than in formal classwork. Music education consists of choral singing and aims at both participation and appreciation. About 250 schools have movie projectors for the showing of educational films. Radio broadcasts, including stories, legends, history, geography, health hints, and other materials that are eagerly discussed in the classrooms are offered for all grade levels.

Course of studies.-The elementary course of studies is presented in table 2. The free subjects (cursos libres) consist of differentiated activities for the development of individual abilities, chiefly in the industrial arts.

Grading system.-School grades or marks range from five, excellent, to one; with four, good; three, passing; and below three, failure. Tests of all kinds are used, although rarely with scientific analyses of validity, reliability, and interpretation of results. Customarily, bimonthly tests are administered, the grades attained being averaged to make up the pupil's mark for the year (nota del año) which counts for 75 percent of the final year's grade. Few teachers keep daily record of pupil classwork. A final examination is given in December, which counts for the other 25 percent. Thus, promotion is based largely on the actual year's work as shown by tests and considerable generosity is shown by the teachers.

School supervision (Inspección escolar).-The role of the supervisor in Chile's present-day educational reform movement is fundamental. Theoretically he is supposed to be an experienced and expert teacher-friend. ready to inspire, direct, and stimulate school work in the light of contemporary educational concepts. He is interested in the general state of learning in the particular classroom, the character and form of the teaching, the discipline and order of the pupils, the personality of the teacher, and the general atmosphere of the learning situation.

According to a circular distributed among supervisors and principals in 1930 by the head of the pedagogical section of the Ministry of Public Education, school visitation involves three types of visits. First, for gathering information about the community, the pupils, the teachers, and the general atmosphere of the school. Second, for actual supervisory and demonstrational aid to the teachers in the classroom, helping in the classification of the pupils, the establishment of make-up sections, the employ

ment of new methods and procedures, the organization of teaching plans and the like, in accordance with the needs of the region or locality; third, at the close of the school year, for ascertaining the progress achieved and collecting reports that may improve the work of the following year.

Supervision is provided through four general visitors (visitadores generales) who work directly out of the Ministry and visit schools throughout the whole country, 25 provincial supervisors (inspectores provinciales) responsible for supervision in the province to which each has been assigned, and 41 local supervisors (inspectores locales) in charge of specific districts within the provinces. Actually, however, the major portion of the time of these three groups of supervisors is devoted to office routine, the study of the qualifications of prospective teachers, and administrative and disciplinary cases. Visitation and helpful supervision of actual classroom situations, therefore, are rare.

Community relationships.-Somewhat comparable to our North American Parent-Teacher Associations, are the Parent Groups (Centros de Padres) of Chile. These Parent Groups are regulated by Ministerial Decree No. 5198 of August 3, 1943.3 Defined as an organization for educational and social cooperation with the school, each one is to be founded or, if already existing, reorganized under the guidance of the principal of the school. Otherwise, it is not recognized by school authorities and may not enjoy the use of the school plant for meetings and entertainments. Membership includes parents, guardians, relatives, and neighbors over 18 years of age. The activities of the organization aim at better parenthood, better scholarship, and better schools, and consist of musical and other forms of cultural entertainment, and talks on educational, industrial, and social topics. Funds accumulated are employed in the purchase of furniture, books, and other educational materials. There are several hundred of these centros and the number is increasing to the satisfaction of the personnel in the Ministry, who regard them as decidedly effective in bringing the community and the school together in united effort.

School health and other services.-Article 11 of Chile's Compulsory Education Law provides for the establishment of School Aid Councils (Juntas de Auxilio Escolar), to insure the fulfillment of the school law, and especially to promote and organize nutrition and other aids for public-school pupils. The national education budget allots a quota, according to need, for the 260 School Aid Councils in the municipalities (comunas), which added to the 5 percent of the municipal budget that each receives, amounts to a total of approximately 20,000,000 pesos annually. Each Council distributes its funds in the form of school breakfasts, lunches, clothing, tonics, medicine, and so forth for needy pupils. Various other organizations are doing good work in this field. In 1943 the Department for the Protection of Infancy and Adolescence, in the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (de Salubridad, Previsión y Asistencia Social) extended its activities through the elementary school into the secondary, technical, industrial, and trade schools of the country, providing medical and nutritional service to 20,231 pupils in this new area. This same year the department served 5,845 maternity cases, 11,703 nursing mothers, 8,215 preschool pupils, 123,641 regular school pupils, 324,889 dental cases, and

Circular No. 88, Reglamento sobre Funcionamiento de los Centros de Padres de las Escuelas Primarias, Dirección General de Educación Primaria, Sección Pedagógica, Santiago, 15 de Setiembre de 1943

