Evening star., 1941-09-14
Crisis Forces
Many Changes
In Courses
Many to Be Trained
To Take Over Jobs in
Essential Industries
BY DR.. JOHN w. STUDEBAKER,

With one-fourth of the Nations
population returning to school this
month, attention is focused on what
American education will do in 1941-
AZ. New problems growing out of
defense needs will lead to new edu-
cational responsibilities.
Schools this year face the con-
tinuing problem of providing train
ed workers for defense industries
through the defense training pro-
gram. Teachers and school officials
must cope with the problem of
establishing schools and reorganiZ-
ing educational programs in and
near industrial and military defense
boom towns" There is the need
for revision of school health, physi-
cal education and nutrition pro-
grams in the light of developments
and findings of the past year. Ef-
forts to eliminate the illiteracy re-
vealed by the selective service regis
trations and citizenship education
for millions of aliens in the United
States are among the many activi-
ties on the educational horizon.
Industry will look more and more
to the Nations vocational schools
and colleges and universities for
workers trained for essential de-
defense production. Last year, un-
der the Federally aided vocational
defense training program, more than
million workers were trained in
rapidly developed and quickly-eX-
panded training classes. This year
vocational high schools hope TO
double this number of defense
trainees.
I'VE Never Close" New Slogan.
We can expect more schools to
operate short courses to turn out
trainees needed quickly to fill de-
fense orders. Many thousands Of
the new trainees going into avia-
ton, shipbuilding, metal trades
and other major defense plants dur
ing the year will be men and wo-
men who have taken certain voca-
tional defense training courses.
A larger number of vocational
schools mag be expected to adopt
the slogan, I'VE Never Close Hun
dreds of Federally aided training
schools have already adopted this
slogan and are running both night
and day classes Schools and col.
leges will guarantee to prevent bot
tlenecks from developing in this
phase of the defense effort.
On other defense fronts schools
and colleges will be active. Colleges
iNN
ties have made plans to expand pro-
grams of short training or
ganized last year in engineering de-
fense training This years schedule
calls for 10000 technicians to be
trained as engineers, chemists,
physicists and production super
visors. These institutions are aim
ing their educational guns at
trained-Worker shortages. They
hope to hit the mark.
No phase of the defense effort
can be overlooked by educators in
this time of emergency. Even the
national morale will be considered
an important responsibility of edu-
cational agencies this year. In
forums and other groups, vide
spread, well-managed discussion OF
national defense questions will be
encouraged and developed. Educa-
tional radio programs will be uti-
lized. The meaning and practice
of democracy will be spotlighted as
never before.
New Textbooks to Be Used.
New textbooks will be in use to
place added emphasis upon our
democratic freedoms in the United
States and to contrast the freedoms
we enjoy and cherish with the
plight of peoples in dictator-con
trolled countries.
Education stressing better citizen
ship, conservation of national re-
sources, nutrition, health and physi-
cal fitness will come to the fore. A
cooperative Federal program of
citizenship education in which the
United States Office of Education
is cooperating will do much dur
ing 1941-42 to help naturalize the
several million aliens within our
borders. Emergency needs for GER
tain defense materials will help to
impress school lessons on the con-
servation of national resources.
Health and nutrition deficiencies Of
young men revealed by selective
service examinations and reflections
will stimulate schools to forge ahead
in these fields of education.
Geography and world economics
will receive greater emphasis in the
schools curriculum. A better un-
derstanding and appreciation OF
Latin American countries and peo-
Piles will be promoted. New and
revised textbooks designed to give
clear, overall picture of the coun-
tries to the south of us will be
used. A series of education and
national defense publications pre-
pared by the United States Office
of Education to help schools
strengthen and organize defense
education courses this year includes
a pamphlet on Hemisphere Soil
darity." Numerous radio scripts and
transcriptions on Latin America will
be utilized by elementary and sec
ondary schools.
u. S. Funds AllOcated.
The defense emergency will also
bring many other sharp changes
and problems. Congress has ap-
propriated 0,O0O 900 under the
Community Facilities Act for new
community needs, including schools
in or near defense projects. Funds
will be allotted for educational IA
cilities by the Federal Works
Agency on recommendation made
by the United States Office of Edu-
cation, which is working with State
and local officials to help solve this
emergency problem.
Under the defense training pro-
gram new emphasis will be placed
on the training of wnrnen wnrkArx