Chapter I: Part 1

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF EDUCATION

BULLETIN, 1919, No. 59

SOME
PHASES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS
IN LATIN AMERICA

By

WALTER A. MONTGOMERY

SPECIALIST IN FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
BUREAU OF EDUCATION

[Advance Sheets from the Biennial Survey of Education, 1916-1918]

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1920

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SOME PHASES OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS IN LATIN AMERICA.

BY WALTER A. MONTGOMERY,

_Specialist in Foreign Educational Systems, Bureau of Education_.

CONTENTS.--Central America: Practical education; Guatemala; Salvador; Honduras; Costa Rica; Nicaragua; Panama--British Guiana: New school regulation--Argentina: Preliminary; illiteracy; report of National Council of Education; progress of education in the Provinces; changes under the projected law of 1918; secondary education; technical education; normal-school training; higher education--Brazil: Vocational education--Chile: Preliminary; illiteracy; primary education; secondary education; training of teachers; technical education--Uruguay: General introduction; primary education, public and private; rural schools; medical inspection of schools; secondary education; commercial education; training of teachers; higher education--Venezuela.

PRACTICAL EDUCATION IN CENTRAL AMERICA.

One of the most interesting aspects of the school situation in Central America and Panama is the important position occupied by commercial and industrial education in the courses of study of many institutions. Public men and teachers in Guatemala, Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama have taken into account the need of offering to the new generation an education which shall be completely practical, with the purpose of turning the thoughts and energies of all the youth to fruitful service of their country.

The teaching of arts and crafts, as well as that of commerce and agriculture, was formerly not begun, as in the United States, upon the student’s entering the secondary school, though there has for some time been a movement to make such instruction a part of the work of the advanced classes in the primary schools, to be continued in the liceo and the normal schools.

This universal interest in practical lines of education is a striking indication of the influences and tendencies now at work in Central America. In the different countries included under this designation there are schools and academies, workshops and laboratories, intended for the practical education of the student body. When it is remembered that the introduction of practical and industrial education in the school régime of Central America is a matter of the past few years, the progress realized is regarded as highly satisfactory. The rapid increase of the commerce of Central America, the improvement in the means of intercommunication, the travels of its people abroad, the influence of foreign elements in its territory, and the various interests thus awakened have aroused in the interior of the Republics composing it the belief that national greatness in modern times must rest upon economic and industrial foundations. The influx of foreign capital and the consequent establishment of powerful industrial enterprises have likewise emphasized the necessity of training men for work in such enterprises. The introduction of modern machinery, the increase of the different forms of the application of steam, the adoption of the inventions intended to gather up the results of labor, and numerous similar influences have given rise to a tremendous demand in this part of the continent for skilled and reliable mechanics. Central America has thus addressed itself with enthusiasm to the task of training the children of its schools for the activities of the present day.

The capitals, other important cities, and even many small towns have schools devoted to practical education, generally provided with buildings and equipment well adapted to this end. Honduras, for example, has founded a school for scientific instruction in the cultivation and preparation of tobacco and for the manufacture of cigars and cigarettes in the tobacco district around Danli. In several Provinces of the same Republic, and in Panama, where agriculture is subordinate, the Governments have founded schools for training pupils to weave hats and other objects.

The more generalized industrial schools are those of arts and crafts and the so-called practical schools for boys. Their organization presents marked differences. In some of the countries named there exist schools that receive pupils either as full or half time boarders, and offer night courses as the situation demands. In all these instruction is free. The Government generally offers a certain number of scholarships in the boarding schools for pupils approved by the different Departments or Provinces of the country. Tools, instruments, and supplies used in the schools are provided by the Government. In return the school exacts of such students certain services and thereby carries out certain work that represents a partial reimbursement for the amount spent upon their maintenance. This is the case with the schools of arts and crafts in Honduras and Panama. Some small schools of this class are maintained by means of the labor they carry on for private individuals and by the sale of the products they turn out.

These industrial schools are generally of two kinds: (1) Those in which the training in commercial subjects and in arts and crafts constitutes part of the regular course of study and (2) those devoted exclusively to the teaching of arts and crafts.

(1) In those of the first class the pupils study the ordinary subjects prescribed by the department of public instruction and devote only several hours weekly to arts and crafts. This class in its turn includes two groups of institutions. To be admitted to those of the first group the pupils must know how to read and write and apply the elementary rules of arithmetic. During the entire school year instruction is given in Spanish, geography, history, and arithmetic. The practical schools for girls and boys are generally of this kind, being especially numerous in Guatemala and Honduras. The schools conducted by the Christian Brothers in Nicaragua are also of this type. The duration of studies is from three to five years, a half day being devoted to the classes in the ordinary subjects of primary education and the other half to practical work. In the second group are comprised various institutions which require certificates from the higher elementary schools, such as the liceo and the higher colegio for women in Costa Rica, the National Institute in Salvador, the Central National Institute for Boys in Guatemala, and the normal schools in these countries and in Honduras.