'Figures furnished by the head of the pedagogical section, Department of Elemeneary Education,

4,833 children in the various institutions for the abnormal.5

Santiago Elementary Education Society (Sociedad de Instrucción Primaria de Santiago).-Founded in Santiago in 1856 by a group of distinguished young men interested in combating the problem of illiteracy and ignorance in Chile, this society today maintains and conducts eight schools in the nation's capital, including the Victoria Kindergarten and the Luis Cousino Night School for Adults. This society started the school year of 1943 with a balance of 20,917,826.06 pesos. A total of 1,735,983.88 pesos was expended during 1942.6 From an educational point of view, the buildings in which the Society's schools are housed are among the most modern in Chile. Large, clean, bright, airy classrooms surround a spacious patio where the children disport during the frequent recess periods. The teachers and equipment are carefully selected. More than 5,000 boys and girls from the poorer wards of the city receive in these schools an elementary education that is unsurpassed anywhere in Chile. All schools of the Society are filled to capacity.

One of these institutions, the Matte School for Boys, is the largest in the country, with an enrollment of 1,600 and an average attendance of 1,380. In 1944, twenty teachers handled the instruction. The Francisco Arriarán School for Girls is another large school, with an enrollment in 1943 of 963 and an actual attendance of 871. The program of studies is the established official course, enriched and amplified by the addition of special subjects and materials. Regular classes are held 5 days a week from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Four mornings a week a sixth-year class in home economics is offered. An English language course is given for all pupils planning to continue into secondary study. Two other special courses are: Music theory, piano and chorus, and stringed instruments-the latter designed to develop a school orchestra.

The schools of the Elementary Education Society enjoy medical and dental care, free school lunches for the needy, pupil bank, mutual-aid organizations, and Parent Groups. The 1942 graduates of the Matte School for Boys were distributed as follows in 19437: School of Arts and Trades, 3; Santa María University, 2; Tailoring School, 5; Plumbing School, 6; Graphic Arts School, 4; Agricultural School, 1; Commerical Institute, 2; St. Vincent Shop School, 3; Santiago Seminary, 2; Vocational Grades, 11; Secondary Schools (Academic), 10; School for Midshipmen, 1; Work or Employment, 25. Of 71 graduates of the Francisco Arriarán Girls School, 40 entered the academic secondary school; 17, the normal school; and 12, other types of educational institutions. Only 2 failed to continue their education.

Council of School Beneficence (Junta de Beneficencia Escolar).-This organization, with its 70 branch committees in the Provinces, works for the physical and spiritual well-being of the school population. Its funds are derived from a Government subvention, private philanthropy, and public collections. Outstanding among its charitable services are the seasonal school vacation camps (colonias escolares de vacaciones) for undernourished and needy children. The pupils for these month-long outings at the seashore or in the mountains are chosen according to individual school medical records. Buildings and grounds in different parts of the country are maintained by the organization, and nourishing food, medical care,

49.

5 Mensaje de S. E. el Presidente de la República, en la apertura de las sesiones ordinarias del Congreso Nacional, 21 de Mayo de 1944. Imprenta Fiscal de la Penitenciaria de Santiago, May 1944. p. 248Memoria del Secretario, Sociedad de Instrucción Primaria de Santiago. Imprenta Universitaria. Santiago, 1943. 7 Ibid., p. 26

and a limited amount of instruction are provided. Thousands of children enjoy this service annually and financial support is steadily increasing.

Rural schools (escuelas rurales).-In 1871 Chile's elementary schools were classified as urban and rural, the latter being given alternating attendance girls in the morning, boys in the afternoon. Ten years later rural schools became coeducational and were made mandatory in towns of 300 to 600 inhabitants. As previously stated, the buildings are commonly inadequate, the equipment sparse and antiquated. In this typical oneroom, one-teacher school, the instructor is only rarely able to provide even the minimum 4 years required by law or to make any real contribution to the community, because the prescribed course of studies is practically identical with that of urban establishments. Until recently, professional training was the same for rural and urban teachers and little if any effort was made to select prospective rural teachers from the regions in which the schools were located.

Decree 3147, of June 7, 1930, gave the rural schools a governing regulation of their own and the Bureau of Rural Education in the Ministry has since been working for the improvement of this branch of the service. Special courses have been included in the preparation of teachers, and agricultural information and materials are distributed to teachers in service.

