CEIL/1/7.1950
International Labour Organisation
Committee of Experts on Indigenous Labour First Session
La Paz, January, 1951
THE DEVELOPMENT OP PROGRAMMES OF
VOCATIONAL TRAINING FOR INDIGENOUS WORKERS
R E C E i V »- •?
0 3 NOV 20C5
Intetiidtonal
Lsbour Office
.0 INFORM f ' l '
50B09/68 engl cp.2
Geneva
I n t e r n a t i o n a l Labour Office
1950
INTRODUCTION .1
Chapter I - MAIN FACTORS OF THE PROBLEM 3-14 1. The Volume of Indigenous Populations 3
2. Diversity of Cultures 3 3. Occupational Structure of Indigenous
Populations 4 4. Difficulties to be Overcome 9
Chapter II - MEASURES APPLIED IN VARIOUS
COUNTRIES 15-31 1. State Intervention in the
Organisa-tion of Programmes of VocaOrganisa-tional
Training for Indigenous Workers 15 2. Vocational Training Facilities 17
A - Types of Facilities Available 17 B - Objectives of Vocational Training
Programme 18 a) Programmes for Forest Tribes 18
b) Programmes for Rural
Popula-tions 20 c) Training for Urban Occupations 28
3. Measures to Facilitate Up-G-r ad in g
Training for Indigenous Workers 29
a) Scholarships 29
b) Placement facilities 29 c) Welfare services 30
CONCLUSIONS 31-40
placed the following question on its agenda: "Development of Programmes of Vocational Training". Thus, once again an organ of the International Labour Organisation is called to consider, in a new aspect, a subject -the organisation of vocational training - with which the I.L.O. is extremely familiar. This subject is undoubtedly one of those which have received the most attention during the last 15 years.
Vocational training has been discussed several times at the General and Regional Conferences. In 193.9 a text was adopted by the International Labour Conference, which. laid, down the broad principles on which a policy for voca-tional training should be based, and which could guide States Members in the creation of the necessary machinery. This text is known as the "Vocational Training Recommenda-tion, 1939", and was'adopted in conjunction with the Recom-mendation concerning Apprenticeship, a .special type of vo-cational training.
In the Regional Conferences the subject, has been re-examined in relation to the special conditions prevailing in each region. The most important texts of this kind, i.e., those in which a general programme is drafted, are, in the case of America, the resolution on vocational training adopted by the Third Conference of American States Members of the International Labour Organisation (Mexico City, April 1946) and for the Par East, the resolution on
vo-cational and technical training, adopted by the Asian Regional Conference of the I.L.O. (Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon,
January 1950).
Furthermore, vocational training is one of the items in the operational manpower programme which the International Labour Office, with the approval of its Governing Body, has been actively carrying out during the last three or four
years. For the purpose of implementing this programme, which affords to the States Members of the I.-L.O. direct assistance in solving their manpower problems, especially in the matter of organising vocational training facilities and developing related programmes, the I.L.O. has already established field offices in the two regions most directly interested in the
work of the Indigenous Labour Committee - one in Latin America, at Sao Paulo, Brazil, and another in the Far East, at Banga-lore, .India.
Thes.e special aspects of the problem of vocational training for indigenous workers should be considered within the general'framework of the decisions referred to above, and the machinery possessed by the I.L.O. for implementing its manpower programme is one of the means which can be used to assist in the solution of these special problems, as well as of the more general problems of vocational training.
In view of the numerous studies already made in pre<-paration of the decisions referred to above, it is unneces-sary to undertake a complete study of the principles and methods of vocational training, followed by an examination
populations. It seems more appropriate to proceed immedi-ately to a consideration of the question as it is presented to.the Committee of Experts, to endeavour to throw into re-lief the special problems which arise in the. case of training programmes planned with'a view to improving the occupational
sklil of indigenous workers, to analyse the experience al-ready gained by several countries,, and finally to draw cer-tain conclusions, which might be generally valid for all the countries concerned.
Unfortunately^ the documentation necessary for such an' analysis is incomplete.- The basic documentation which is comp>iled from day to day, as for all social problems con-sidered by the International Labour Office, has been supple-mented by reports from several of.the Governments concerned, However, fe,w of these reports provide detailed information concerning vocational training facilities for indigenous workers. As regards the five Latin-American countries with' large indigenous populations, i.e. Bolivia, Ecuador, Guate-' mala, Mexico and Peru, one of the experts on the Committee,
Professor Eli2;ardo Perez, has been entrusted, by the Inter-national Labour Office, with the task of visiting these
Chapter I
MAIN FACTORS OF THE PROBLEM
1. The Volume of Indigenous Populations.
The statistical data available refer to so-called in-digenous groups in each country, which are differentiated from the rest of the population according to criteria which are not the same in each country, and, consequently, the figures given are not strictly comparable. However, these data give an approximate idea of the importance of the prob-lem of vocational education of indigenous workers for the economic development of each of these countries.
Although no human contribution is completely negligible since the prosperity of any country consists in its aggre-gate production, it is clear that in countries such as Ar-gentina, Brazil, Canada or the United States, whore the in-digenous element only constitutes a tiny proportion of the total population, this slight manpower element'can be left out of consideration in the national economy without any serious repercussions on the general standard of living. However, in a country such as Ecuador, whore the indigenous community represents 55 per cent, of the total population the utilisation of this labour force is of vital interest to the country as a whole. ' In the first cast;, the .voca-tional education of indigenous populations is a very spe-cialised problem of social policy, which would naturally tend to be placed in the hand of a few exports. However, in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru it repre-' sents a serious problem of national education. Between these two extreme cases there is a whole gamut of inter-mediate situations.
2. Diversity of Cultures.
The information contained in the General Report reveals the groat diversity in the human groups usually described as. indigenous or aboriginal, and which display considerable dif-ferences' as to their degree of social or economic developments This diversity is not only apparent when one travels from, one country to another, it is evident inside each country, as has been clearly demonstrated by one of the men who was responsible for organising indigenous education-*-. Thus, the organisation of vocational education programmes with a view to increasing the skill of indigenous workers, which at first sight appears to be quite a simple task, merely a particular phase of a
Cf. in the General Report p.. 135, the quotation from La: populacion indigona de Mexico by Carlos Basauri, Former
Chief, of the Indigenous' Education Department of the National Education Secretariat of Mexico. The indigenous population' of this country is compared by this authority to an "economic and cultural mosaic1' composed of fragments representing
national policy of vocational training, is, in fact, an ex-tremely complicated task, in which account must be taken of a great many special cases, and for which exceedingly flexible methods must be evolved.
• -3'. Occupational Structure of Indigenous Populations. As the General Report provides a considerable amount of information on the occupational structure of indigenous populations, it will not be necessary here to make a detailed analysis of the situation.in each country. However, in order to place in their proper context the programmes of vocational training which have been applied to indigenous populations, a brief and, as far as possible, comprehensive outline should be given of the types of activity in which these populations •
are engaged. We shall follow here, in so far as it is appro-priate, the categories established in the classification of
indigenous groups according to their types and modes of acti-vity, which was attempted in the General Report.