(2) Of the special institutions which constitute the second category, there are to be noted two prominent instances in the schools of arts and crafts in Panama and in Honduras. In organization and purposes they are schools of mechanical arts, and not schools of manual training. Their workshops have not been established to impart general notions of manual arts or a general apprenticeship, but to train the pupils from entrance upon the line of education chosen by themselves. In these schools are taught carpentry, tanning, shoemaking, blacksmithing, cabinetmaking, electricity, installation and management of machinery, mechanics, printing and bookbinding, telegraphy, etc. All workshops in such schools are well equipped with machinery and tools.

All that has been said in regard to modern educational tendencies and influences to which boys are subject in the countries mentioned can be extended, though in less degree, to the girls and young women. Within the past few years women’s sphere of action has steadily been enlarged, and has come to include not only teaching but various employments in shops and mercantile establishments. Within the next few years their instruction must be taken into account in schools of domestic training, vocational schools, practical schools, and the technical colegios. The organization and range of these institutions does not differ materially from those for boys. The vocational school for girls is essentially a school of arts and crafts in which the pupils devote themselves from entrance to the study of a special line, such as dressmaking, embroidery, millinery, and, in certain schools, cooking, washing and ironing, etc. A certificate of proficiency is granted them upon the completion of certain assigned courses. The other schools for girls before mentioned combine general subjects with the special apprenticeship in crafts upon which they enter as soon as they reach the higher classes of the primary school and which they continue into the high school and the normal school.

GUATEMALA.

The type of industrial education that prevails in Guatemala is the combination of general studies with special instruction in the arts and trades given in the practical schools for girls and for boys. There also exists in the capital a school of arts and crafts for women where instruction is given at the same time in the subjects of ordinary instruction. In the departments of manual arts which are largely, but not exclusively, attended by boys, are taught theoretical and practical blacksmithing, carpentry, printing, bookbinding and weaving, besides geography, history, botany, chemistry, zoology, geology, drawing, and Spanish language and literature. In the schools of Guatemala much attention is given subjects of a practical nature, with the purpose of training competent workmen and artisans. There also exist in this country a National School of Commerce, situated in the capital, and a Practical School of Commerce, at Quetzaltenango. In both cities there are schools of agriculture which admit to their first-year courses the pupils of the first year of the central normal schools. The capital possesses also a school of telegraphy, recently founded with the view to installing in it a special wireless station.

SALVADOR.

Arts and crafts for women, commercial subjects and mechanical arts, are generally taught in Salvador in the public schools, though their incorporation in the courses of instruction is comparatively recent. Many prominent teachers of the country have taken the pains to spread abroad the appreciation of the necessity of “enlarging the educational sphere of the State, and opening to the youth and to workmen schools where they may acquire practical knowledge of the sciences and the arts and by these means may contribute to the advancement of general intelligence in the country.” In compliance with these ideas the Government has founded in Salvador a National School of Graphic Arts aiming “to aid the youth of Salvador to the acquisition of knowledge of a practical nature, and to put it in a position to be successful in the economic struggles which are the most important signs of the modern age.” In this school the preference is given to the teaching of physics, mechanics, drawing, printing, lithographing, carving, bookbinding, and technical telegraphy and telephoning. Night courses are also given in this school.

In consequence of the public sentiment above mentioned, there has been opened in the National Institute of Salvador a course in commercial and economic subjects lasting three years. This course comprises the study of various modern languages, commercial law, political economy, industrial chemistry, commercial geography, bookkeeping, stenography and typewriting. The pupils in this school are required to work several hours daily for a period in the different ministerial departments before graduation. Salvador also established in 1913 a school of agriculture, with a department of animal husbandry. Two years later there was established the Technical-Practical Colegio for Girls, in which instruction in crafts for women is combined with that in general subjects.

HONDURAS.

Industrial instruction has attained great importance in Honduras. The School of Arts and Crafts of Tegucigalpa concerns itself chiefly with products in wood and the metals and is steadily training artisans and mechanics. There likewise exists in this city the national automobile school managed by the Government. For some years there has been in operation in Siguatepeque a school of English and of arts and crafts, in which are taught fiber weaving, carpentry, dressmaking, and embroidery. In the normal schools and in the two colegios students may choose between the commercial courses and those relating to arts and crafts. In 1915 was established a technical practical school for girls, where courses in science and in crafts for women are offered parallel with the subjects belonging to the primary schools.

COSTA RICA.

Costa Rica is another of the Central American countries where practical instruction is combined with general. Five institutions of higher grade and the vocational schools for women have well-equipped workshops, laboratories, kitchens, and laundries. Of all Central American States, Costa Rica gives perhaps most attention to this special branch of instruction. It is noteworthy that manual arts and domestic science are uniformly taught in the secondary schools conjointly with the literary and purely scientific subjects.

NICARAGUA.

In Nicaragua manual arts form part of the general instruction, as has been seen in the case of the normal schools conducted by the Christian Brothers. Girls receive practical instruction in the normal schools. Some years ago there was established a special school for the training of telegraph and telephone operators.

PANAMA.

