government in 1817.
Paciano found Jose a boarding house in Intramuros but he later transferred to the
house of a spinster situated on Calle Carballo in Santa Cruz area. There he became
acquainted with various mestizos that were said to be begotten by friars. (Jose perhaps
had not thought twice to befriend tem, believing that they were probably nice people –
for after all, they were ‘mga anak ng pari’ (children of priests).
To encourage healthy competitions, classes in Ateneo were divided into two groups
which constantly competed against each other. One group, named the Roman Empire,
comprised the interns (boarders) while the other one, the Carthagianian Empire,
consisted of the externs (non-boarders). Within an empire, members were also in
continuous competition as they vied for the top ranks called dignitaries- Emperor, being
the highest position, followed by Tribune, Decurion, Centurion, and Standard-Bearer,
respectively. Initially placed at the tail of the class as a newcomer, Jose was soon
continually promoted-that just after a month, he had become an Emperor, receiving a
religious picture as a prize.
When the term ended, he attained the mark of ‘excellent’ in all the subjects and in
examinations. The second year, Jose transferred residence to No. 6 Calle Magallanes
and he obtained a medal at the end of that academic term. In the third year, he won
prize in the quarterly examinations. The following year, his parents placed him as intern
(boarding student) in the school and stayed there until his graduation. At the end of the
school year, he garnered five medals, with which he said he could somewhat repay his
father for his sacrifices. On March 23, 1877, he received the Bachelor of Arts degree,
graduating as one of the nine students in his class declared ‘sobresaliete’ or
outstanding. Therefore, he did not graduate as class valedictorian as some people
suppose.
Some of his priest-professors in Ateneo were Jose Bech, a man with mood swing and
somewhat of a lunatic and of an uneven humor; Francisco de Paula Sanchez, an
upright, earnest and caring teacher whom Rizal considered his best professor; Jose
Vilaclara; and a certain Mineves. At the Ateneo, Rizal cultivated his talent in poetry,
applied himself regularly to gymnastics, and devoted time to painting and sculpture. Don
Augustin Saez, another professor, thoughtfully guided him in drawing and painting, and
the Filipino Romualdo de Jesus lovingly instructed him in sculpture.
In 1877, Rizal enrolled in University of Santo Toms, taking the course on Philosophy
and Letters. At the same time, he took in Ateneo a land surveyor and assessor’s degree
(expert surveyor), a vocational course. He finished his surveyor’s training in 1877,
passed the licensing exam in May 1878, though the license was granted to him only in
1881 when he reached the age of majority.
After a year in UST, Jose changed course and enrolled in medicine to be able to cure
the deteriorating eyesight of his mother. But being tired of the discrimination by the
Dominican professors to Filipino students, he stopped attending classes at UST in
1882. It is worthwhile to note that Rizal’s another reason for not completing medicine in
UST as that the method of instruction was obsolete and repressive. Rizal’s observation
perhaps had served as a challenge for UST to improve in its mode of instructions.
If the records were accurate, Rizal had taken a total of 19 subjects in UST and finished
them with varied grades, ranging from excellent to fair. Notably, he got excellent in all
his subjects in the Philosophy course.
Education in Europe
On May 3, 1882, he left for Spain and enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters
at the Universidad Central de Madrid on November 3. In some days of November 1884,
Rizal was involved in the chaotic student demonstrations by the Central University
students in which many were wounded, hit by cane, arrested, and imprisoned. The
protest rallies started after Dr. Miguel Morayta had been excommunicated by bishops
for delivering a liberal speech, proclaiming the freedom of science and the teacher, at
the opening ceremony of academic year. Incidentally, the street in Manila named after
Morayta (Nicanor Reyes Street today) has always been affected by, if not itself the
venue of students demonstrations.
In June of 1884, Rizal received the degree of Licentiate in Medicine at the age of 23.
His rating through was just ‘fair’ for it was affected by the ‘low’ grades he got from UST.
The next school year (1884-1885), he took and completed the three additional subjects
leading to the Doctor of Medicine degree. He was not awarded the Doctor’s diploma
though for failing to pay the fee and the required thesis.
Exactly on his 24th birthday, the Madrid University awarded him the degree of Licentiate
in Philosophy and Letters with the grade of excellent. We can thus argue that Rizal was
better as a philosopher than a physician.
Wanting to cure his mother’s advanci0ng blindness, Rizal went to Paris. He was said to
have attended medical lectures at University of Paris. From November 1885 to February
1886. He worked as an assistant to Dr. Louis de Weckert. Through this leading French
ophthalmologist, Rizal was thankful that he learned how to perform all the
ophthalmological operations.
In February 3, 1886, Rizal arrived in Heidelberg, Germany. He attended the lectures of
Dr. Otto Becker and Prof. Wilhelm Kuehne at the University of Heidelberg. He also
worked at the University Eye Hospital under the guidance of Dr. Becker. Under the
direction of this renowned German ophthalmologist, Rizal had learned to use the then
newly invented ophthalmoscope (invented by Hermann von Helmholtz) which he later
used to operate on his mother’s eye. In Heidelberg, the 25- year- old Rizal completed
his eye specialization.
Afterward, Rizal spent three months in the nearby village, Wilhemsfeld where he wrote
the last few chapters of Noli Me Tangere. He stayed at the pastoral house of a kind
Protestant pastor, Dr Karl Ullmer, the whole family of whom became Rizal’s good
friends. In August 1886, he attended lectures on history and psychology at the
University of Leipzig. In November 1886, he reached Berlin, the famous city where he
worked as an assistant in Dr Schweigger’s clinic and attended lectures in the University
of Berlin.
In Berlin, he was inducted as a member of the Berlin’s ‘ethnological Society’,
‘Anthropological Society’, and Geographical society’. In April 1887, he was invited to
deliver an address in German before the ‘Ethnographic society of berlin on the
orthography and structure of the Tagalog language.
In Germany, Rizal met and befriend the famous academicians and scholar at all time.
Among them were Prof. Friedrich Ratzel, German historian; Dr. Hanz Meyer, German
Anthropologist; Dr. Feodor Jagor, author of “travels in the Philippines” which Rizal’ had
read as a student in Manila; Dr. Rudolf Virchow, German anthropologist; and Rudolf’s
son, Dr. Hans Virchow, Descriptive Anatomy professor.
Especially after the hero’s martyrdom, these people who were the renowned
personalities in the academe not only in Germany but also in Europe were so proud that
once in their life they had known the educated and great Filipino named Jose Rizal.