..The most primitive group consists of tribes, generally nomadic or semi-nomadic in character, who live on the pro-ducts of nature, by hunting, fishing and picking fruit, etc. This type of activity is the predominant one for the bulk of the indigenous population in certain countries (Australia, Brazil, Venezuela and the Philippines). In many other coun-tries certain groups are to be found in remote regions which are also engaged in these activities, e.g. Eastern Bolivia, the Amazon regions of Colombia, Ecuador1 and Peru, the more
remote regions of Argentina, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, etc., and throughout the vast regions of Northern Canada.
Generally speaking, subsistence is the sole aim of these activities; however, groups which engage In hunting are often induced to supplement their resources by bartering, which con-stitutes their first contact with the general economic life of the country. The development of hunting on a commercial basis is particularly marked in Canada and is present to a certain degree in Ecuador. Those primitive occupations of hunting and fishing are sometimes allied to agricultural or pastoral acti-vities, which are the first signs of a tendency to become settled in their mode of life. On the other hand, primitive tribes which are essentially agricultural (for example, the tribes in the eastern mountains of Ecuador) resort to hunting 'and fishing to supplement-their resources.
The question arises whether hunting tribes which excel in a skill, the technique of which is handed down from father to son at an early age, can properly be the subject of programmes of vocational training. Further on some experiments will be .mentioned which suggest that even at this stage of
indigenous elements, that the production of food was almost entirely dependent on indigenous labour1.
Hence-the undeniable advantages in making programmes of agricultural training available for these populations, especially since according to the information obtained on
the- methods of cultivation and the implements used in the indigenous sectors^ of various countries, it seems apparent that the primitive techniques applied are the main cause of the discrepancy which exists in most of the Latin-American countries which possess a large proportion of indigenous population, between the considerable proportion of the eco-nomically active population engaged in agriculture and the small contribution of this productive sector to the national economy3.
Owing to the diversity of the modes of livelihood &f the indigenous groups referred to in the general report, it will probably.be necessary to adapt the programmes of training in order to ensure that they will be accessible to different categories of agricultural workers and their children. It is quite possible that training facilities which are acces-sible to self-employed, agricultural workers and their families may be out of reach to indigenous workers who, because of
their precarious economic situation, are obliged to work as wage-earners sometimes in centres at a considerable distance from their home villages, especially in the plantations, or
to indigenous workers who hire their services and sometimes those of their families to owners of large estates under cus-tomary conditions which allow them no time to themselves.
Handicrafts occupy a place of importance in the majority of indigenous populations, less as a full time occupation than as a subsidiary activity, the purpose of' which is to provide the home with clothing, household utensils and other necessary articles,-or to supplement their meagre earnings from agriculture. This mode of activity is the subject of
a special report"* which analyses the special features of the problem and the part which programmes of vocational training may play in modernising the equipment, in improving methods
of work and the quality and quantity of production, putting family homecrafts on to a commercial basis or introducing new handicrafts which are of benefit to the community or adding new products with commercial possibilities.
In the category of industrial occupations the mining industry scorns to have drawn on indigenous labour to the largest extent. In the mines of Bolivia (50,000 indigenous
Cf. for instance in the General Report the passage in which the occupational structure of Peru is analysed, p. 154. 2 '
Cf. Passages on p. Ill relating to Ecuador and on p. 153 relating to Peru.
Cf, United Nations: Economic Survey of Latin America, 1948, (prepared by the Economic Commission"for Latin America), E/CN.12/82, 1949, II. G.I., p. 86-87.
miners) and of Peru (approximately 35,000), which are situ-ated at a considerable altitude (3,000-5,000 metres or even more), the indigenous labour is considered indispensable
owing to its remarkable adaptability to the environment. All the manual workers in the mines of Bolivia, especially underground workers, are Indians and in Peru it is estimated
that 9,0 per cent, of the miners are indigenous-1-. In India
indigenous labour- has been utilised in mines to a consider-able extent, especially in the States of Bihar and Madhya-Pradest. However, one fact seems to militate against the success of vocational training programmes for workers in the majority of these mines, namely that in the majority of cases they are not under the direct authority of the mining company but are recruited by mining contractors who assume responsibility for the execution of unskilled operations such as the carrying of coal.
As to the processing industries, the statistical in-formation contained in the General Report does not indicate
that large numbers of indigenous workers are employed except in Peru, and that is probably due to the fact that handi-crafts and mechanised industry are combined in Peruvian official statistics^. In the countries on which we have information the proportion of Indigenous workers employed in Industry seems to be very slight. In Australia barely four per cent, of the active indigenous population- were em-ployed in industry and transport In 1933°. In Canada nat more than five per cent, were employed in manufacturing in-dustry and ten per cent. In inin-dustry In general, including construction, transport and public utilities . In the United States the proportion of Indians employed in industry is
slightly higher, approximately 20 per cent. In New Zealand the number of Maoris employed in industry is increasing
rapidly (see below).
The proportion of Indigenous workers employed in tertiary occupations, i.e., in commerce, office work and public ser-vices, is even less. in the United States only 2.2 per cent. of the active indigenous population were registered as "pro-fessional workers" at the general census of 1940 and 2.8 per cent, as office and commercial employees. However, the Govern-ments of the United States, Canada and the Philippines mention
in their communications to the I.L.0. preparatory to this session, that,a certain number .of people of indigenous origin are intellectual workers. Mention will be made later of the remarkable Increase in the number of Maoris of New Zealand en-gaged In urban types of employment at all levels.
However, as regards secondary or tertiary types of occu-pations, the official statistics do not give- a clear picture of the situation. This Is due to the criteria on the basis
Cf. pp. 90 and 165 of General Report. Ibid., p. 166.
of which- they are drawn- up*. Except in very rare cases where the' concept of the aborigine is a purely racial one, workers of indigenous origin who have acquired the habits of Western •'•civilisation and.are no longer integrated in their home coin7
muhity, are not described as.: indigenous in the statistical reports. Owing to the-fact that factories are generally. located in towns and cities and owing to daily contacts' with people of a different origin, indigenous' workers who engage
in these occupations rapidly lose the characteristics of language, culture and tribal organisation by .which they are officially differentiated from the rest of the population and' become-merged with the'broad mass ;of workers. Owing to
this process of assimilation we do not know how many of them have taken up skilled occupations in these branches of acti-vity which require previous professional training.. It would be of interest to obtain some, clear information concerning
the position of indigenous workers in regard to these occupations.