Like Guatemala and Honduras, Panama has devoted special attention to industrial training. The School of Arts and Crafts of the City of Panama is one of the largest and best equipped of its kind. It is essentially a school for artisans and possesses sections of electricity, carpentry, cabinetmaking, printing and bookbinding, carving, foundry work, etc., its principal object being to train men for the separate industrial branches.

Panama also has a vocational school for girls in which a year’s instruction is given in telegraphy, one in laundry work, two in dressmaking and embroidery, two in shorthand, two in cooking, two in millinery and flower work.

It has likewise a school of agriculture, in which is given a three years’ course, for which the Government offers 30 scholarships to youths approved by local authorities. The Government has also founded from time to time specialized schools in the interior, with the object of encouraging agriculture or some other industry, such as that of the manufacture of Panama hats. Like Honduras, Panama devotes the greatest attention to special industrial schools.

For the furtherance of commercial education in Central and South America a Pan American College of Commerce, to be located at the City of Panama, is projected, under the joint auspices of the Southern Commercial Congress of the United States and the Government of the Republic of Panama. The active support of the countries of the two Americas is to be sought, and it is hoped that it may be opened on January 1, 1921, the quadricentennial year of the City of Panama, the first city to be founded by Europeans in the Western Hemisphere. The college is designed to train the youth of the two continents in practical courses of commerce, shipping, banking, and international trade relations generally.

NEW SCHOOL REGULATIONS IN BRITISH GUIANA.

The last report of the director of primary instruction in British Guiana outlines a new regulation for the common schools. In many of its parts it includes novel measures of school organization which are of interest as suggestions to other South American States for similar action. The regulations relate to the classification of schools, the minimum period of attendance, the age limit of pupils, the occupations of pupils after leaving school, school gardens, etc. As an instance of its stringent character, the regulation decrees that when any school ceases to conform to certain conditions with regard to building, installation, equipment, and health conditions, it shall be classified in B category; and if within 6 months it has not satisfied the requirements of the regulation, the authorities shall suspend the Government aid hitherto granted. It is to be noted that the primary schools of British Guiana are not directly administered by the authorities.

The school also loses its governmental aid if within two consecutive years it does not maintain a fixed minimum attendance, which varies according to the population of the locality in which it is situated. In return special aids are offered for schools that teach gardening for boys and the care of smaller children for girls from 12 to 14 years.

The greatest educational need of the colony is the establishment of technical primary schools for the instruction of boys and girls from 11 to 15 years. It is projected to establish two such schools in Georgetown in which there shall be taught, in addition to manual arts and other craft, drawing in all its branches, arithmetic and geography as related to commerce, the rudiments of experimental science, shorthand, and business correspondence. Criticism has been directed against the omission of instruction in agriculture, which is admitted to be the most necessary branch in the colony. It is, however, intended to impart agricultural instruction in special schools to be established.

Because of the fact that the majority of the pupils leave school before reaching 12 years, it is not possible to put into practice suggested plans of giving them preoccupational instruction in which they might be making a start before the end of their primary-school studies. On the other hand the traditional primary school is not adequate to give direction toward a vocational subject. Hence, to the regret of the authorities, attempts to link the primary school with the occupation of the pupil have been abandoned.

Much interest has been developed in school gardening; and about 100 gardens are annexed to primary schools, affording practical instruction to pupils in agriculture and horticulture. The Government has also established 8 model gardens, where instruction is given the pupils of neighboring schools.

ARGENTINA.

PRELIMINARY.

Two well-defined stages have marked the progress of national education in Argentina since 1916. The first began with the reorganization of primary instruction by act of the Federal Congress early in that year, which came about largely through the initiative and efforts of the minister of public instruction. It had long been felt that the legal system in force since 1882 was unsatisfactory, especially on the point of articulation of secondary education with the higher elementary on the one hand and with the universities on the other. Argentine educational thinkers asserted that secondary education prepared neither for practical life nor for entrance to the technical schools and the universities, inasmuch as it had remained unchanged for more than a generation, in the face of the social, economic, scientific, and ethnical changes through which the country had passed.

Together with this dissatisfaction with a special division went the conviction that governmental reform should strike deeper, and instead of busying itself with plans of reform of courses and schedules, should settle the fundamental question of what should be the nature and aims of the national secondary school. This could be done only by so modifying the prevailing system as to make it fit the needs of the school population according to their age, social conditions, and probable future. Proof that it had not so adapted itself was thought to be found in the fact that of the pupils annually completing the 4a elementary grade only 45 per cent continued into the _colegios nacionales_, as contrasted with 55 per cent who went into the 5a grade and commercial schools, while on a moderate estimate 60 per cent left with insufficient equipment for their needs as useful members of society. Furthermore, the secondary school, as organized, offered no opportunity to boys and girls of 13 and 14 years to choose the advanced courses and vocational training for which they felt an aptitude, and so to secure adequate preparation for the university studies or for advanced technical, industrial, and commercial schools.

