CHAPTER I

Of the opening and duration of the term [curso]

Art. 46. The ordinary examinations of studies shall be held in the school from the first to the thirtieth of April, and the extraordinary examinations from the first to the thirtieth of June. The first day of July of each year shall be celebrated in the school by the opening of classes. All the instructresses and assistant teachers shall be present at the ceremony, and the authorities and corporations of the village and those persons who are deemed advisable, in order to give it more solemnity and pomp, shall be invited to it.

Art. 47. The opening ceremonies shall be presided over by the directress, whenever the governor general does not attend.

Art. 48. The ceremony having begun, the secretary of the school shall read a short and simple résumé of the condition of the institution during the preceding year, expressing therein the changes which have occurred in the staff of instructresses, the number of scholars matriculated and examined, the progress made by the teaching, improvements made in the building, increase in scientific equipment, the economic situation, and all the other bits of information which can contribute to give a complete idea of the progress of the institution.

This document shall be printed and afterward inserted in the official newspaper of Manila, publishing therein as an appendix the tables which will serve to prove what was explained in the memorial.

This memorial, together with the inaugural address, which shall be read by the directress, or one of the instructresses, shall be made into a single volume, and copies of it shall be sent to the ministry of the colony, the general government, and scientific and literary corporations.

Art. 49. After the conclusion of the reading, prizes shall be distributed, and the ceremony shall close by the president saying: "His Majesty, the king (whom may God preserve), and, in his name, the queen regent of the kingdom, declares the academic term of such and such a year open in the superior normal school for women teachers in Manila."

Art. 50. Lessons shall begin on the day following the opening of studies, and shall terminate on March 31.

Art. 51. Lessons shall not be suspended during the course, except on Sundays, whole feast days, saints' days, and birthday anniversaries of the king, queen, and prince of Asturia, on the day for the commemoration of the dead, from December 23 until January 2, the three days of the carnival, Ash Wednesday, holy Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and Easter and Pentecost.