Statistical information bas.ed entirely .oh race exists for the indigenous populations of New Zealand, or Maoris, and here it is possible to compare the occupational situation of these groups in 1926 and 1945-*-. -Interesting changes, have taken place-between these two dates. If the absolute,number of. men employed in agriculture has increased, the"occupation percentage has considerably decreased (from 38.9 to 34,8 per cent.), while this percentage was doubled in manufacturing industry (from 5.7 to 10.8 per cent.), A similar tendency can be noted in other branches of industry such as transport, construction, etc. For women, the decrease in agricultural employment is even more marked, the percentage falling from 58 to 24, and urban occupations have shown a great increase mainly in domestic service (from 20.4 to 39.3 per cent.), but also in other types of service (from 12.1 to 20.8 per cent.). The classification of occupations on which the avail-able statistics are based is not sufficiently detailed to allow a numerical estimate to be made of the importance of tertiary occupations among Maori activities as a whole. How-ever, it appears from other sources that the participation of Maoris in all urban activities, both manual and intellectual, is continually increasing. The Department of Maori Affairs mentions the increasing number of Maoris who take up employ-ment in offices and in liberal professions, especially as
teachers, doctors, nurses, clergymen and a certain amount as lawyers, and emphasises the number of Maoris in the Government service and in local government; the heads of two ministerial departments are Maoris .
Although this drift towards the towns is to some extent counteracted0 by the Maoris' attachment to their community,
Gf. General Report, p. 204.
Cf. Department of Maori Affairs: The Maori Today, (Wellington, 1949), pp. 28 et seq.
an evolution has' taken place which is. apparently the result of various causes: the need for new.openings felt by the agricultural population who are experiencing a shortage ,of land owing to the growth of population, a shortage of labour in the towns, which has been marked in recent years, and the expansion of education among the Maoris which has been a policy of assimilation.
Generally speaking, tlio occupational distribution of indigenous population is nowhere statici A more or less marked tendency to change occupations .can be observed in many other countries.. In Chile, for . example,' a movement
of"young Indians from the native reserve to the urban cen-tres has been reported; at least 10,000 have migrated to the capital, their main .destination being the building in-dustry, transport and bakeries. '
The majority of these changes are made under the pres-sure of circumstances; land shortage is the main cause . In some cases these changes tend to bo controlled and guided by means of programmes of vocational education, but action of this kind Is not as frequent as would bo desired in order. to utilise indigenous manpower according to national economic. needs and. to adapt individual workers to the often unsettling conditions of a new type of work.
With reference to the shortage of land.for.the rural indigenous population, cf.- General Report., pp. 98
4. Difficulties to be Overcome
In certain countries which have indigenous populations the provision of vocational training facilities for the population as a whole is still in its inf ancj/" and the indigenous elements are. not alone in being handicapped by a lack of occupational skill, while in several other countries.covered by this study,.highly developed vocational training programmes are in operation and the non-indigenous elements of the population have acquired a considerable amount of technical skill.. In their communications to the Office several Governments - those of Canada and the United States for example - emphasise that there are no legal restrictions to prevent Indians from utilising the technical training facilities available, and that they have in fact been utilised by a number of persons of indigenous origin (this number, however-, -is- not stated) who are now incorporated in the national community and cannot be
diff erentia.ted from other citizens .
However, the very existence'of indigenous sectors living in backward conditions, economically and socially, proves that cer-tain factors operate to retard their evolution, and to prevent them from1 benefiting fully from the. vocational training and other
educational facilities in the country. These are the difficulties which have to be faced by the authorities in charge of indigenous
education, and which are due to the social, cultural and economic conditions of these groups..
The geograhpical position of indigenous populations is- the-first factor which tends to prevent them from utilising the voca-tional training facilities which already exist.. This' factor is strongest in the case of forest tribes which generally live in' remote regions and whoso geographical isolation is accompanied by nomadic habits which add to the difficulty of applying educational-• measuresr The non-nomadic tribes who are scattered- through vast
territories, or who sometimes live in concentrated groups but in distant territories where communication with the rest of the coun-try is difficult, are also, owing to their physical isolation, prevented from using the means of vocational training available. Owing to the isolation of the first two categories, it is necess-ary to -apply very special methods in order-to provide them with educational facilities, i.e.- "attraction posts", mobile cultural missions, etc. These will be described further on. The
diffi-culties in the latter case are similar to those encountered in programmes of education for rural populations in general*
The. geographical isolation of these populations.has been, so to speak, .artificially increased by the fact of certain measures' of protection, such as the creation of "reservations" where in-digenous populations are benefiting by a special system (relating to use of arable land and to housing, exemption from taxes, etc..).. Owing to the self-contained nature of the indigenous community, which is reinforced by this protective system, few members of the community are encouraged to seek further education outside the reservation, even when they are legally entitled to attend the
authorities to organise special programmes for these populations which will he applied in the reservations themselves.1
The geographical isolation is sometimes accompanied by a
social isolation due to prejudice on the part of the non-indigenous population, and also to'the instinctive tendency of•indigenous
populations to maintain their separate identity. The Ecuador
Ministry of Education, in a note prepared specially for the meeting of the Committee of Experts^ mentions that-in rural schools, which are not attended solely by' indigenous children, the latter tend to segregate themselves from the other children and maintain a passive attitude. The young aborigines are only active and enthusiastic *•' in the • schools vdiere the indigenous element predominates ,.
The same tendency appears in another form. A communication sent to the I.L.O. by the same route from the Secretary of the
Directorate-General of Education of the same country draws.attention to the same tendency on the part' of the Ecuador Indian population with respect to vocational training establishments,. This authority states that,,although these establishments are open to all, without social discrimination, most of the pupils are mestizos in addition to "a very small number of Indians who have already abandoned their customs, their traditional costume and even their language".,
Professor Perez, drawing from his personal experience in educational matters, remarks that "not only are the urban schools materially distant from the Indian's home, but the latter has an
instinctive reluctance to use these facilities" .
The strongest factor making for social isolation is, however, "mono-lingualism". This is a formidable obstacle which prevents aborigines from utilising the educational facilities available for the population as a whole, and makes it difficult for;them to find employment in'modern factories where they could acquire a good practical training. Detailed information is given in the General Report on the extent of mono-lingualism among indigenous.. populations, as well as the considerable variety of languages
spoken by various groups in the same country. The difficulties from, the point of view of education, which are created by this situation, are so serious that attention must be drawn here to certain aspects of the position in countries where this question has been more thoroughly studied.
The irregular distribution of educational facilities in certain reservations has been clearly brought out in relation to general education.by a communication from the labor Department of the United States. Here it is pointed out that in the Indian reservations of that country illiteracy varies from 10 to 90 per" cent., in different reservations, and in the vast and isolated
Ifavajo' reservation, owing to the inadequate facilities provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, illiteracy is over 90 per cent.
Active steps have been taken oy the Office of Indian Affairs to improve these conditions.
In Guatemala, where detailed information on Indian languages was collected when the-census was taken in 1940, 45-8 per- cent. of the population speak an Indian language, or rather more than a million and a half inhabitants. There are nineteen of 'these lan-guages. Quiche is spoken by 13*4 per cent, of this population, Ca.kchiq.ue by 10 per cent.', rain by 8 per cent, and Ixi.l by 7.1 per cent. Twelve.of these- languages are .spoken by less than 1 per cent, of the population and six by 0»1 per cent, at the most. The table representing the geographical distribution of these language si shows that, in the department of Chiquimula one single language is spoken; in the Huehaetenango department no less than .ten languages are spoken, although Ivian is the principal language.