For this lack of correlation between educational divisions it was proposed to substitute a logical and unbroken sequence. What came to be commonly accepted among education authorities as best serving this purpose was a common intermediate school of three years of an essentially practical character, carrying on general elementary instruction by means of book lessons and developing by special experiments and practical methods individual aptitudes by which to determine future training. As the basis for such a school primary education had, of course, to be modified, and after months of discussion a scheme for general modification of the entire educational fabric was outlined (1916). According to this, the primary school proper was to cover four years; the uniform middle school of the first grade one year; and the differentiated middle school of the second grade two years. Upon these were to be based the _colegios nacionales_, the normal schools, the industrial schools, the various higher special schools, and the national universities. Though marking a meritorious attempt to articulate the several divisions, the project did not work out satisfactorily in actual operation, and as a constituent part of the national system it was repealed after about a year of operation.

ILLITERACY.

On a basis of population estimated (1917) at slightly more than eight millions, 725,000 were estimated to be illiterate, about 42 per cent of the school population. Illiteracy is most rife in remote Provinces of the Andes and in the Territories, sparsely settled and inhabited by people of roving habits and poorly developed industrially. Under the lead of the director general of the schools of the Province of Mendoza, a systematic campaign to eliminate illiteracy was begun in 1916. It was recognized that financial considerations made it impossible to establish the number of primary schools which would be demanded, certainly not for the many remote points where only the legal minimum of 15 or 20 illiterates were to be found. Home schools (_escuelas del hogar_) were therefore established, officially ranking as auxiliary to the already existent schools, for illiterates of 8 to 20 years, and offering as a minimum curriculum reading, writing, the four fundamental operations of arithmetic, the duties of the Argentine citizen, elements of ethics, and personal hygiene. Such schools may begin any day of the year, and with a minimum of five pupils. Any person desiring to open such a school must fulfill the following conditions:

(_a_) He must be at least 20 years of age, of good moral reputation, certified by the chief civil official of his residence.

(_b_) He must speak the national language correctly and be able to give instruction in it.

Such schools shall not be established at less distance than 5 kilometers from an established primary school supported by national, provincial, or local funds, but if the school be intended exclusively for boys from 15 to 20 years old it may be located at any point. Such schools are to be visited freely by school and civil authorities, and by persons designated by the provincial general inspectors.

Related in character to the _escuelas del hogar_ of the Province are the _escuelas tutoriales_, established by national decree of 1916, applying to all the Provinces and especially to the Territories. In these schools, established at points designated by the National Council of Education, any number of children not regularly enrolled in the primary schools may be taught by private individuals who conform to the requirements of primary teachers, and by teachers regularly engaged in primary work. The latter, by special exception, receive additional compensation for such instruction. The same law also provides remuneration, to be fixed by the general council of education of the Province or Territory for all persons, not teachers, who are certificated to have taught illiterates, whether children or adults, to read and write.

Most novel of all undertakings for the wiping out of illiteracy are the traveling schools (_escuelas ambulantes_). Provided for by the original organic school law of 1884, these schools were not, because of lack of funds, put into operation until 1914. Up to that time there was a conviction that their need was insignificant by contrast with the greater problem of illiteracy in the cities, and that to scatter funds available for combating illiteracy was not prudent. How serious this mistake was appeared in 1914 when it was ascertained by systematic count that of nearly 35,000 children of the Territories not in school only 6,000 lived in towns.

Located first in Province of Catamarca, and in the mountain regions of Rio Negro and the Chubut, these schools are built of materials easily transportable, and accommodate an average of 25 pupils. Sites are selected for them which are most accessible to the largest number of children in the district. Teachers traverse such regions on foot or muleback, carrying necessary equipment for instruction, and remain four and one-half months at each place, giving instruction in reading, writing, elements of arithmetic, and hygiene. A decided advantage is found in this succinct curriculum, the average of successful study by the pupils of these schools being, it is claimed, fully on a par with that of the pupils of the nine months’ primary schools, who are required to take the standard number of subjects.

Within their first two years of existence, 20 of these schools were established, as reported by the National Council of Education in December, 1916; and 12 were added in 1917. The report of the inspector general of the Province of Mendoza concluded as follows:

This new type of school must exist for many years in Argentina to answer the needs of the actual distribution of the population, the lack of adequate means of communication, and the impossibility of maintaining fixed schools in the greater part of the zones engaged in agriculture and cattle raising. It behooves the authorities, therefore, to continue the improvement of the system in such manner that its efficiency shall be steadily greater, and that results shall amply compensate for their maintenance.

An interesting phase of social conscience is shown in the generous offer of the women pupils of the third and fourth years of the normal school at Santa Fe to instruct illiterates afternoons and nights in reading, writing, the elements of arithmetic, national language and history, and practical personal and school hygiene. This offer has been highly commended both by Argentine and foreign educators as a step toward solving the problem of illiteracy, worthy of imitation nationally and locally.

The struggle against illiteracy has been the subject of serious consideration by the executive, the chief school authorities, and the Congress. The executive has constantly urged the National Council of Education to intensify its campaigns and has cooperated by all means in his power in the steady diffusion of education. The Houses of Congress have also busied themselves especially with this grave problem. These efforts have borne fruit which, if not visible at the present time, is certainly destined to raise the level of popular education within the next few years. The authorities have judged that what is needed is the patient labor which does not require an immediate and striking solution of a most difficult problem, but is willing to continue to exercise an ever-increasing influence upon the rising generation, confident of the spread of education and enlightenment with the increase of population and the improvement in means of communication; and that it is not wise to sow schools broadcast throughout the Republic merely for the pleasure of doing something and of doing it rapidly. The success of the struggle against illiteracy, certain as it is, has its roots not in merely spending much money, but in spending money well.

