Table J.-Progression of secondary school students (3-year plan) in the Republic, 1950

of 106,600 students. The National Youth Institute (Instituto Nacional de la Juventud), an organization to give young people a sense of responsibility through participation in civic tasks, and in sports, economic, and cultural activities, reported 66,000 affiliates in 1955, an increase of 42,000 over the number in 1954. These figures highlight the fact that secondary education has developed slowly through the years and that it still is serving but a small part of the youth of secondary school age. When contrasted with earlier enrollments, however, and viewed against the background of the millions who have not completed schooling up to the sixth grade, they give evidence of a significant change in the nature and direction of Mexico's secondary school program.

Vocational Education

Another new turn in educational endeavor which came as the direct result of the Revolution is the development of vocational education. There had been a few schools of industrial arts for Indians in the colonial

period and a few Escuelas de Artes y Oficios during the presidency o Porfirio Díaz, but vocational training had not been considered an im portant part of the national system of education. Increasingly since the early twenties, however, the Government policy has been one of encouragement and promotion of schools which will add to the number and proficiency of the economically active population.

Table K.-Number and type of secondary schools in Mexico (3-year plan), 1945 and 1952

The program of the schools of agriculture is 5 years in length beginning with the fifth grade, organized in 3 cycles. The first cycle, curso complementario, covers 2 years and is very similar to the third cycle of primaria with the addition of 25 hours a week of practical work pertaining to agriculture, cattle raising, and derived industries. The second cycle, curso agrícola, also covering 2 years, concentrates on practical

agricultural activities; the care of domestic animals; dairying; conservation of meats, fruits, and vegetables; care of bees; rural construction; and the like. Classes are held 3 hours a week in arithmetic, science, and language and 2 hours a week in drawing, rural economics, bookkeeping, agriculture, tinshop, carpentry, and blacksmithing. Physical education and pre-military training are also included. In the fifth year a differentiated program is offered according to the aptitude and interest of the student. This is called the curso preparatorio leading into a higher school of agriculture or the study of veterinary medicine. In this cycle the student may choose one of the following programs: aviculture, agricultural mechanics, dairying, fruitgrowing and horticulture, apiculture or agricultural industry.

Since the students in the agricultural schools are on Government scholarships they are under strict observation during the first 3 months, and those who do not seem capable and interested are asked to withdraw. To remain in school the student must pass all his studies and take no more than 3 days off during the school year. In an emergency he may be absent for 15 days, but that does not excuse him from any examinations. The students take turns for their vacation in order to keep the practical activities going. There are 251 days in their school year. The daily chores begin at whatever hour is customary in the community and the schedule is arranged somewhat as follows: 8 hours for sleep; 2 hours for cleaning rooms, making beds, dressing, physical education; hour for breakfast; 4%1⁄2 hours for classes; 1⁄2 hour for personal grooming; 2 hours for dinner and rest; 3 hours for classes or activities; 1 hour for planning sessions and discussions; 1 hour for supper; 11⁄2 hours for study and recreation. Students keep a notebook in which they record systematically their observations and practical work.

The schools of this type (table L), had a total enrollment in 1952 of 2022. They operate under the general supervision of the Dirección General de Enseñanza Agrícola of SEP.

One of the main problems connected with the agricultural schools is to get graduates to return to their communities and apply their knowledge, since they lack opportunity and land on which to establish themselves in farming. To help solve this problem the Government has been establishing agricultural colonies composed exclusively of students who finish their studies in the agricultural schools. The Government supplies the land and equipment and arranges for credit through the Bank of Agricultural Credit over a period of 5 years until the farming enterprise can reach full production. Apparently this plan is working very successfully. One such colony, the "Guía del Porvenir" in Zongolica, Veracruz, is made up of 20 practical agriculturalists working under an adviser from SEP, who are profitably engaged in raising guayule rubber, bananas, lemons, corn, beans, and sesame seeds. Of the 513 students who finished the ciclo

preparatorio of the 12 agricultural schools in 1951, 83 were located in agricultural colonies and 83 others were given scholarships to continue their studies in higher schools of agriculture or to teach in the agricultural school at Roque, Guanajuato.

There are 3 higher schools of agriculture, which are under the Secretaría de Agricultura y Ganadería, one each in Saltillo, Coahuila, and Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and the National School of Agriculture at Chapingo in the State of Mexico. The course of instruction in these schools is 7 years in length, the last 4 years being at the professional level. The National School of Agriculture offers degree work in 6 fields: agricultural engineering, phytology, agricultural economics, parasitology, forestry, and irrigation.

Table L.-Name and location of Federal agricultural schools

Students who have completed the primaria and have artistic talent may choose a special school of music, art, theater, dancing, or other field. The Escuelas Nocturnas de Arte offer night classes in music, plastic arts, theater, and dance. Studies preparatory to a professional career in music or plastic arts are available at the National School of Music or the National School of Plastic Arts, both under the administration of the National University. The Secretariat of Public Education supervises studies in the National School of Fine Arts and the Escuela de Pintura y Escultura, which offers a 5-year course in painting and a 5-year program in sculpture. These schools are entirely free and open to both sexes and some of Mexico's leading artists are members of their teaching staffs.

The Escuela de Danza prepares students for teaching careers in dancing, ballet, and choreography. The Escuela de las Artes del Libro gives a 3-year course in book format, engraving, and bookbinding. The Instituto Cinematográfico Teatral y de Radiotelevisión, established in 1951

by the National Association of Mexican Actors, gives a 3-year course in dramatic acting, voice training, and history of the theater. Its school year is from February 15 to November 15, and classes meet Monday through Friday from 4 to 9 p. m. Students with primaria schooling who are 15 years of age and pass the entrance examination are eligible for training under the guidance of professional actors. This school also offers special courses for children who are 8 years of age or older.

Outside the capital the larger cities provide similar opportunities for education in the arts. An unusual school in Morelia, Michoacán, is known as the Instituto de los Niños Cantores. Founded in 1949 as a dependency of the School of Sacred Music of the Morelia Cathedral, the Instituto offers the regular primaria plan of study along with concentrated training in music and foreign languages. The boys are admitted at the age of 7 or 8 on the basis of audition tests and live in the dormitory which occupies the site of the old Conservatory of the Roses, established in 1743 and said to be the first conservatory of music in America. Discipline is strict and the school day is about 10 hours long, but the achievement is in proportion. The Niños Cantores sing regularly in the Morelia Cathedral, which supports the school, and have given concerts in many other cities of Mexico as well as in Central America and the United States.

COMMERCE

Commercial schools offer 3-year curricula stressing shorthand, typing, bookkeeping, and office practice, with Spanish, English, arithmetic, civics, and some other subjects of the secundaria included. A few offer 4-year programs. These schools are largely private and attract about twice as many girls as boys. The promotion record is somewhat higher than in other schools at the secondary level. The following enrollment and promotion data are from Anuario Estadístico, 1951-52.

Table M.-Progression of students in post-elementary vocational