In Mexico, the 1940 census shows that 1,237,013 persons ..over five years of age were mono-lingual„. In seven States mono-lingual-ism is more common than bi-lingualmono-lingual-ism; in one(of thess 69 per cent.
of the indigenous population are mono-lingual. The table giving the .distribution by language of "che mono-lingual population^ shows thirty-four languages; in addition seventeen non-specified Ian-. guages .are spoken by less than. 8,000 persons; lahuatl,; which is the most widespread language is spoken by more than 360,0.00 per- '. sons, four languages are spoken by 100,000 persons, thirteen by 20,000, seventeen by more than 10,000, etc. t Six of. the languages
specified .are spoken by less than 1,000 people. _ . •
In Peru, a census of 1940 shows that almost 1)800,0,00 speak. onl3r one of the two indigenous languages,- Quechua and Aymara. Tli.e
population speaking only Quechua is spread over twenty-one ments,' 'its density varying from 13 to,300,000 persons per depart-ment. Although the bulk of the Aymara-speaking population are to be.found in the Puno department, nuclei exist in four other • departments speaking this language.
Thus, not only are the usual vocational education facilities barred tg indigenous populations, owing to their mono-lingualism, but the multiplicity of languages spoken and their erratic geo-graphical distribution makes the work of organising special
train-ing facilities for mono-ltrain-ingual.groups exceedtrain-ingly difficult. In order to provide effective training'facilities'adapted to linguis-tic peculiarities for-the whole indigenous population, it would be necessary.to create a large number of .special courses adapting in each case the teaching material.. When specialised yocational training-is to be provided this is impossible. The reduction of mono-lingualism through the primary schools seems to be the first-indispensable stage in the development .of any programme .of vpea-.. tional training. In view of the minimum .of linguistic knowledge -required, functional training of a practical nature is the most .• suitable form of training for this first stage. In Mexico the necessity to combat mono-lingualism in order to make possible the cultural progress of the Indians and their assimilation', was re-' alised at an early date and the first Act of the Revolutionary Government of loir, was-to create special centres for teaching Spanish to the Indians.
Table 9, Annexe to General Report, p. 218. 9
Illiteracy is .general in indigenous populations, with certain exceptions, and is also a major obstacle to the use of the general vocational training facilities by these populations as they lack the basic knowledge necessary for the studies followed in these institutions. Information.on this question as it affects indi-genous populations of Latin America has been published by the I.L.O.1 A few examples will suffice as an illustration of this
general statement. In Bolivia, the Joint Bolivian-United States Commission found that there were 25 per cent, of illiterates in the total population in 1943j and it is reckoned that among in-digenous populations the percentage of illiterates is even higher. It has be.en estimated that 80 per cent, of the agricultural workers of Ecuador, living in large estates, and 50 per cent •• of indepen-dent farmers were illiterate .2 in its memorandum prepared this
year for the 1,1.0. the Ecuadorian I.Iinistry of Education draws attention to legal provisions according to which schools must be opened on all estates where twenty children of school age are living, but also mentions the short period of attendance; indi-genous children remaining at school for borely three years. This situation is reflected in the statistics relating to school atten-dance prepared, at the beginning of 1950'for the 1.1.0. by the Ministry of Education.3 According to these statistics there are only 71>492 indigenous pupils out of a total of 331,564> making 21.56 per cent, of Indians, while the total percentage of Indians • in the population amounts to 55. This situation can only lead to a greater degree of illiteracy among the indigenous population.
In a memorandum from the Government of Guatemala-* it is stated that there are 1,300,000 illiterate Indians; in calculating this figure the census of 1940 was taken into account and amended in consideration of the expected results of the new educational facilities provided in recent years. In Peru, according to the census of 1940, the illiteracy percentage ammounted to 81.45 in five departments where the population was 84-60 per cent, indi-genous. In the United States the average percentage of illiteracy among Indians is reckoned to be 30, with variations ranging between 10 to 90 per cent,, although primary education for Indian children has been compulsory since 1891. 'In India, the census of 1931
showed, on the basis of a partial survey taken, that 98,6 per cent. of the aborigines in Assam were illiterate, 99.3 per cent,' in
Bengal and 99..5 per cent, in Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. No consider-able improvement in the situation was recorded before 1947? at that date, when the Advisory Commission on the Adiwasi took office, an enquiry was held by the method of taking samples from two tribes of forest and agricultural labourers in the districts of Thana and Dahanu Taluka (State of Bombay). In thirty-three families examined
G f• Conditions of Life and Wqrk_of Indigenous Populations •
of Latin-American""Countries nJene"va~j 1^4977 "" ' "
Pablo Arturo SUAREZ: Contribuci6n al estudio de las Healidades entre las Cla^^^bTeT^jf_^xmves±rias , p. 35 .
3
only two families had male members able to read and write and two other families had members able to sign their names, none of whom were female. By virtue of the new Constitution, the States where the population is mainly aboriginal are to have a Ministry res-ponsible for their well-being, and schools are to be opened. In several States, with a high•aboriginal population (e.g. Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Hyderabad and Bombay), schools for aborigines have been opened recently either by the State or by charitable organisations acting on their own initiative, or on behalf of the State. In the .State of Madhya Pradesh there are as many as 350 primary Government schools, 38 middle schools and 30 boarding schools in the indigenous districts.
The only report which speaks of a good standard of education • %
in the indigenous population is that.relating to the Maoris of Uew Zealand. The Government of this country, in a recent memo-randum!, stated that illiteracy is of negligible proportions in the Maori population and is confined to Maoris in the extreme upper age groups.
. The illiteracy of indigenous populations is no doubt due, to a considerable extent, to the penurious conditions in which these populations live in a good many countries .• Children do not go to school because they have to work. It has been said that the Indian of latin America makes his wife and his children work like "beasts of burden" since he does not possess the latter. An enquiry held in 1934 by the International Institute for the Protection of Chil-dren into the conditions of indigenous chilChil-dren revealed that they began to work at an age much lower than that prescribed by lawv Cases of children working at the early age of four or five-were found,, and it was estimated that the average age at which the aborigines of the Latin-American countries began to work was be-tween eight and ten,?
In 1943 the Joint Bolivian-United States Labour Commission reported that children under fourteen years of age were working in Bolivian mines, and in.some cases, children under eight.3 No doubt the situation has slightly improved since that date, especi-ally in countries which have conducted improvement campaigns against illiteracy, such as Guatemala•and Mexico, applying their efforts chiefly to indigenous sectors f- However, the situation does not
seem to be improving in other countries as would be desired.- The Ecuadorian Ministry of Education, in giving an account of steps taken to develop rural schools, pointed out in its Memorandum of 1950,- that the short period of school attendance among indigenous children was due to the fact that these children are obliged to work to assist their parents.