REPORT OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION.

The progress of education in Argentina is best epitomized in the report of the National Council of Education for the four years ending December 31, 1916. The character of this council is unique in educational polity, wielding, as it does, greater powers than any similar body in countries educationally advanced, and counting in its membership some of the ablest men in the Nation. Its reports follow traditionally the line of national (the capital city), provincial, and territorial administration. When the very heterogeneous character of the population of Argentina, due to the steady stream of immigration, is taken into account, the necessity of such a central body, vested with powers of initiation and execution in primary education, is apparent. By a wise division of powers in the original organic law, the control of secondary education was left in the hands of the Provinces, with subsidies granted by the National Government, as was the right to prescribe subjects essential to nationalistic and patriotic training. Concentration of effort and power is thus secured, with national acquiescence in the official actions of the council. Its activities center naturally around the establishment of new schools and the construction of school buildings, and the training of teachers to meet the demands of modern conditions.

As a substitute for the abortive intermediate schools established in 1916, which soon proved unsatisfactory, the council decided later in that year to establish, parallel and auxiliary to the higher primary schools, one of practical arts and crafts for each sex in every district of Buenos Aires. Such schools approximated 100 in number. This type of school was designed for boys and girls not intending to proceed to higher studies, and was later to be extended to the nation at large. Its purpose and program of studies was two-fold--to complete the theoretical and higher courses of the higher primary schools with vocational, technical, and manual training, based upon and making use of the materials which were peculiarly Argentine and local in industries, commerce, art, and economics; and to lay stress throughout on nationalistic and patriotic aims. An interesting feature, common to these new schools and the continuation schools now arising in England and France, is the provision by which they operate 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon or night, and are to admit pupils from the fourth to the sixth grade of the primary schools, who have reached the age of 12 years. Statistics as to the success of these schools are not as yet available.

In the matter of building primary schools proper, the report of the council shows progress throughout the four years covered. A total of 62 schools, with 426 teachers and 19,563 pupils, was added to the system. Because of national economic and financial conditions prevailing half a century ago, the great majority of the primary schools began operation in private buildings, which did not conform to pedagogical or even sanitary requirements. For many years excessive rents were often paid by the State, but upon the revaluation of property in many Provinces in 1915, an economy in rents was effected, and the funds thus saved were devoted to new schools. Despite high prices of material and difficulties of labor, in December, 1916, eleven school buildings were in process of erection, at an estimated cost of $750,000, with a capacity of 22,000 pupils. According to the report of the council: “The construction of properly equipped Government primary school buildings has constituted one of the most serious problems and, therefore, one of the chief occupations of the council.” It was frankly admitted, however, that, with all the efforts of the council, accommodations for children in the primary schools were still far from adequate, it being estimated on that date that 4,000 additional schools of this grade were needed for the more than 600,000 children in the capital and the Territories who, for one reason or another, were not in school.

The activity of the council continued to be marked in 1917. In April of that year, 143 new schools were decreed, 39 for the Federal Capital, 18 for the Provinces under the legal national subvention, and 86 for the Territories (30 being _escuelas ambulantes_), the Congress voting two millions in the national budget for the execution of this decree. The centralizing tendencies of South American countries in general, and the overwhelming dominance of the capital, secured for it so generous a share of this that it is estimated that in the Federal capital there will be for the first time room for all children of school age. For the poorer Provinces, and the Territories, which by the Tainez law of 1886 are absolutely dependent upon the central authority of the National Council, 250 schools of one and two rooms were assigned, but on an estimate about one-third of the children were still left unprovided with school facilities. Attention was repeatedly called to the need of a uniform and rigorously applied national law for compulsory school attendance.

During the year 1918 approximately 400 schools were established, and the council proposes to establish as many more during 1919 in the Provinces and the national Territories. The nation has taken charge of many provincial schools which the respective governments could not maintain by reason of lack of resources. The Province of Mendoza alone transferred 130 schools to the council of education during the month of August, 1918. Relative to the establishment of schools, regard has been had chiefly to the population of the districts which petitioned for them, as well as the number of children of school age, in order that the buildings may be installed in populous centers, where a constant attendance of pupils is reasonably assured.

The general plan of the council for the diffusion of primary education has not been put into practice in full, because of the lack of resources in some instances and in others because of the scarcity of building materials in the country. School equipment has been secured in various countries, supplies necessary having been purchased in the United States to the value of $350,000. The demand has been still unsatisfied, the capital city alone calling for the establishment of new schools every year, because of the increase of children of school age, and the Provinces have always been behind the necessary number of school buildings and facilities and have never reached the goal set by the authorities. An encouraging feature of the situation is that upon the completion of all the school buildings now under construction accommodations for 56,000 pupils in addition will be provided.

