Evening star., 1925-05-05

looking structures in Porto Rico to-
day are public schools They are not
of uniform type, but offer q wide va
riety of architectural style, all pleas
ing and all suited to the environment.
They are of substantial construction,
built mostly of reinforced concrete.
Some of them are beautifully orna-
mented, and all of them have ample
Space'for recreation purposes. In the
planning of these buildings and their
emplacement more intelligence, it
must be confessed, has been manifest
ed than in the provision of similar
equipment in many of the cities of
the States.
Washington would be proud of such
schools as Porto Rico has provided
during the past few years. The new
high school at San Juan, just ap-
preaching completion, would be a
credit to any continental city. Many
of the rural schools are superior to
urban schools in the larger cities of
the continent.
Yet there is no suggestion of ex-
travagance or waste in the provision
of these quarters. The buildings have
been erected with view to their en-
durance. The plant is for long time,
and it is safe to say that these Struc-
lures will be standing in good order
when many of the same age in the
States are shabby and decrepit.
School Head Porto Rican.
. During my stay in Porto Rico I
was enabled to visit a number of both
urban and rural schools under the
guidance of the commissioner of edu-
cation, Juan B. Huyke, a native Porto
Rican, the only islander who has been
al the head of the department since
its establishment in 1900. He took Of
flee in September, 1921. An enthu-
SiaStic believer in broad system of
education reaching the greatest pos
sible number. Mr.. Huyke has given
Porto Rico school administration
which meets with general commenda-
ton. There are, of course, differ
enceS of opinion regarding curriculum
and methods. No school system was
ever created and maintained that was
not subject to such criticism, for 1t is
a we'll established fact that educators
rarely agree upon modes of procedure.
Mr.. Huyke however, does not engage
in controversies, but proceeds, with a
high ideal as his guide, to conduct the
school system Of Porto Rico faithfully
and capably.
When the United States took hold
in Porto Rico Spanish was the uni
versal language of the island. Very
few of the people spoke English. OF
course, such instruction as was given
was in Spanish. To build up a public
school system on a bi-lingual basis
imposed serious difficulties. Prob
ably mistakes have been made in the
methods adopted for teaching Eng
liSh to the children of Porto Rico,
and perhaps the best system is not
now employed, as some critics aver.
Il,,t nit n
task of creating a two-language edu-
cational institution the accomplish
ment has been remarkable.
IlIiteracy Reduced.
At the time of the American oc-
cupation over 90 per cent of the
people were illiterate. That percent
age has since 1900 been reduced by
nearly one-half. 1t is plain to see
overcome in establishing school
system to teach both English and
Spanish in a country where nine
tenths of the people could at the be-
ginning neither read nor write. The
illiterates of today are chiefly those
who remain of the population as it
stood at the beginning of this cen
tury. In the five lower grades of the
start schools English is taught as a
given in Spanish. From the fifth
grade onward the instruction is in
English save in physiology. Spanish
is taught in these upper elementary
grades as a separate subject.
Inasmuch as many of the teachers
of the elementary schools. and
particularly those in the rural dis
tricts, are Porto Ricans who have
themselves learned English and speak
it with an accent, the teaching of that
language in the lower grades is per-
haps not as effective as it should be,
and the children reach the higher
grades, where English becomes the
medium of instruction, with but an
imperfect knowledge of the funda-
mentals of the language and, OF
course, an imperfect pronunciation.
In one of the schools l visited in
San Juan of the first grade the chill
dren were put through their English
lesson by the Porto Rican teacher.
They were intensely eager to answer
her questions. Their English, of
course, was crude. but it was probably
better English than would have been
the Spanish spoken by continental
school children if they were given in
structions in that language.
Older Pupils Better.
In a second grade school in San
Juan the children also gave a dem
onstration" lesson, and there | could
see an improvement in the quality of
the English spoken and in the readi-
ness of understanding. And it was
my conclusion that these children are
really learning English we'll enough
to carry on their studies in the high
er grades capably when English is