Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-09-13
POLAND IS !. IN IN.
mel NEED OF MORE
INSTRUCTORS
Country Making Strenuous
Effort to Overcome
Illiteracy.

81. new fork.-To carry out the pro-
gram Of public Instruction now being
planned in; Poland will necessitate the
training Of 1o0,coo1elementary school
teachers during the course of the
,tnext fifteen Years, according to the
4 recent; statement In parliament Of
the wee minister of religion and pub
Tic instruction. \ fi.2F
Great efforts are being made to
establish universal education through
puS the.re-urited portions Of the
stahe. llllteracy, now very common in
FORMER Russian Poland and the east
ern provinces. is being fought against,
and IT Is hoped that among the chill
dren lat least. 1t will be overcome
within the next few years, At pres
ent.less than S0-per cent IF this chill
dren or school age are enrolled In
classes. In former Russian Poland
the percentage is about so per cent.
n IN some of the frontier regions
as low as 80 per cent. In former
Prussian Poland. the percentage is
about IS per cent.
The Problem of utilization.
~ IN addition to being hampered ,by
tbs lack Of funds. buildings and in
strCctors. the Polish ministry Of edu-
cation has a difficult task in unifying
the school systems Of the former
husslan. Pruss!an ana Austrian sec
TOPS Of thA nation. In Russian
Poland the problem has been particu-
larry difficult because of the poor or
1:ean5zation maintained by the Rus
SLAMS who were one too anxious to
AID In the education of the Polish
people. While better buildings and
methods existed in former Prussian
l,oiand m school system had 2ever-
theless to be largely reconstructed be-
U most of the teachers were Ger
mans, many of3whom could not even
sneak Polish. In former Austrian
Poland the elementary schools were
far more satisfa otorily conducted, the
Austrian government having given
h Poles g., limited autonomy some
years before the war. 1t is from the
schools Of this region that a large
part OF the personnel for the recon
:struction Of the other school systems
de- Being drawn.
Fighting Illiteracy Among Adults.
l.,t'Along with the establishment Of. a
better elementary school system. an
intensive fight is being made against
4l~literacy among the adult population.
Az special department has been or
, gantzed in the ministry OF education
for this purpose. instruction soue-
what resembling tho "extension
course of an American college, ex-
cept that the latter is naturally OF a
higher standard, is being organized
for the Polish adult population. The
state, also has taken steps to aid priv
ate organizations and clubs which
promote community life. In. this way
1t is hoped to stimulate the interest
of the people in singing. theatricals,
museums. etc., and to inducecthem to
study to- overcome their , illiteracy.
lecturers are also being sent out
through the provincial districts, and
about 100 travelling exhibitions. have
been organized.
Thirty-six thousand people are now
attending night schools established
especially for adults. Libraries, here
tofore confined to the larger. cities,
are being established throughout the
nation. The state has adopted the
Carnegie system OF covering part OF
the expense on condition that the
local community pay the balance. One
publishing firm recently donated
books which were used to establish
\ 400 small libraries in widely scattered
parts OF the country. -