Peculiar attention has been given to the development of night schools by the council, 86 having been established and maintained by the council in the four years covered by the report. An admirably broadened scope was given them in the appeal issued by the council to the nation that the full purpose of such schools should be realized not only by the attendance of illiterates, but also of youths and adults “who, possessing some degree of education, are also desirous of improving that as related to the needs of their lives.” All reforms and modifications of night schools have concerned themselves with this larger clientele. A further socializing of the night school is seen in the appeal of the council to proprietors, managers of factories, and employers of labor generally to encourage in every way in their power their employees to attend night schools and to offer prizes of various kinds for diligence and progress. Literature bearing on these schools was distributed free by the council.

In 1915 the council was empowered, by the terms of the will of a philanthropic resident of Buenos Aires, Don Felix Berasconi, who bequeathed for educational purposes a sum of three and a half million dollars, to proceed to the erection and establishment of an institution under State control which should give instruction in general primary, scientific, scientific-industrial, physical, and social education. A building was to be begun in 1916, planned in seven sections, conforming to the most modern pedagogical and sanitary demands, and with a capacity of more than 3,000 pupils. Designed to benefit the working people preeminently, it was to be situated in the section of the city showing the greatest proportion of them.

Responding to the general feeling of dissatisfaction with the results of primary education in the city of Buenos Aires, which has been unaffected by criticism for seven years, the council in June, 1917, sent out questionnaires to all inspectors and to the body of teachers calling for an expression of opinion as to (1) the merits and defects of the plans of studies, schedules, etc., then in force; (2) those of projected or possible programs, with additional features worthy to be incorporated; and (3) educational considerations bearing upon the problems of the schools of the capital. The answers showed encouraging grasp of the educational needs of the city, with significant unanimity as to the practical methods of working out necessary reforms. Salient points were:

1. That all programs should leave room for and be closely articulated with manual arts and domestic economy.

2. That the courses of arithmetic in the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth grades were overloaded, as were those of grammar in the fourth, geometry in the third and fifth, nature study in the second, geography in the second and fifth, singing in the second, and music.

3. That the primary school cycle should commence at 7 years and end at 12.

4. That primary courses and schedules for urban schools should be strictly differentiated from those for rural and country town schools.

5. That from October 15 to April 15 the school day should be from 7.30 to 11.30; from April 15 to September 30 from 12 to 4.

6. That the advancement of the teacher with the class merited a fair trial, the teacher remaining with the same class a minimum of two years and a maximum of three.

7. That the establishment of normal schools essentially for rural teachers was imperative.

It is recognized that the clearness and sanity of these answers had a marked effect upon the substance of the law presented to the Federal Congress in August, 1918.

Another interesting instance of the submission of a pedagogic matter to the teachers of the city of Buenos Aires is shown in the questionnaire asking their opinion as to the best method of teaching spelling, sent out by the inspector of the tenth district, to the teachers. In accordance with the answers to this, the vocabulary used in primary schools was reduced to categories corresponding to the several grades, to its difficulties, and to the actual needs of the life and dominant occupations of the quarter of the city from which the children were drawn. This step was highly commended in French educational circles as marking efficient grappling with pedagogical difficulties felt in all cities of whatsoever country.

The regulation of the medical and dental inspection of national schools, under decree of March, 1918, was noteworthy. According to this, professional inspectors, chosen by the Government, must within the first three months of each school year examine individually all children entering school for the first time, periodically inspect the school buildings and ground and the health conditions of the teaching and administrative staffs, and take all prophylactic measures deemed necessary against epidemics and contagious diseases. Such reports shall be transmitted to the medical inspector general. Dental inspection of schools is to have a prominent part. Every month the chief inspector shall assemble for report and mutual discussion all medical and dental inspectors in such territorial divisions as he shall see fit.

Of the regulations in detail promulgated by the council in 1918, the most important is that changing the school year to two divisions, the first beginning March 1 and continuing until June 30, followed by three weeks of vacation, and the second beginning July 21 and continuing until November 20, followed by the long vacation of the year. This change is regarded as conforming with climatic effects upon the health of school children and as being a step long needed.

PROGRESS OF EDUCATION IN THE PROVINCES.

Outside the scope of the National Council are the powers of the provincial councils. These are local, auxiliary, and reinforcing in character. Some of the Provinces are practically inactive on the side of primary education, contenting themselves with the provisions made in that field by the National Government. Others, however, among them Santa Fe, San Luis, Cordoba, Entre Rios, and, of course, Buenos Aires, are worthy of note and commendation for steady interest in matters educational, and in financial support of schools carried on independently of the central authority.

Progress in the Province of Santa Fe, as evidenced by the annual message of the governor of that Province for 1917, was steady, despite the need of economy in provincial finances due to conditions resulting from the World War. An increase of 14 provincial schools over the year previous and of the grades in 36 schools was noted. Two problems were kept steadily in view: The improvement in the teaching personnel, accentuated by the disclosure of the fact that more than one-third of the teachers in the provincial schools lacked teacher training, and the construction of better school buildings. It was estimated that with these from 25 to 30 per cent of additional pupils could be taught by the same teaching force.

