based on memorization and repetition rather than thinking, a rigid curriculum, lack of coordination with other levels and types of education, and an excessive dropout rate. A few of these deficiencies, which have been the object of widespread comment among educational and lay leaders in Chile, require elaboration to appreciate their extent and

scope.

The Curriculum.-The humanidades curriculum of the liceo is frequently criticized for its emphasis on literary and scientific studies to the neglect of the artistic and technical. Moreover, it permits little adjustment to individual differences, so that pupils who find it impossible to keep up with the rigorous program drop by the wayside. The humanidades curriculum is also criticized for its heavy content. emphasis, which discourages all but the most able and which is treated in most schools in a very superficial manner. The average Chilean secondary student is probably exposed to an academic curriculum of greater scope than that which confronts a secondary student in the United States; but if the curriculum is hurried through by an ill-prepared teacher working excessive hours with poor equipment and teaching materials, the academic superiority of the Chilean liceo exists only on paper and not in fact. The quality of liceo education must be judged, not by the published curriculum, but by the manner in which individual schools and teachers carry it out. The great disparity in instructional efficiency among liceos is a well-known fact.

Correlation Between Liceo and University.-At the end of the 6-year humanidades program, devised and administered by the Ministry of Education, the student who seeks entrance to a university must take a bachillerato examination (i. e., an examination for a certificate or diploma) devised and administered by the University of Chile, which thus has a powerful indirect control over curriculum and standards. The bachillerato is primarily an achievement rather than an aptitude examination and naturally gives an advantage to pupils from the best liceos, who may not be the most able but who have accumulated the kind of knowledge and skills required by this type of examination.

Bachillerato examinations are given in January and July. The number of candidates for the bachillerato is growing rapidly in keeping with the growth of secondary enrollment. Approximately half the candidates pass. The record for recent years is given below: 16

16 Las Ultimas Noticias. Santiago de Chile, 25 de Junio de 1963. p. 5.

The high rate of failure in the bachillerato examination has made it the subject of considerable debate among educational leaders and Government officials. One can imagine the disappointment and frustration felt by unsuccessful students who find their route to higher education blocked after 6 years of preparation aimed at that goal and who must now find jobs for which their schooling has given them little preparation. The results of the bachillerato examinations have raised serious questions about the effectiveness of liceos in performing their university-preparatory function. The high attrition rate of students in the first 2 years of university work has also raised a serious question about the validity of the bachillerato examination as an indicator of university success.

An influential report of the Ministry of Education reflects the seriousness with which Chilean leaders consider the high failure rate in the bachillerato when it points out that this is another dramatic demonstration of the inefficiency of the system, which over a period of 12 years has rejected along the way 97 out of 100 pupils who entered the elementary school." This report further points out that the secondary school is not providing the educational service required for the progress and economic development of society nor is it providing the universities with the raw material which is necessary "to prepare effective professional personnel, to advance scientific and technological research, to cultivate the arts and philosophy, and to train leaders of society.”

18

The Problem of Dropouts.-School desertion continues to be a vexing problem at the secondary level just as it is at the elementary level. A study made by the Superintendency of Education of school desertion at the secondary level for 1957-62 found that only about one-fourth of the pupils who had matriculated in the first year of the secondary school in 1957 were enrolled in the sixth year in 1962.19 Over half had dropped out by the beginning of the second cycle. The causes for dropouts are in part the failure of the school to satisfy pupils' interests, needs, and abilities. In a large measure, the causes for school desertion reside outside the control of the school, which cannot be blamed for the economic circumstances that force many youth to work to help support their families rather than attend school. The waste of human talent reflected in the excessive dropout rate can have only a deleterious effect on a nation that needs trained leaders and a thriving middle class to help it develop.

17 Ministerio de Educación Pública. Bases Generales para el Planeamiento de la Educación Chilena. p. 37.

18 Ibid. p. 38.

6. Vocational Education

Teducation which

HIS CHAPTER is concerned with a second type of secondary-level education which the Chileans call educación profesional-literally, "professional education," but better translated as "technical and vocational education." This type of education has had a slow growth as a result of the low prestige accorded manual work in the Spanish cultural tradition. With the current emphasis on industrialization and the need for trained manpower, vocational education is receving greater recognition than before, although it still lags far behind general secondary education in enrollment, as shown by 1962 data indicating 80,966 enrolled in vocational schools as opposed to 197,860 in general secondary schools. If these figures were reversed, the result would be a closer approximation to national needs in developing Chile's economy.

Mission of Vocational Education

At the secondary level, the mission of vocational education is clear and specific: to provide the skilled workers and the middle-level technicians required by the national productive activity in all its ramifications and to prepare students to continue their technical specialization at the university level. Many Chileans consider vocational education as both vital and decisive for the country's economic development.

Administrative Structure

Vocational education is administered by a separate directorate in the Ministry of Education called the Dirección de Educación Profesional. The Dirección has an administrative department and the following

four additional departments, each in charge of a special type of education: Agricultural Education, Commercial Education, Industrial Education, and Technical Education for Girls. A total of 132 educational establishments was functioning under the guidance of these departments in 1963. A small group of five supervisors (visitadores) provides the administrative link between the Ministry and the schools throughout the country.

Each of the vocational schools has a similar kind of administrative structure which includes the following positions: Director, General Inspector, Technical Chief, and Chief of Specializations (Jefe de Especialidades). To obtain any of the first three positions an applicant must have the title of State teacher (profesor de estado), engineer, or technician. The first three positions constitute a coordinating council responsible for the general operation of the plant and the coordination of its varied services. The naming of all personnel— administrative, teaching, and service-in each public school plant and of administrative personnel in the Directorate in the Ministry is done by the Minister of Education and, in the case of the highest administrative offices, by the President himself.

Statistics: Schools, Enrollment, and Teachers

Schools.-Vocational schools may be variously classified: (1) by source of support, as public or private; (2) by the number of years of study which they offer, as superior, first class, or second class; (3) by specialization, as agricultural, industrial, technical schools for girls, commercial institutes, or polytechnical institutes. They may be day schools or night schools, and they may offer instruction to adolescents or adults.

In 1962 three types of public and private vocational schools were reported in operation, with totals as indicated below: 1

Enrollment.-The 1962 enrollment figures for the same three types

of schools were the following: 2

Several observations can be made from the data given above: The number of agricultural schools is small and their enrollment is low. Private schools account for about 45 percent of the number of schools but less than 33 percent of the total enrollment. Private efforts in agricultural education are particularly noteworthy. In every category except private commercial schools, female enrollment is considerably less than male.

Teachers.-The 1962 figures for teachers with and without professional teaching certificates (títulos) for public and private vocational schools are given below: 3

These data reveal that over 40 percent of the teachers did not have professional teaching certificates. This condition was somewhat more acute in private than in public schools and most evident in the private commercial schools, where about 66 percent of the teachers had none.

Admission Requirements

For all vocational schools common admission standards apply regardless of the specialization. To be admitted a pupil must (a) possess a certificate stating that he has completed the sixth year of

* Ibid., table 9.

Ibid., table 7. • Ibid. C.5 p. 9.