The initiation and development of public education in the Philippine Islands is unique in modern educational history. Probably only among a people with an enthusiastic belief in the significance of education, under the benevolent guidance of a nation with an equally enthusiastic confidence in its possibilities, could the educational experiment underway in the Philippines have eventuated. Rarely, if ever before, has a conquering people set about establishing a free public system of schools almost before the guns of war were silent. Yet this unique achievement took place in the Philippine Islands immediately following American occupation. Almost overnight, soldiers became teachers, schoolrooms were located, somewhere, somehow, and instruction, elementary in its nature, and with the major purpose that of teaching English, begun. Education assumes added significance in view of recent developments looking toward the complete independence of the Philippine people within the next decade. Yet when one considers the achievements of the past three years during which a complete school system has developed, there is ample justification for hope in the future. It is the purpose of this bulletin to present a brief account of the progress toward universal public education so far made in the Philippines as well as to suggest some of the problems yet to be solved. It aims to describe the school system and to give some idea of the status of education rather than to evaluate achievements or to review the history of the school system since American occupation. It was prepared primarily for the information of educators and others in the United States interested in the education of the Philippine people, whose interest and especially whose friendly guidance will continue until the hoped for objective is achieved. (Contains 4 tables, 1 diagram, and 20 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]