EDUCATION IN VENEZUELA.
Primary education in Venezuela, during the biennium under consideration, has enlisted the practical interest of the National Government as never before. This has taken shape primarily in the two fundamental administrative decrees of the Provisional President, Dr. Bustillos. The first, issued in February, 1917, outlines the general requirements laid down in the organic law of public instruction under certain regulations for primary public schools. These are divided into three main heads: (a) The primary elementary schools, in which only those subjects belonging to compulsory primary instruction are taught; (b) higher primary schools, in which are taught the subjects belonging to higher primary instruction; (c) completeprimary schools, in which instruction is given in both the above divisions at once.
The decree requires that each school be equipped with all modern appliances for the physical well-being of the pupils. Children are not admitted below 7 years of age; only those below 7 years are admitted to the mothers’ schools or the kindergartens; only those above 14 are admitted to the schools for adults.
The subjects required in the elementary primary schools are: Reading, writing, and elements of Spanish; elements of arithmetic and the metric system; rudiments of geography and history of Venezuela; rudiments of ethics and civic instruction; rudiments of behavior and hygiene; the national hymn and school songs; the first elements of manual arts, and, for girls, of sewing.
In the higher primary schools are taught the following: Elements of Spanish grammar, elementary arithmetic, metric system, geography and history of Venezuela, elements of universal geography and history, elementary science, ethical and civic instruction, behavior and elementary hygiene, elements of drawing and music, manual arts and elements of agriculture and cattle raising for boys, sewing and domestic economy for girls, gymnastic exercises.
Religious instruction is imparted to pupils whose parents or guardians require it, provided that the number of such be at least 10. The celebration of school festivals as required by law, the establishment of libraries in each school accessible to both pupils and teachers, and the keeping of books and registers by teachers and directors are among the general provisions emphasized in the regulations.
The second decree, issued by the Provisional President in July, 1917, sets forth the regulations for the official inspection of public instruction. It expressly concerns the following schools:
1. Those maintained or aided by the Federal Union.
2. Those of primary, secondary, and normal instruction, maintained or aided by the States or by the municipalities.
3. Public and private schools satisfying legal requirements of good conduct and school hygiene.
The official inspection of schools has its ultimate authority vested in the following grades of functionaries:
1. Committees (juntas) constituted by law in localities maintaining a school.
2. Technical inspectors of primary, secondary, and normal instruction for the Federal District and the States of the Union.
3. A superintendent for the Federal District.
4. Inspectors necessary for the operation of higher and special instruction.
5. Commissioners appointed for special educational cases.
The duties and responsibilities imposed by law upon the juntas of primary instruction are detailed at greatest length, as upon them rests the proper execution of the law and the success of the entire system. Most important of all these duties are those pertaining to the enforcement of compulsory primary instruction. The juntas are required to keep themselves informed of the primary instruction imparted to all children of school age in their district, whether in schools public or private or at home; to require all parents and guardians of children of school age to have such children instructed as required by law; to keep themselves informed of the progress of all such children; to impose fines as required by law upon all parents or guardians who neglect the instruction of children; to see that the children admitted to schools of all grades conform in age, state of health, etc., to the requirements of the law; to visit the schools in their district frequently and regularly; and to keep registers of all facts pertaining to the attendance upon such schools.
The duties and responsibilities of the inspectoral juntas of secondary instruction and those of normal instruction are full and exacting and along the lines already laid down.
The technical inspectors as a group have charge of all three grades of instruction, each in the district assigned to him. As fixed by ministerial decree, there are 10 of these, excluding the superintendent for the Federal District. These functionaries are the direct agents of the ministry of public instruction, and form the connecting link between that office and the local juntas. They are vested with complete power to compel the execution of the law by the local juntas under penalties prescribed by law. They are instructed to work in complete harmony with the juntas, to call meetings, and to outline to them their duties under the law. They are also required to instruct teachers in their duties. In short, the inspectors are the element upon which the successful working of the machinery of the regulations depends.
The superintendent of public instruction in the Federal District is directly under the authority of the minister of education.
The inspectors of higher and special instruction have duties and responsibilities analogous to those of the inspectors already mentioned, though these, for obvious reasons, are not outlined at such length.
In the field of primary instruction the interest aroused in rural schools has been the most marked feature in the past biennium. The ministry of public instruction has paid special attention to the project of establishing rural schools, fixed or traveling, in the vicinity of the main manufacturing, industrial, or commercial centers of the country, and the President by decree of July, 1917, in commendingthe project, urged upon the juntas wherever possible to develop this type of schools. Especially in the agricultural or cattle-raising sections was the project received with enthusiasm, applying, as it did, directly to the problems of illiteracy and the training of the country population in practical subjects related to daily life. By special decree the President urged the introduction of elementary courses in agriculture in the established schedule of studies.
