LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BUREAU OF EDUCATION, SIR: The new interest which the people of the United States are taking in the countries of Central and South America calls for information not only in regard to their industrial and commercial development, but in regard to their social, civic, and political life, and also information in regard to their schools and their agencies of education, on which all else depends. A knowledge of the means by which these countries are trying to meet the need for education in modern democratic society can not fail to be helpful to us in our efforts to readjust our schools to constantly changing conditions; all problems in education have become in a very real sense international. I therefore recommend that the accompanying manuscript on the Scholastic scope and standards of secondary schools in the States of Central America, South America, and the West Indies be published as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education. This manuscript has been prepared by Miss Anna Tolman Smith, the bureau's specialist in foreign educational systems. Respectfully submitted. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. P. P. CLAXTON, Commissioner. 5 SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN THE STATES OF CENTRAL AMERICA, SOUTH AMERICA, AND THE WEST INDIES-SCHOLASTIC SCOPE AND STANDARDS. INTRODUCTORY SURVEY. The States of Central America and South America are in the midst of an industrial development which imparts new impulses to their educational activities. There is at once an awakened sense of the economic bearings of elementary or popular education and of the need of a readjustment of the work of the long-established secondary schools. Efforts in the latter direction are of special interest to other nations, as it is in the secondary schools that the directive classes are educated. Schools of this order determine in great measure the opinions and purposes of the men who control public affairs and promote international sympathies and interests. Educational reports and periodicals published in the States referred to abound in discussions of the changes that are required to meet the new demands. Many of these discussions reveal merely conscious needs for which as yet no adequate provision can be made. But in a few States the problems are clearly defined and, in particular, definite plans have been adopted for the reform or development of the courses of study in secondary schools. The official programs afford a clearer idea of the subject, both in the States that have lately revised their courses of secondary instruction and in those which have made no changes, than any general discussions. These programs, it should be said, are not announcements of ambitious institutions, but the expression of matured plans adopted by the educational authorities in full view of public resources and social demands either at the present time or at an earlier period. By reference to the several programs presented below it will be seen that the idea of education as a culture process has not been sacrificed in those of recent date. For a better understanding of the scholastic work of the schools considered, it is desirable to have in mind certain features of their organization which may properly be called common to the different States. In all the States secondary education is the preparatory stage to higher institutions and in several instances forms a department 96905°-15-2 7 in the university organization. This is notably the case in Uruguay, the University of Montevideo including a faculty of secondary instruction which is charged with administrative functions;1 the public college of this city is practically an adjunct of the university. This same relation is illustrated by the National Institute of Panama and the college of the University of La Plata. The public secondary schools are supported by Government funds alone or in combination with provincial and departmental appropriations or by municipalities. The schools may be either for day students solely or include boarding departments. The private colleges which abound in all the States are boarding schools. They are often subsidized and follow in the main the official programs of secondary education. The course of secondary instruction is generally arranged for six years, covering the ages 12 to 18; in a few States the course may be completed in five years. Pupils may pass from the primary schools to the public secondary schools; as a rule, private secondary schools include a preparatory class for children from 10 to 12 years of age. In several States the successful completion of the secondary studies entitles the student to the bachelor's degree; in other States additional study in a university faculty of letters and philosophy is required before a diploma is obtained. The institutional life which forms such an important factor in the secondary schools of other countries plays a very small part in the public secondary school of the Spanish-American States. The administrative staff of the schools is usually large, comprising a chief executive (rector or director), a treasurer, secretary, etc. The professors, who are appointed by the government, central or local, are assigned to particular subjects for a definite number of hours, and have no further relation with their classes. As a rule they are men holding university diplomas and engaged in professional practice. This peculiar system, which prevails also in the universities, prevents the close unity of a corporate body, although it brings students into contact with men of affairs. One of the most significant signs of progress in the leading States is the effort to replace this system by that of permanent professors having special preparation for the service. The features of organization to which attention has been called affect in various ways the general spirit of the schools and the conduct of studies; but the purpose here is to consider mainly the scholastic scope and standards of secondary education as illustrated by official programs. These programs incidentally reveal differences in 1 See plate of the administration building (frontispiece); original was received from the Uruguayan Government by the courtesy of Dr. Harry Erwin Bard, secretary of the Pan American Society of the United States. the schools of the different States, but notwithstanding the fact that each State is an independent unity, the differences are not greater than appear in the secondary schools of the different sections of the United States. The intimate view of the content of secondary education in the States of Central and South America afforded by the particulars which follow is of interest to all persons engaged in promoting international relations, and particularly so to those who must determine the equivalence of the scholastic standards maintained in different countries. CENTRAL AMERICA. COSTA RICA. In Central America, Costa Rica has taken the lead in practical measures for extending the scope of public education and adapting the course of instruction to local conditions. The purpose is promoted by the centralized control of education, which is exercised by an undersecretary in a department including other executive duties. The chief officer of the division of public instruction, however, is generally chosen with regard to his special fitness for that service. areas. The governors of the five Provinces into which the State is divided are responsible for the execution of the school laws in their respective The immediate direction of public primary schools is committed to Government inspectors, who are responsible to the central authority. Public secondary and higher institutions are directly under the secretary for public instruction. In the projects of reform submitted to the Congress of Costa Rica in 1913, the importance of unifying the entire scheme of education so that the course of the secondary schools (liceos) should be continuous with that of primary schools and both better adapted to present needs was urged by the undersecretary for public instruction, Señor Brenes-Mesén.1 Propositions embodying these views were authorized by decrees issued by the President of Costa Rico the same year. Among these was a decree of March 5 reorganizing the plans of study for the Liceo de Costa Rica, the Normal School, and the School of Commerce. There are five public secondary schools in the State, namely, the Liceo de Costa Rica and the Colegio Superior de Senoritas, both at San Jose; the Liceo de Heredia; Instituto de Alajuela; and Colegio de Cartago. The first three institutions are supported entirely by national funds, while the expenses of the last two are met equally by municipal and national funds. 1 At present Señor Brenes-Mesén is envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the United States from Costa Rica. |