Memorandum forwarded to the I.L.O. on 17 February 1950 for the "preparation of this meeting.
""Encuesta sobre el nirio indigena" in Boletin del Instituto Internacional Americano deProteccion a la Infancia, Vol.•VIII, ¥o. 27 -Oct"- 1934, p.. 113...
The employment of children seems to be implied by certain customs relating to the hiring of services described in.the
General•Report, which are prevalent in the indigenous populations of several Latin-American countries; according to these customs, the members of the family of a worker including his children are obliged to render certain types of service ,1 On the other hand, indigenous families are obliged, owing to their penurious condi-tions, to send their children at a very early age to work as domestic servants in private families ana their education is neglected in consequence.2 The general ignorance prevailing in these populations as a result of these various circumstances
create a further obstacle to attendance at school, the advantages of which are not properly understood by illiterate parents. This vicious circle is thus perpetuated from one generation to another.
""" Of, General Report, p . 169 . 2
CHAPTER I I
MEASURES APPLIED Iff VARIOUSCOTJIfTRIBS
It would be impossible, with tlie information possessed by the Office, to attempt a complete outline of the measures which have been taken to provide vocational tnraining for indigenous workers. In addition, 'the report must be kept within reasonable limits. In this chapter, therefore, only a short analysis will be made of the methods used by.the States concerned to solve the problem of vocational training for indigenous workers, taking a few
examples as a basis.
1 . . Sjfcate J-^[^^ve^ntion_ i ^ . ^ ^ ^
ro
3 nl ^ ^ i ° ^ ^ | L i l 2 1
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gramme_s of vo c a t 1 onal" _tr a ini~hg f or_^ i nd I g e no us workers .
In countries where the ethnic origin of a large part of the population is identical with that of groups which are considered "indigenous" because they cling to languages and customs which prevent their complete 'assimilation, the authorities naturally tend to regard the education of the indigenous sectors as a national education problem which is the concern of the State. Thus, in Mexico, the education of mono-lingual Indians-was under-taken by the National Government immediately after the.revolution of 1911, and programmes of. agricultural training and later of handicraft training soon assumed an important place in the curri-culum of rural national schools, side by.side with programmes of linguistic -instruction.
On the.other hand, in countries where the indigenous popula-tion is limited and its origin is clearly different from that of the majority ,of the population or the leading element in the popu-lation, the education of indigenous groups is less readily con-sidered to.be a direct responsibility of the State. It is fre-quently left to charitable associations interested in the welfare of the indigenous population and more particularly to religious missions who work to spread the Christian faith among the Indians. The first programmes of vocational training were established by the missions as a subsidiary activity, except v-fhen the religious
order in question, such as, for example, the Salesian Brothers, had considerable experience of vocational training. In Brazil, Chile, Canada, Peru and Venesuela, the missions have provided education for Indians who are protected by special laws in the territories set aside for their use. Vocational training was only one aspect of the educative process of civilisation, but when the Indians became bi-lingual as a result of the teaching they received, they were sufficiently prepared, to make use of the ordinary vocational training facilities. Thus, it has been ob-served in Chile that a good many indigenous pupils educated by the Missions were later able to attend agricultural, commercial and trade schools and were even able to -attend universities.!
It should be pointed out that in certain cases, the Missions carried cut their educational work on behalf of the State.1 In India, a benevolent society, known as the "All-India Association for the Service of Primitive Tribes", carries on the same type of work among the aboriginal population as the religious Missions in America..
Although voluntary or State-subsidised missions continue to operate, there is a marked tendency for Governments to assume direct responsibility for indigneous education and in particular for vocational training with the dual a"im of raising the standard of living of these populations and of increasing their participa-tion in the economic life of the country. Several Governments in their reports to the I.1.0. for the present Committee of Experts have pointed out a change of policy in this matter. The Argentine Government stated that it had decided to abandon a policy limited to welfare measures and would take energetic steps to apply to • the indigenous communities, according to their special circum-stances ,vmeasures of development and valorisation with a view to
incorporating these populations into modern life, as quickly as possible and to raising their standards of life -and work. To this effect the organisation of various vocational training centres in the Indian reserves is provided for as part of the 5-year plan. In Australia, the development of progranmes of vocational training for the aborigine, through official schools, is part of the policy recommended in 194-8 by the Commonwealth and State authorities on indigenous affairs at a special conference;, this policy was sub-sequently approved by the Government, The Chilean Government in its reply states its intention to utilise more fully the indigenous labour force of 200,000 persons to benefit the national economy and .especially in regard to agricultural production. Following the advice of the Advisory Commission which was held in 1948, the Government intends to establish training centres where the indi-genous population may learn more rational methods of working their land or ma?/. be taught other trades' or occupations. In the United States, vocational training centres for Indians have been in exis-tence for a long time in certain reservations and also outside the reservations, the main subject of which is agricultural education; these centres are organised by the Department of Indian Affairs; ill'1950, however, a law adopted by Congress in April created a development programme for two tribes and aimed at a more rational utilisation of manpower and emphasised the need to concentrate on programmes of vocational training.2
Cf. pp. 177-179 in the General Report, giving information on the agreements concluded on this matter between the Venezuelan Government and various religious orders .
n
2. Vocational Training Facilities
A ".Types of Facilities Available
No country is applying for the training of its indigenous
populations self-contained programmes which are completely separate from the general organisation of vocational training for the
popul-ation as a whole. Such a system would not in any case be desirable; on the contrary it would have a fatal effect on the progress of
indigenous populations towards incorporation- in--the national commun-ity. In all countries which have attempted to provide vocational education for indigenous populations they have followed the method of combining the ordinary training schemes with special facilities, or better still have adapted certain types of training to the needs and.conditions of indigenous populations. In some cases a system which was originally Intended for the indigenous population (for
example, rural satellite schools grouped round a central school and providing practical training) was extended to the non-indigenous or mixed sectors of the.population whose interests - those of an agri-'
cultural community - and stage of cultural development were similar, In other cases'the reverse process has occurred and training schemes for the population In general have developed into special schemes of indigenous education. This occurred with the "cultural missions" in Mexico which were originally intended to foment the progress of rural schools in general, and are now mainly though not exclusively engaged in work In Indian areas with a staff specially trained for this purpose.
When a study is being made of the training facilities which are available to indigenous populations, the vocational training pro-grammes for the population as a whole cannot be left out of account, although it is true that indigenous elements do not take full ad-vantage of them. Already steps have been taken by authorities in
certain countries with a view to making these regular programmes more accessible to the indigenous population and that is undoubtedly
the best method of obtaining the desired results.
The programmes also vary in their methods of organisation. School teaching only plays a limited part in such programmes,
Practical training is the chief method, for educating aborigines at the lowest stages of development but it is also used at other stages, The farm-school is often preferred to the school of agriculture, and workshop training to the vocational school.