Among the States which definitely established such schools the State of Trujillo, fourth in population, took the lead by establishing 14, with predominant emphasis upon practical courses in agriculture and related subjects. Such schools began at once to serve as centers for the instruction not only of the children of school age but of the population generally in new methods, the use of machines, cooperative societies, etc. Similarly in sections devoted to cattle raising they were centers of inspiration and instruction in related subjects.
During the last biennium the industrial plants located in the centers of Venezuela have established primary schools for the children of their operatives, with the approval of the authorities, State and municipal. The minister of public instruction, in his memoria for 1918, urge upon the Congress the passage of a law recognizing the work of these schools, arranging for their inspection by the governmental technical inspectors and the classification and certification of pupils completing the courses offered in them. Such schools have also done much in combating the illiteracy among adults by means of night schools, and they have in many places, by employing excellent teachers, served the very useful purpose of raising the standard of requirement in various districts for the public schools, State or municipal.
Secondary education in Venezuela, according to the memoria referred to, suffers much from the insufficiency and irregularity of the revenues devoted to it, with the consequent inefficient equipment for modern and scientific subjects and the inadequate salaries of the teachers. On the pedagogical side the memoria found the effects experienced by secondary education from the mechanical and memory instruction, too largely prevalent in primary education, a permanent obstacle to any hope of real reform in secondary education.
The colegios, a type of secondary school peculiar to the Spanish-American countries, of grade preparatory to the liceos, seem to be disappearing from Venezuelan education. There are now left only 13 Federal colegios, all the others maintained by the States and municipalities having lapsed. The explanation probably lies in the exaggerated theoretical instruction they offered and its lack of adaptation to the actual needs of the nation. A number of them occupied buildings of some size and pretension, and the minister inhis last memoria suggested that the vocational and industrial schools needed in the educational system might well be installed in these buildings.
Interest in the education of girls has made progress in Venezuela, an especially promising liceo for girls having been established at Caracas, offering advanced courses covering two years, with special attention to physical training and modern subjects.
Education in arts and crafts for men has long been popular in Venezuela, perhaps largely because of the national talent in those subjects. The school at Caracas, established in 1916, offers a four-year course, with English as the only foreign language. Within two years it reached an enrollment of 288 in the regular classes and 213 in the night courses.
Commercial education and training in political science courses have grown in popularity during the last biennium. Schools of the former have been established at Caracas, Maracaibo, Ciudad Bolívar, and Puerto Cabello; and of the latter, at Caracas, subsidized by the Government and regarded as an important adjunct in training for the legal profession.
In the field of the primary normal schools, the ministry has seen the necessity of their serving more largely the educational needs of the nation by supplying more and better teachers to the schools. It is, therefore, proposed to revise them thoroughly, especially in regard to the chief defect observed since their establishment, namely, the poor preparation of students who enter. It is proposed to offer, preparatory to the normal school proper, a perfecting course in essentials covering two or three years, to which would be added French, drawing, gymnastics, and music. Such a course would preferably be offered in the higher primary schools. The pupil should then proceed to the specialized subjects of pedagogy, methodology, psychology, and the history of education, these subjects to cover one year.
Another serious problem is the great difficulty experienced in securing suitable candidates for the scholarships offered in the primary normal schools by the several States and Territories. In many of them the memoria reports that the appointments had to lapse in view of the fact that no candidates qualified for them. The minister therefore suggested that a system of boarding departments, annexed to the normal schools, each accommodating about 20 boys of 10 to 13 years, should be established as feeders to the normal school system.
By presidential decree, dated July, 1917, special courses in practical agriculture, horticulture, floriculture, and domestic sciences were established in the primary normal schools, with the view of especially equipping teachers for the rural schools, whose establishment has come to be regarded as so necessary for the nation.
By presidential decree of March, 1917, an experimental station of agriculture and forestry, with an acclimatization garden, was established near Caracas. It is intended to serve as a model for other such stations in other parts of the country. “The objects of the station are the improvement of the methods of cultivation of the chief agricultural products of Venezuela; the introduction, selection, and distribution of seeds; experiments in reforestation; the suitability of soils to crops and of crops to various regions; and practical work for the training of agricultural foremen and forest rangers.”