In the Province of San Luis the general inspector of provinces reported for 1916 the establishment of 160 local associations of the national _Amigos de la Educacion_. This society, composed of parents and others interested in primary education, has for its objects the close linking of home and school, the fight against illiteracy, the promotion of good feeling and companionship between natives and immigrants, the celebration of national festivals, the securing of better primary enrollment and attendance especially by the poorer children, with the inculcation of their self-respect, and cooperation with the regional and national authorities in the safeguarding of public health.

In this Province, by volunteer organizations of teachers and others interested, local patriotic conferences were inaugurated on topics of national history, hygiene, political economy, ethics, and themes generally related to home and school matters.

In the Province of Buenos Aires school excursions have been developed and made an organic part of instruction in civic and national spirit. They have been so arranged that children in the several zones may come by personal touch to know and correspond by letter with each other. In some places participation in these excursions has been made a reward of good lessons and conduct. They are to be taken in the last 15 days of October, and children are not to remain more than 3 days in one locality. Groups of not more than 12 pupils are recommended.

In July, 1916, the council general of the Province of Buenos Aires initiated courses in the normal school for the training of teachers and graduates of the normal schools in the recognition and study of retardation and its causes, and in early correction of abnormalities most frequently met. The program of courses includes a series of 16 lessons on related medical and pedagogical topics.

Of direct bearing upon educational problems among the rural population is the project of the law recently sent by the executive of the Province of Buenos Aires to the legislature, providing for the issuance of bonds to the amount of $45,000,000 for the expropriation of parts of the great landed estates and the division of the land thus expropriated into small tracts for the use of small farmers. Subsequent purchase under advantageous terms is to be encouraged. According to reports, the prevailing system of “arrendatorios,” or small tenants for short terms, has led to so acute an agrarian unrest, with the consequent shifting and aimless wandering of an increasing element of the population, as to constitute a social and economic menace no longer to be ignored. The educational effects in the increase of illiteracy and the general retardation of primary education have been manifest.

In 1918 the Legislature of the Province of Entre Rios enacted into law a series of provisions guaranteeing the stability of the scale of salaries for teachers in provincial schools. Promotion and increase of salary were based rigorously upon merit; teachers were declared unremovable during good conduct and fitness; initial salaries were fixed as follows: (_a_) For normal teacher, $160 per month; (_b_) for rural normal teacher, $120 per month; (_c_) for rural teacher, $100 per month; (_d_) for special teacher, $80 per month. Every five years the teacher who has worked in the same place for that period shall receive a bonus of 20 per cent on his initial salary.

The government of the Province of Cordoba has approved a plan for the introduction of agricultural courses in the primary schools, presented and prepared by experts in agronomy and pedagogy, without dislocation of existing courses and schedules.

The inspectors of this Province presented for the consideration of the provincial chamber of deputies the project of a law to establish a normal school for the preparation of rural teachers exclusively, the courses offered being:

(_a_) The development of subjects related to fundamental studies in the primary schools;

(_b_) Practice teaching adapted to the needs of the primary schools of the locality; and

(_c_) Elementary teaching, both theoretical and practical, in manual arts, agriculture and cattle breeding, and minor rural industries.

Private schools conforming to governmental requirements were legally recognized and incorporated by decree of 1917 and their consequent validation effected. Pupils of the fifth and sixth grades of such private schools applying for leaving certificates are required to undergo an examination upon all subjects for those grades of the official national programs before a board of three members appointed by the inspector.

Officially apart from the Ministry of Public Education but calling for special mention was the establishment in 1917 under the encouragement of the National Department of Agriculture of 16 schools in rural domestic science in nine Provinces, including Buenos Aires. Courses are offered in minor industries, such as dairying, beekeeping, care of fowls, hog raising, agriculture, horticulture, and canning of fruits and vegetables. Five hundred women have been enrolled. A number of these schools, the largest at Tucuman, have been put on a permanent basis, and private associations are working to effect this in many places.

School celebrations of national festivals, long popular in Argentina, have been especially marked during the year 1918, the centennial year for the nation. They were held in all schools on July 8, the chief feature being the oath to the flag and the singing of the national hymn in the presence of the school and civic authorities.

CHANGES UNDER THE PROJECTED LAW OF 1918.

Following the former order of education in Argentina, the second stage of primary education began with the educational bill submitted with the approval of the President to the Federal Congress in August, 1918. In this were incorporated changes of far wider scope than any ever before projected. Not only primary education, but the entire fabric of Argentine education was to be nationalized in content of courses, in methods of instruction, and in special preparation of teachers for tasks devolving on them under the new régime. The bill provided for large development of industrial and vocational courses and called for the use of materials peculiarly national and local. It laid stress upon civic and patriotic training, in view of the heterogeneous constitution of the Argentine population through steady streams of immigration and the necessity of molding these diverse elements into a body of patriotic and intelligent citizens. It provided for the establishment of primary schools throughout the nation under more flexible financial and administrative regulations than the old, for the segregation of specific revenues for the exclusive use of the Ministry of Public Instruction, and the consequent abolition of the old system of national subsidies to individual localities. Especially in the fight against illiteracy did the projected law embody progressive features. The National Council of Education was empowered to establish standard primary schools wherever there were as many as 20 illiterate children of school age. In the message which accompanied the recommendation of the law the President pointed out that the projected law tended to give unity and stability to the several divisions of education under the direction of the department of national instruction and adapted them to the material progress of the nation and to latter-day civilization. His identification of popular education with national progress justifies a quotation at length:

As primary education was established by law in 1864, it contains regulations which in reality have lost their original justification; for Argentine civilization now demands urgent reforms in the matter of general instruction in order to give greater consistency and reason to the latter, and in order to make it more practical, more adaptable to the various regional needs of the Republic. It is especially urgent to carry its action to all the sections of the country not yet reached by the system in order to arrive at the real aims of a truly national education. Chief among these is to eradicate illiteracy, the most patriotic task in which we can engage and the one upon whose successful execution alone can any real national progress and enlightenment rest.

The institutions of higher education have continued to develop in the direction of autonomy and within the limit determined by the law of 1885; but with the primary, they demand modifications in the course and arrangement of studies in order to abolish antiquated practices and methods and to reach the level of the great modern universities of the world.

Secondary instruction, in its turn, has lacked and still lacks a law to fix it in definite form and to define its real character in accordance with constitutional precepts and the nature of our political institutions. It has existed subject to the continual change of plans and regulations, harassed by the application of widely varying educational conceptions, in a state of continuous instability, and therefore reduced to a mere administrative mechanism without power of initiative relative to its immediate needs and without sufficient social influence to realize its true aims. To remedy these evils and to fill these gaps is one of the purposes of this law, in which the attempt has been made to include only that which ought to be general and permanent. The primary aim of secondary education should be to spread education among the towns and cities in such a way that in all the country there shall be trained, educated citizens fitted to play their part in the future civilization of the country. Preparatory instruction has therefore been kept under the control of the universities, which will fix their courses of study, their duration, and their extension both general and special. Both the plans of the preparatory courses, as well as those of the professions taught in the faculties of the university, have been projected along the lines already mentioned. The programs of the normal schools have been formulated in accordance with the technical ideas which should distinguish them, separating the general studies from those properly called pedagogical or professional, arranging them so that the former shall precede and the latter be intensified toward the end of the course.

As regards practical subjects of instruction, the project outlines only the general features according to which they must be taught. Instruction will be imparted in accordance with the necessities of the immediate field of each school, with special regard to natural production, commerce, industries, and aptitudes of the population, all with the purpose of adjusting anew the activities of the Argentine youth, which has hitherto been by preference inclined toward the more speculative studies rather than those of practical and of immediate application. It is left to the authorities of technical education to prepare plans and courses of study adapted to each class of institutions.

Enrollment in all schools has been made absolutely free, a logical consequence of compulsory education, which has as yet never been effective, but which is an indispensible condition to placing all upon the same plane of equality, a thing inherent in the principles of republican institutions.

The Government considers that the power wielded by the nation to spread primary education in the Provinces is so ample, in the form established by this projected law, that the regulations in force concerning financial subventions are without reason or justification. Once the Provinces have complied with the duty imposed upon them by the constitution in this regard up to the limit of their capacity the accompanying responsibility of the Federal Government will disappear.

The executive, knowing the great value of the teaching profession in the general concert of human activities, seeks every means to establish and dignify the career of teacher, making it a real profession surrounded by all the honors and all the public considerations which it can legitimately claim. It is therefore sought in the reform to fix proper conditions for different categories of teachers, as well as a scale of salaries, and proportional and periodic increase, thus guaranteeing the stability of the profession and assuring it an honorable and tranquil retirement. With such aims in view for the retirement of secondary teachers, the executive has believed it equitable to establish similar lines of financial aid for pensions and for increase of salaries as those offered to the teachers of primary education.

SECONDARY EDUCATION.

Reference has been made to the establishment of intermediate schools, at first uniform, later differentiated, substituted for the former fifth and sixth years of the primary school and intended to bridge the chasm between the primary and the secondary schools. This marked a further innovation, in that secondary education had always been left in Argentina to the Provinces, the State nationally exercising only a nominal oversight of this division. For financial reasons, as well as because of the necessity of giving uniformity to a type so widely scattered, the intermediate school was from the very first regarded as national in scope. It may be likened in many respects to the junior high school of American cities. It was designed to give instruction of a general and cultural nature in languages, history, geography, and mathematics, combined with experimental studies in the elements of physical and natural science. Much earlier entrance, its advocates claimed, would thus be possible upon subjects of vocational and technical character, which should test the nascent abilities and aptitudes of the pupil. Especial attention was to be given woodworking, typewriting, stenography, linotyping, decorative design, photography, and special arts and crafts favored by local conditions.

This experiment, though marking an advance in educational methods, was unsuccessful, and after a year of existence such schools were discontinued. They did, however, affect instruction in secondary education, leaving their impress in the radical requirement of early specialization after the fifth and sixth higher primary grades.