Training is sometimes given in regional instruction centres where young people are brought from several villages to take courses
(Mexican indigenous training centres) and these centres sometimes serve several tribes or even a whole country (the Carlisle School in the United States), In other cases the centre is for the inhabitants of'one village to which the instructors travel (Indian improvement brigades, again in Mexico).
Teaching or training is sometimes replaced, by a more general method of advice or demonstrations on the best methods of work, which is a common type of educational guidance for the adult population.
stations sometimes function also as demonstration centres (e.g.' the Tingo Maria Agricultural Station in the indigenous area of the Eastern Andes in Peru).
B -•Objectives of Vocational Training Programme
The programmes which have been applied to indigenous popula-tions have had various objectives. In order to give a clear
account of these objectives we shall classify them below according to the types of activity established earlier in the report when analysing the occupational structure of indigenous populations,
(a) Programmes for Forest Tribes
These programmes have two essential aims;
(i) to assist nomadic tribes to become civilised, by
teaching them, especially the children and adolescents, the habits of a settled life and occupations which will provide a more secure livelihood than that afforded by the produce of nature;
(ii) to bring aboi.it or to prepare for the economic re-adjustment' of this group to the general economic conditions of the country either by helping them to carry on their customary
activities more profitably or by guiding them towards new activ-ities.
(i) Programmes of the first type have sometimes been applied by special services for the protection of indigenous populations and sometimes by religious missions.
For example, the Brazilian Service for the Protection of
Indians, which has to deal with very primitive nomadic tribes some of which are not even acquainted with the use of domestic animals, has organised stock-rearing posts where the Indians learn to take care of animals and utilise them, especially horses, which 'assist them in carrying loads. Six posts of this type were created in the indigenous territories. In addition, numerous assistance posts were set up to provide educational and health services of various kinds, and are being converted into agricultural production centres, Some are even supplied with mechanised equipment. The Indians are taught the rudiments of agriculture in these posts and at the same time receive a more general education.^
In many countries, including Brazil, the religious missions have added to the work of spreading the Christian faith, educational action which includes elementary instruction to the Indians in
occupations which are practised by settled populations. In Ecuador,; for example, the education of.forest tribes in the Eastern part of the country, which Is undertaken by the missionaries, includes agri-cultural training on the estate possessed by the mission, as well as apprenticeship in carpentry in the workshops of the Order of St, Joseph of Turin and apprenticeships for a number of trades in the four workshops organised by the Salesian Brothers in certain of
their schools.2 in Peru, various religious orders have set up small
1Cfa Report entitled The Problems of the Indigenous Populations
of Brazil, pp. 24-53.
workshops for carpentry, the manufacture of lime and sandals and for plaiting in the numerous mission stations for Indians in the
"Selva" (Eastern region of the Andes).1 In Venezuela, the
religious orders, by virtue of certain agreements concluded with the Government, were made responsible for providing instruction in agriculture, stock-breeding and rural handicrafts, and the
Ministry -of Agriculture is to supply the necessary equipment. It seems that the Caroni Mission is applying a fairly advanced pro-gramme of practical instruction in cattle and pig-breeding and rural masonry, carpentry and weaving.2
• (ii) The educational influence exerted by measures of the second type is much greater and is the outcome of steps taken by certain authorities responsible for indigenous welfare in order to bring about an economic readjustment. The work accomplished by
the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of Mines and Re-sources in Canada is a striking example of such methods which
have transformed the whole life of large sectors of the indigenous population of this country.
Originally the Canadian Indian population lived entirely by hunting and fishing. Now more than a quarter live by agriculture and another quarter by various other activities.3 These
popula-tions were encouraged to settle on the land and were supplied with eq\iipment; breeding herds were established and local agents of the Branch and special instructors help new settlers with
technical advice. In reserves which contain forests, Indians are taught to fell timber and to prepare wood for building purposes. Twelve sawmills have been installed by the Branch at its own ex-pense or on a partnership basis with certain groups of Indians. Since 1938 a special section of the Branch has been established for the purpose of encouraging rural handicrafts. This action was particularly successful in the central Prairie districts where the majority of Indians are now engaged in wheat-growing and stock-rearing.
Another educational scheme of a novel kind aimed at putting the activities of the nomadic tribes on to a more profitable basis by teaching Indians who still live by hunting,.fishing and
trapping (they amount to 60,000, that is 50 per cent, of the Indians of Canada), to observe rules for preserving from ex-tinction certain species of fur-bearing animals and increasing their profit from the fur trade by breeding these animals them-selves. The Indian Affairs Branch has organised fur-breeding pre-serves which are used as illustration stations and training grounds In Manitoba territories of 425,000 acres have been utilised
successfully to breed muskrats. Two beaver preserves were created in Ontario and five in Quebec for the exclusive use of Indians, The two beaver preserves in Quebec which were the first to be in-stalled each produced 1,000 beavers in 1948, which meant an extra profit of $1,000,00 for the trappers. Similar projects were in •progress in Saskatchewan and
Alberta.4-•^General Report, p.172.
2General Report, pp. 178-179,
Cf. Table of Economically-active Indigenous Population of Canada in 1941 in General Report, p.183.
(b) Programme for Rural Populations
Countries with a Large Indigenous Population - The rural primary school is the most appropriate medium for providing vocational training for rural indigenous populations, especially in countries where a large section of the population is indigenous. Vocational
training programmes are combined with general educational
pro-grammes and have a two-fold purpose. The first is a practical aim, that of providing village children who live at a considerable dis-tance from specialised vocational training centres and will
probably never have an opportunity to attend any other school, with knowledge which will help them to follow their adult occupa-tions in a rational manner. The second aim is a methodological one, i.e. that the general education should be based on the child's knowledge of his environment, that is to say, on the facts of
agricultural and domestic life. In principle, functional methods of teaching are applied.
This special type of primary school was originally created in Mexico shortly after the revolution of 1911; it was subsequently adopted by several other Latin-American countries, but with im-portant variations in each country. In Bolivia new ground was broken with the Warizata'School created in 1931, which was
spec-ially intended for Indians and used essentspec-ially practical methods, the chief aim being training for handicraft.
In several countries, including Mexico, the- rural schools system was extended to all the country districts to supply the needs of indigenous and non-indigenous populations alike, but
eventually was adapted specially to the conditions in the indigenous areas, particular!;/ as regards the language used for teaching
(the problem of progressing from the indigenous language to the national language).
In other countries, such as Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and Guatemala, this system was introduced at first for indigenous
populations, and in Peru it was gradually extended to the mixed and non-indigenous areas. In the four countries just mentioned a
system of satellite•schools has been developed (nucleos escolares campesinos);. this consists in schools In villages in the same neighbourhood being grouped together under the direction of a central school, the staff of which Is specially trained to direct the activities of the satellite schools. The Inter-American co-operative services of education, which were created by an agree-' ment between the country concerned and the United States Institute of Inter-American Affairs (the organ through which the latter
country grants technical assistance to the Latin-American countries) have assisted Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala in organising satellite
schools, training the staff and providing equipment.
