Diario las Américas., 1958-02-13
Know. thy
Neighbor
By ANTONIO RUIZ

CHILE - While Spanish troops
we're still struggling to wrest con-
troll of Chile from the inhabitants
who had taken over the Govern
ment, classes we're already being
held at the universities of Lima,
Mexico and SantO Domingo. Yet,
this isolated colony whose mater
ial and cultural wealth was for
years outStripped by that OF many
other New YorId %centerS, develop
ed into one of the continents most
orderly, vigorous and progressive
nations. Chile has always been
open to currents of world thought;
her cultural heritage has been
enriched by the contributions of
eminent foreigners who, even be-
fore independence, took up re-
sidence in the country. Nowhere
have the services of learned for
eigners been better employed than
in Chilean public education.
Andres Bello, Venezuelan-born
scholar and author who devoted his
life to the promotion of Chilean
culture; Jose Joaquin de Mora, Spa
niSh writer and politician, and the
Argentine educator and statesman
Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, r
among the foreigners who, along
with native Chiieans like Valentin
Letelier and Jose Abelardo Nunez,
helped build the %country's central
lied and effective school system.
Amanda Labarca, a distinguished
educator and for years head of the
University of Chlle's Extension Di-
vision, has written a c%omprehen-
sive history of Chilean education.
An important step in the de-
velopment of Chilean elementary
schools was the governments i'm
porting of a group of German
teachers in the latter part of the
nineteen century. With these
well-trained teachers in charge of
most classes in normal and other
schools, scientific psychology and
new teaching methods yer intro
duced, and the curriculum began
to improve. -Four to six year oldS
may attend private or public kin
dergartens. Elementary education
is also offered in regular city and
rural schools, preparatory Sec
tons in secondary schools, practice
schools connected with teacher
training institutions, elementary
classes given in connection with
elementary school courses last six
years.
Although education is, according
to law, compulsory for all children
between the ages of seven and fiji
teen, or until the first four years
are completed, it has not always
been possible to enforce this law.
There are approximately six thou
sand primary schools in Chile, of
which over 4,500 are public and the
rest private. From elementary
school, students may enter public
secondary schools called "liceos"
or private schools called "colegios."
Courses last six years and are u.s.
ually divided into two ~three-year
cycles, the first dealing with gen.
eral education and the second more
specifically with university pre-
paration.
There is much emphasis on good
teaching in Chile Some 1000 kin
dergarten urban, elementary and
rural school teachers are trained
every year. To teach in the coun-
try's normal schools, secondary
teachers must take advance cour-
ses at the Univcrsity's Pedagogical
Institute, and elementary teach
ers are required to do additional
work in a specific field. Vocational
education begins at the elementary
level and continues throughout
schools for artisans and trade
schools in which theory is combin-
ed with actual practice and in
which some general education is
given. One of Americas oldest vo-
cational schools is the School of
Arts and Trades in Santiago; in.
struction in this well-equipped in.
stitution is at the secondary school
and junior college level. Besides,
there are other vocational schools
throughout the country.
Spanish Version Page 3