The Guinayangan Republic

Secondary Education in the municipality did not exist in the early 1920’s. Most seventh grade graduates have to go to Manila or Lucena to pursue their studies. In most cases, only a few were able to continue their studies, not until the mid-thirties, when Mr. Vicente Vilar opened the first private high school, the Southern Tagalog Institute. Many students took advantage of the opportunity to pursue secondary courses in this institution. High school graduates in those days were the employed in government offices as clerks, or teachers in the elementary school. The Southern Tagalog Institute did not last long.


And in 1940, the Guinayangan Academy was founded by Mrs. Victorina R. Garcia, with a handful of students. The war between America and Japan stopped educational pursuits in all levels for three years. After liberation, the Academy resumed classes in rented building until it moved to its present site.

Being the only source of secondary education in the area, the enrolment in Guinayangan Academy gradually increased and reached an overwhelming population of almost a thousand from 1960 to 1970. Starting with only three instructors in 1941, it reached a total of 15 faculty members in 1970. In a span of more than 70 years, the Academy produced successful professionals in the municipality.


 HAPPY 70th FOUNDATION DAY
GUINAYANGAN ACADEMY

February 20,2010




-excerpt from the book "Guinayangan Noon At Ngayon" by Alodia F. Molines