The portion of the school curriculum devoted to vocational
training varies in importance from one country to another; or at
least as far as the facts are concerned, for in theory a large-r scale programme exists in all countries. It should, supply the' needs of the rural life, which in countries where the peasant community and especially the indigenous community is primitive, in the sense that the duties of the members of the community are only slightly differentiated from an occupational point of view, requires from each worker a readiness to perform a variety of tasks such as cultivating the land, caring for domestic animals, providing the family with essential-commodities, such as clothes, kitchen utensils, including a house or"at-least the furniture
training include rural handicrafts as well as agriculture in,-the narrow sense of the word." In: addition, elementary social and..
individual hygiene should be included.
• Plans for this type'of instruction are certainly'justified by the. circumstances, but'-'it is easy to understand that a.programme as comprehensive as this" is difficult to realise in full. . Thus
emphasis is laid according to the country, region arid.. some times: according to the individual school, on' one or other 'section of-the programme, which Is-:rarely carried out in toto.
The application of those programmes appears to be hampered by two main obstacles; one is the difficulty of securing a teaching staff able to carry out such a wide programme and- to strike a bal-ance between Its different aspects, and the second is the lack'of material and equipment. The rural school should in. particular have a plot of land on-'which to make experiments in addition to poultry and other farm animals. The following example would.give an,idea of the difficulty experienced in equipping schools with.all the. necessary requirements. In Mexico, where rural schools have.been' in existence for 30 years, and- numbered 12,219'in 1947-48, and .were attended by 796;946 pupils, only 6,037 schools, that is> barely half this number, possessed an allotment which could bo used
for-practical.agricultural programmes, in spite of the great interest taken by.the Mexican-Government in the development of agricultural instruction for the farming population in connection with the
application of agrarian1 reform,1 On 31 May 1949 the number-of
rural' schools amounted to 16,C88 and the number of school allots ments was 6,260, with a total area of 23,.033 hectares.2
Further proof of the importance attached by the Mexican Government to a rural education which combines general education and agricultural instruction taking into account the educational needs of the indigenous population,' is afforded by the application of "the pilot-scheme for basic education". The scheme, launched by the National Education Secretariat as an illustration of the proposal of the Mexican'Delegation which was" adopted by the Second General Assembly of U,NTE.S.C.O. (Mexico, 1947)'- which stated that
each country should initiate a pilot-scheme to stimulate the pro-gress of popular education - -was applied' in the agricultural State of Nayarit, It consists in setting up an educational "unit" pro-viding all the necessary facilities for basic'education, that is,
(1) a kindergarten; (2) a primary.school, including boarding school for Indians; (3) a cultural mission; (4) a school providing element-ary agricultural education; and (5) a training college for teachers/
The following is the history of rural schools in .the other countries in this group; • '. • •
^Of.. Memffria de la Secretaria de- Educacion public a, "1947-1948, (Mexico, 1948"), pp. 103-105.'
Report sent to Dr. E. Perez by the School Allotment Office of .the Public Education Secretariat of-Mexico,' and re-transmitted to the Office.
Bolivia - The Warizata school was founded in 1951 under the dir-ection of Dr. E. Perez and was provided with a dozen handicraft workshops. "On'the results of this experience-regulations were issued in 1935 concerning rural indigenous'schools organised according to the satellite school system with the instruction divided into five sections: (1) kindergartens for children from 4
to 6 years - the activities are freej (2) elementary three years' course (workshop attendance'voluntary)j (3) vocational course for two years. Attendance in the workshop is compulsory and is done by rotation;' (4) specialised vocational-course of indeterminate dura-tion (from 1 to 4 years) with specialisadura-tion in one trade, pupils being encouraged to learn an additional trade; (5) pedagogic course of 4 years to train teaching staff.
Following the agreement concluded in 1944 between the Govern-ment of Bolivia and the Institute of Inter-American Affairs ,•
creat-ing the Inter-American Co-operative Service of Education (S.C. I'.D.E.) the teaching programme was revised and emphasis was laid-on
agri-cultural instruction and also instruction in hygiene and rudimentary education, which are given in terms of practical life. The
satellite school groups increased from. 48 in 1946 to 59•in 1948, with 1,026 schools and approximately 40,000-pupils. The equipment has been.improved, particularly the agricultural material, and an1
integral education of the "peasant" is aimed at (the term "indigenous" or "Indian" being avoided) as a member of a family and of a -community and as a cultivator and stockbreeder* Up-grading courses for the staff of rural schools were organised and manuals of
instruction prepared.y In 1949, the satellite school groups under
the direct management of the Department of Rural Education of the Ministry of Education assisted by the S.C.I.D.E. were reduced to 45, and the rest.of the schools were placed under the authority of a religious organisation known as the "Schools of Christ".^
Ecuador - Rural schools were created by Decree No.11 of 30;September 1930,' In 1947, Ecuadorian teachers took, part in a course organised in Bolivia by the S.C.I.D.E. for teachers of rural schools in that country and Peru. The first three satellite school groups were created by Decree No. 1,008, dated 1947, and one of the objectives of the.new teaching programme was to train the "peasant" to be able to contribute to the development and improvement of possibilities for Agriculture, stockbrecding and industry in his community.•; In :
1950, there"were eight rural training colleges serving as centres for satellite schools organised by the Ministry cf Education, '
'Directorate of Primary Education. '" • •
Guatemala - In 1946, an agreement was concluded between the Govern-ment of Guatemala and the Institute of Inter-American Affairs to
set up an S.C.I.D.E. with a view to reforming rural education and introducing functional methods of teaching. The Ministry of Educa-tion, Department of Rural .EducaEduca-tion, was .reorganised, and. two. rural
•'•Report from Frofessor Perez to the I.L.O.
9
training colleges for teachers were created, 400 out of tho 2,000 primary schools already' existing in the country wore- grouped into '20.satellite school groups and up-grading courses, for the staff
of ..satellite schools already existing were created; manuals were prepared' similar to those in Bolivia. School equipment'was im-proved. Various services were organised in connection with the
school which increased its influence in the." community;
agri-cultural clubs, social evenings whore films are shown, and pupils give lectures which are attended by their relatives, etc.
Peru - In April 1944, an agreement was concluded between the "Government of Peru and. the Institute of Inter-American Affairs
creating an S.C.I.D,h. with a view to organising rural schools in the indigenous area of the high plateaux.1 A conference of, Ministers of education from Bolivia and Peru was held in Arequipa
in 1944 under tho auspices of the S.C.I.D.ii, in order to co-ordinate programmes on both sides of the frontier. In December of that year, a joint technical conference was held at Warizata and a statement was issued on teaching principles, as follows: the necessity' to provide instruction of an essentially
agri-cultural -nature based on the interests of the peasant- population, •'the Influenco of which should reach every home; to train pupils.
in'the practice of agriculture and stock-breeding and'-.to teach . them Spanish through the medium .of their own language, A'Degree was' issued on 25 April 1945 providing for the organIsation--.of • • groups of satellite peasant schools, which,' in 1948',' amounted-.to 16, comprising 420 schools and 35,000 pupils. An extension of. •this scheme to' other regions is being planned. The 'curricula, of
these schools include' .the practice of agriculture and .stock -breeding, as well as,rural handicrafts and trades. In addition, •s chop Is described as "tecnif icadas" have been set up, which are Equipped with workshops where pupils attend in,successive groups •during the last three school years in order to determine- their. •
particular aptitudes' and preferences. There are- 32 of these. schools in 12 provinces. ' - . ' - .
