Selected Writings of Andres Bello by Bello Andres; Lopez-Morillas Frances; Jaksic Ivan

Author:Bello, Andres; Lopez-Morillas, Frances; Jaksic, Ivan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 1997-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Report on the Progress of Public Instruction for the Five-Year Period 1844–1848

(1848)

His Excellency:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I am performing the duty expected of me by Article 24 of the Rules for the Council of the University.6 In accordance with it, I shall draw your attention to four points: the present state of public instruction; an enumeration of the improvements that have been introduced into it; their results; and the obstacles that have been placed in its way, together with a summary of events closely connected with public instruction and a list of the members of the university who have died and who had distinguished themselves by their efforts on its behalf. I shall try to be brief and to flesh out these indications to the best of my ability.

The first three are so closely linked together that, for the sake of brevity and clarity of expression, I think it best not to separate them.

As for the first, I have little to add to the beautifully clear picture presented to the two Chambers by the minister [of Public Instruction], Vice-patron of the university, in his report of 11 September of this year. Beginning with primary instruction, comparison of our present situation with that of other civilized nations is dismal. Using as a basis the total number of persons who receive such instruction throughout the Republic, according to the figures that accompany this report, and adding to it the numbers for the province of Chiloé according to the very incomplete bulletin that exists in the offices of the Faculty of Humanities; adding to this an estimate of the numbers for the department of Concepción which could not be included in that report, and taking into account the inevitable lack of data with regard to other areas and even the province of Santiago, as well as the considerable number of very small schools that have escaped observation, and individuals of both sexes who are taught at home, I believe that we can fix the number of persons who receive the first seeds of mental culture at one in forty-five inhabitants. From these figures we may deduce that primary education reaches barely one-sixth of those eligible to receive it.

We must recognize that, of all the countries which enjoy a more or less advanced degree of civilization, none presents as many difficulties for extending primary education as does Chile. In many of our rural areas the inhabitants do not form compact nuclei of a certain size, like the hamlets and small villages of Europe and other countries in America. The traveler often searches in vain for these small groups of families to appear, and in places where he expected to find one of them, he can see only a broad stretch of land dotted with scattered houses that are very far apart, with almost no communication among them. How many of the people who live in this way can send their children to a school which, in addition, is a long distance away from most of them?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.