The Twin City star., 1916-08-12
RURAL TRAINING
SCHOOLS SOUTH
Necessity For Better Prepared
Teachers Clearly Shown.
MANY AGENCIES At WORK.

Eight Southern States Are Co. operat.
ing With the General Education
Board For the improvement of coun.
try School FaeiIities-Attitude of Su.
pervisors 10 Friendly.
There is being developed in the south
a new type Of school for Negro youth
known as the county training school.
This development is being fostered by
the Slater board. cooperating with
public school authorities in the coun
ties. says James L. Sibley in the South
ern Workman. Any system Of publicly
supported education in the south is
based upon the county as the unit.
This is as true Of the Negro as of the
white public schools The fostering of
a county system adequately supported
and adequately supervised occupies the
efforts Of educational forces at work in
the field at the present time.
A number of agencies are helping in
this development. Eight southern
states, through cooperation with the
general education board. employ super
visors Of their rural elementary Negro
schools, who devote their time to the
Improvement Of these schools in the
several counties and also help to bring
about better supervision on the part of
the public school authorities. The
Jeanes fund assists in this develop
ment by bearing portion Of the ex.
pense necessary to employ the super
vising industrial teachers. - 4. a"
Their effort has been not only to
teach elementary industries to boys
and girls, but to stimulate general i'm
provement in the physical condition of
school buildings and grounds and to
reach the homes of the children, thus
developing a spirit of community CO.
operation. There is also the Rosen-
wald fund, which has brought about
directly the erection Of new rural
school buildings properly equipped by
securing the cooperation of all the
forces in the community, both public
and private. Of both races.
All the forces involved in the estab-
lishment Of public system Of elemen.
tary education seem therefore to have
been set in motion.
1t Is true that the higher institutions
for the training of Negro youth, such
as Hampton and Tuskegee. the state
normals and the agricultural schools.
are turning out graduates who are able
to cope with conditions as they find
them. Many Of these graduates be-
come teachers in the better schools for
their race.
There remains, however, the prob
lem Of obtaining adequately prepared
teachers for the average rural COM
munities in the south, and this prob
lem is difficult one, for it is beyond
the means of the majority of Negro
teachers to attend these higher and |
distant institutions of learning. The
need for some sensible, practical school
in each county to help meet this de-
mand has long been evident Such a
school should offer training a little
more advanced than the average rural
school and should be a part of the
public school system Of the county.
This conclusion was reached by DR..
James II. Dillard, president of the
Slater board. after years Of expert
ence and investigation.
In many counties there are strug-
Cling Negro schools which offer some
advanced training to students, but
these are generally poorly equipped.
ack adequate funds and are often
In name as well as in the
course Of study. To have these schools
:urned over to the public school au-
;horities. to have funds appropriated
'or their maintenance and to secure
properly prepared teachers for them
,ave been some of the problems to be
solved I
The south has to support a dual sys
EN- Of schools. which makes it all the
more difficult to secure sufficient funds
or either race. yet the response on
he part Of the southern county super {
ntendents has been cordial. Applica
ions from the counties have been
'reater than the funds could supply
nd in the case Of number Of schools
he general education board has as,
listed in providing equipment for ade,
uate work
There is much In the traditional Z
curse Of study to be avoided. The
cry name-county training school
1dicates that 1t Is Of new type :
'hese schools cover from eight to ten i
rades Of work. Three courses are of. e
ered-namely. agriculture for boys. b
ousehold arts for girls and teacher
-aintng during the last year for those
'ho desire to teach In the rural schools J