-In addition to the rural schools, Mexico and Peru have". ; practical-agricultural schools intended for-the whole population whi'ch-Indians 'also are said to utilise. There are 7 elementary
and 11 advanced schools in Peru, and in Mexico they amounted to1 •
12 in 1'948 and it v/as planned to increase the .number. These . . • schools'have free boarding facilities which make them more access-ible, A noteworthy feature of Mexican schools is. that priority-of admission is given to the children priority-of farmers, agricultural labourers and members of the rural communities (ejidos). There are a largo number of Indian "e jidos" and the .total""number of • Indian i!e;jidatarlos,T amounts to more than 1,222,000. according to
the estimate of the Mexican National Indian Institute,s This.
Vocational training centres for Indians already existed in that- region, - for Instance, the Model Farm for Agricultural and Stock-rearing Instruction #in the Puno district, 'which v/as created
in 1917; the Farm School and Experimental Estate at" Cuzco In' .'Southern- Peru, created in 1919'; the Farm-Workshop School at Puno,
'created In.:1925.- . " . . .
priority provides interesting possibilities, since the best pupils in the practical school are entitled to facilities for advanced agricultural instruction and in addition persons who have quali-fied in the practical .school are given preference in the alloca-tion of public lands which have been recently irrigated, which they then cultivate together in groups (colohi.as) , receiving credits .from the Agricultural Credit Bank to cover their initial outlay'on "equipment, etc.., an,d. in addition technical assistance is given by the Department of Agricultural Education.
These agricultural schools also provide extension services to farmers in the same region in the form of answers to requests for
advice,' practical demonstrations, etc.
Former pupils of-rural schools in Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru may receive more advanced instruction in handicrafts at special centres set up for this purpose. The special report on the encouragement,of handicrafts provides information on this matter (see page 2 1 ) .
It should be pointed out that in the residential Indian training centres in Mexico, agricultural instruction is provided at the same time as instruction in handicrafts. These centres are. organised to train both monolingual arid bilingual Indians, which gives young people who have not had the opportunity to learn
Spanish a chance to receive a training. Nineteen centres of this type were in operation in 1947-1948, with 2,161 pupils of both sexes •.
In the same group of countries, that is to'say, in Guatemala and Mexico and in some other Latin-American countries, including Costa Rica and Venezuela, a system is in operation which completes the social influence of the agricultural schools and the rural schools Preferred to above; these are the "cultural missions" (or culture brigades). Their object-is to promote improvement in the life of rural communities from all points of view. They travel around the villages to educate the inhabitants in hygiene and
sanitation, they spread the principle of rural economy among women and endeavour to bring about certain improvements in agricultural methods. They also fight against epizootic diseases and help in
the selection of seeds, etc. This system is of recent date in Costa Rica, but in Guatemala it has been in existence for about 10 years, and quite a considerable time in Mexico where there are at present 48 missions, in addition to 12 motorised missions which have fought against foot and mouth disease.
Mexico also has two types of educational services for Indians: the anti-illiteracy institutes, one of which specialises in teach-ing monolteach-ingual Indians to read and. write, and the Indian Improve-ment Brigades. The latter are teams of eight persons, one of whom
deals especially with agricultural questions. They travel to
various regions and remain there for a certain time for the purpose of solving the economic, hygienic and social problems of the
Indians j they also deal with the problems of agricultural- training. There were 14 brigades in 1947-1948. In Guatemala active
cam-paigns have been, conducted, against Illiteracy in recent years by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the National
Indian Institute.
obtain the best results in each region. Here an example of co-ordinated action can be cited in Mexico, where indigenous educa-tion services are very numerous; in 1949 a one-month campaign
(20 October to 21 November) was conducted- in the "totonaca" zone situated on the frontier region between, the States of Veracruz and Puebla. -the object wa3 to promote economic, physical and cultural development of 40 Indian villages, .which involved the co-operation of the Indian training centre at Zongozotla in the State of Veracruz, one of the Puebla State school inspectorates, and No.l Cultural Mission.
Countries with Indigenous Indian-Minority Groups - In certain of the countries where the indigenous populations are in a minority and are protected by a special scheme, the welfare authorities have taken steps to provide agricultural and handicraft education for persons protected by these- schemes.
The experience of'the United States is interesting 'in this connection, for the agricultural education of young Indians, which at present is organised on a large scale, has been grad-ually evolved by a process of trial and .error. After primary education for Indians was declared compulsory in 1891, Indian schools, began to develop and increase, and farm schools were 'frequently attached to High Schools, Experts who surveyed in
1928.the agricultural programme in Indian schools (the Meriam Survey) stated nine'reasons why this education was inadequate. At this time vocational training in the'narrow sense of the word was provided, in boarding schools as part.of a programme which mainly dealt -with training in a trade. It was realised by the authorities that the majority of the former pupils of these schools, on completing their studies, returned,to their reserva-tion or their home community where they did .not have any oppor-tunity to practise the trade they had learnt. , They turned in-stead to agriculture to earn a living or to,- casual employment of various' kinds. The adoption.by Congress of the Indian
Re-organisation Act, 1934, and the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, 1936, indicated-the essential need of agricultural education for Indians,
Indian education was. reorganised following- oh' another .. enquiry
conducted in 1936 into agricultural education in Indian schools. New Land was allocated for instruction purposes, the acreage of the farm schools was increased from 43,670 in 19-33'to ' 117, 737 in' 1940. As the result of reclassification of staff their status was raised and a better, type of teacher could be obtained for
these posts. The -number' of teachers of agriculture was .'increased-to 58 in 44 schools, and m6r"e highly trained teachers'were employed, Summer courses were organised by the Office of Indian Affairs to improve' the skill of ths staff. Home economics instructors were added to the staff of :f arm schools to give training to the gir.ls.
The' school instructions 'were also revised to enable schools to:
issue equipment and school-owned livestock to the pupils in order to give them a start toward'becoming, self-supporting on their '
land; many pupils take advantage of theso facilities. • A programme' connected with the utilisation and maintenance' of mechanised
equipment was introduced, 12 farm-mechanics instructors being. employed for this purpose, and various improvements were effected in the teaching methods.^ .. . . •
Cf. William I. Goodman, Associate Supervisor, Industrial Training (Agriculture) Office' of Indian Affairs,'U.S. Department