Rizal and
Education
Rizal's Early Education in Calamba
• At the age of 3, Rizal learned the alphabet from his
mother.
• At the age of 5, while learning to read and write,
Rizal already showed inclinations to be an artist. He
astounded his family and relatives by his pencil
drawings and sketches and by his moldings of clay.
• At the age of 8, Rizal wrote a Tagalog poem, "Sa
Aking Mga Kabata," the theme of which revolves on
the love of one's language.
Rizal's Early Education in Calamba
• Rizal's parents employed private tutors to give him
lessons at home. The first was Maestro Celestino and
the second is Maestro Lucas Padua.
• Later, an old man named Leon Monroy, a former
classmate of Rizal's father became his tutor. This
teacher lived at the Rizal home and instructed Rizal in
Spanish and Latin. Unfortunately, he did not live long.
He died five months later.
• After Monroy's death, Rizal's parents decided to send
their gifted son to a private school in Biñan, Laguna.
First Day in Biñan School
• Paciano enrolled Rizal to the school of Maestro
Justiniano Aquino Cruz.
• Rizal met the bully, Pedro. Rizal, who was angry at this
bully for making fun of him during his conversation with
the teacher, challenged Pedro to a fight. Rizal having
learned the art of wrestling from his athletic Tio Manuel,
defeated the bigger boy.
Best Student in School
• In academic studies, Rizal beat all Biñan boys. He
surpassed them all in Spanish, Latin, and other subjects.
• They were all jealous of his intellectual superiority that
they wickedly squealed to the teacher whenever Rizal had a
fight outside the school, and even told lies to discredit him
before the teacher's eyes. Consequently the teacher had to
punish Rizal.
• He received many whippings and strokes from the ferule.
Rare was the day when he was not stretched on the bench
for a whipping or punished with five or six blows on the
open palm.
Education in Manila
•Ateneo Municipal de Manila
• Bachelor of Arts degree in
1877 at the age of 16
• Graduated as one of the
nine students declared
sobresaliente
• Continued his education to
obtain a degree in land
surveying and assessor
Ateneo Municipal de Manila
• Rizal entered Ateneo Municipal when he was 11
years old, four months after the execution of
Gomburza and Doña Teodora still in prison.
• His 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.
• His 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.
Academic Performance at Ateneo
• Rizal's academic triumph at Ateneo can be attributed to
three factors, namely: racial pride, monastic discipline and
seclusion of boarding school 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.
Rizal's 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
sculpture lessons under Romualdo de Jesus.
Rizal's Last Year studying at Ateneo
• 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
Rizal's 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 occasion of the
latter's natal day.
• Un Cuerdo de Mi Pueblo (In Memory of My Town) - this
poem was his way 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
Education in Manila
• University of Santo Tomas
• Studied Philosophy and
Letters during his first year
• Shifted to Medicine
specializing in Ophthalmology
when he found out that his
mother was going blind
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 threefactors,
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.
Decision to Go to Europe
• After 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.
• 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.
Education in Spain
• He traveled alone to Madrid in
May 1882
• Continued his studies in
Medicine at the Universidad
Central de Madrid
• Degree of Licentiate in
Medicine in 1884
• Degree of Philosophy and
Letters in 1885
• Rizal joined the Circulo-Hispano Filipino. It is an
association formed by Filipino students in Spain
composed of both Filipinos and Spaniards.
• Mi Piden Versos (They Ask Me for Verses) - upon the
request of the members of this society, Rizal wrote this
poem which he personally declaimed during the New
Year's Eve reception held in the evening of December 31,
1882.
• March 1883 - He joined the
Masonic Lodge called Acacia. His
reason for was to secure
Freemasonry's aid in his fight for
the Philippines.
• November 1883 - He transferred
to Lodge Solidaridad, where he
become a Master Mason
June 1884
• Rizal finished his medical education. He was conferred
the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. The next year, he
passed all his subjects leading to Doctors of Medicine
but was only able to get his Doctor's Diploma in 1887
for he wasn't able to pay corresponding fees.
June 1885
• Rizal was awarded the degree of Licentiate in
Philosophy and Letters by the Universidad Central
de Madrid with the rating of Excellent
(Sobresaliente)
PARIS TO BERLIN
• Rizal went to Paris and Germany in order to specialize
in Ophthalmology - Rizal chose this branch of medicine
because he wanted to cure his mother's eye ailment.
DR. LOUIS DE WECKER
• He is the leading French Ophthalmologist during this
period. He is the leading authority among the oculists
of France, who found Rizal such a competent student
and make him as his clinical assistant.
February 1, 1886
• He left Paris to Germany
and arrived on February 3,
1886 in Heidelberg - a
historic city in Germany,
famous for its old university
and romantic surroundings.
DR. OTTO BECKER
• Distinguished German
Ophthalmologist where Rizal
worked - University Eye Hospital
• In the University of Heidelberg (Germany) he earned
a second doctorate
• Inducted as a member of the Berlin Ethnological
Society and the Berlin Anthropological Society under
the patronage of the famous pathologist Rudolf
Virchow
• 25-year-old Rizal completed in 1887 his eye
specialization under the renowned Prof. Otto
Becker in Heidelberg
• There he used the newly invented
ophthalmoscope (invented by Hermann von
Helmholtz) to later operate on his mother's eye.
Rizal's reason in staying in Berlin
1. To gain further knowledge in Ophthalmology;
2. To improve further his studies of sciences and
languages;
3. To observe the economic and political conditions of
the German nation;
4. To associate with famous German scientists and
scholars;
5. To publish his novel, Noli Me Tangere.