The Rural Education Reviews pointed out the following features of rural school policy. In addition to the objectives of other elementary schools, the rural school aims at the awakening of vocational tendencies towards agriculture and allied industries; the modernization of routinary and domestic farming procedures; the embellishment of country life through recreational activities and new knowledge, practices, habits, and ideals; the transformation of the school into an active and sought-after source of information and practice for the entire community, and the training of the pupils for the realities of life through the inculcation of desirable social and agrarian habits. School activities should conform with the physical and mental capacities of the children: Be concerned with training not only for farm life but also for other avenues of endeavor in harmony with the pupil's aptitudes and abilities. The program should be the minimum required in urban elementary schools, plus specialized activities according to the pupils, the community, and the region. The offering should include: Agricultural activities-cultivation of fruits, vegetables, legumes, cereals, fodders, flowers; animal husbandry-raising and care of cattle, hogs, goats, sheep, rabbits, turkeys, chickens, bees; manual activities-carpentry, tanning, harnessmaking, blacksmithing, potterymaking, dyeing, weaving, basketmaking, laundering, sewing; and such other subjects as hygiene, child care, and home economics. Instruction should be objective, experimental, practical, and socialized. From second grade on, classes should be laboratories for the analysis and organization of information and experience had in the field.

Specialists are employed by the Ministry to cooperate with rural school teachers in this work. Gradually, activities of the character enumerated above are being incorporated into the curricula of the more progressive schools and the preparation of teachers is being improved through the work of seven rural normal schools. There are now approximately 100 special rural schools (escuelas quintas) whose entrance requirements, length of course, and program of studies are similar to those of first-class urban schools, but which have small plots of land permitting practical in

Revista de Educación Rural. Año VII, No. 55, Setiembre de 1942. p. 6-7.

struction in gardening and vegetable growing. There are also 11 farm schools (escuelas granjas). These latter are free boarding institutions for pupils 14 to 18 years of age who have completed at least 3 years of elementary school and are sons of peasants, small farmers, tenant farmers, or owners of farm property. Each farm school has between 50 and 60 acres of farm land and, through 3 years of practical instruction in agriculture, stockraising, and allied fields, aims to develop efficient rural workers equipped with modern principles and skills. For 2-week periods the pupils rotate in groups, each in charge of an older student, taking care of the chickens, the bees, the cattle, the gardens, and the fields. Academic instruction of upper elementary level is provided along with the practical farming activities. The organization of these schools aims essentially at attaching the child to the land, showing him in a practical manner how to make it produce, and thus to prevent the exodus of young people to the cities.

On October 17, 1944, in San Vicente de Tagua, the first farm school for girls (escuela granja feminina) in South America was opened with the laudable purpose of training country women in the spiritual, moral, economic, and social aspects of rural life. This school provides a general elementary course from the fourth through the sixth year covering a general knowledge of agriculture and related industries, and technical training in dressmaking, weaving, and home economics. The students are drawn from rural schools.

Home schools (hogares infantiles).-Scattered through the country are 14 home (boarding) schools for orphans and abandoned children. Supported by private philanthropy and State funds, these institutions admit children of 7 or 8 years of age and provide 6 years of regular elementary instruction as well as practical training in rural activities. Board, room. clothing, and medical attention are also provided. Like the farm school these home schools have a fairly large piece of tillable land which is culti vated to the limit. Academic classes are held in the morning; practical and recreational activities in the afternoon. All kinds of vegetables are raised, as are also chickens, pigs, and other farm stock.

In the Hogar Infantil for Boys of Temuco, which has slightly less than 10 acres of land, over half is under cultivation. Corn, beans, peas, artichokes, onions, limas, potatoes, lettuce, strawberries, raspberries, and so on, are grown in season. There are also between 200 and 250 apple, cherry, and peach trees. In 1944 the school had 33 Leghorn and Rhode Island Red chickens, and 6 big hogs, one with a litter. Except for the preparation of meals and the teaching, which was done by 6 able and interested instructors, all the work around the institution was performed by the 77 children. A shoemaker's shop connected with this school serves the double purpose of teaching a trade and of keeping the pupil's footwear in condition. An all-pupil chorus maintained the tradition that "Chilean children love to sing." There are also two bands, the one for beginners being coached by the older musicians.

Temuco, which is situated in the center of a large and thriving farming region, has also a home school for girls. The girls' school is considerably smaller, but otherwise almost identical with the boys' school. Cooking, sewing, embroidery work, and the like are substituted for many of the agricultural activities in which the boys engage. In both institutions the children seem well fed, bright, and happy.

Boys' Town (Ciudad del Niño "Presidente Rios").-On the outskirts

El Mercurio, Santiago de Chile, Oct. 18, 1944.