Preview

INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE

VOCATIONAL TRAINING
IN LATIN AMERICA

GENEVA
1951

STUDIES AND E E P O E T S
New Series, No. 28

PUBLISHED BY THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE
GENEVA,

SWITZERLAND

Published in the United Kingdom for the INTERNATIONAL
by Staples Press Limited, London

LABOUR OFFICE

PRINTED BY " TRIBUNE D E GENÈVE ", GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I : Basic Factors
Economic Factors
Psychological and Social Factors

7
10
26

CHAPTER I I : Orgamisation and Administration
The National Plan
Administrative Organisation

30
30
32

CHAPTER I I I : Training of Juveniles
Programme and Choice of Methods
Technical Education in Schools
Access to Training Facilities

40
40
46
74

CHAPTER IV : Training and Betraining
Industrial Training
Agricultural Training

81
81
88

of Adult Workers

CHAPTER V : Training Abroad and Technical Assistance
Training Abroad
Technical Assistance
CHAPTER V I : Conclusions

94
94
98
100

National Effort
International Co-operation

100
103

Appendices
I : Notes on Various Countries
Argentina
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba

107
110
136
145
163
182
197
203

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA
Page

Ecuador
Guatemala
Mexico
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela
I I : Besolutions Adopted by Conferences of American States Members
of the I.L.0
Third Conference (Mexico City, April 1946)
Fourth Conference (Montevideo, April-May 1949) . . .

215
224
229 ,
259 r
283
294

301
301
310

INTRODUCTION

Vocational training in Latin America is not a new subject
of study for the International Labour Organisation. After the
Second Conference of American States Members of the I.L.O.
(Havana, 1939) had referred incidentally to the question, it
was included as a whole in the agenda of the Third American
Conference (Mexico City, 1946). This meeting adopted two
Resolutions : a general one, which advocated a comprehensive
plan for the organisation of each country's vocational training
programme and suggested methods of regional co-operation
intended to stimulate such training and assist in its development ; and another of a less general character concerning the
organisation of regular inter-American technical training
courses. The texts of these two Eesolutions are appended
to the present report.
On 16 August 1948 the Deputy Executive Secretary of
the Economic Commission for Latin America of the United
Nations wrote to the Director-General of the I.L.O. transmitting the text of a Eesolution on technical assistance which had
been adopted by E.C.L.A. at its first session on 25 June 1948.
The Resolution called for a study of the needs of Latin American countries for the training of technical and administrative
personnel and on existing f acuities to meet these needs.
The Deputy Executive Secretary of E.C.L.A. added that
he was aware that the I.L.O. had already accomplished much
in this field and had sent a representative to assist the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East in a similar
study. He expressed the hope that the Director-General of the
I.L.O. would be able to help E.C.L.A. in the same way, and
pointed out that, in the case of Latin America, the main
concern was a survey of the needs of and facilities for training
both in industry and in agriculture, and that this was one of
the most fundamental problems in the industrial development
of Latin American countries.
On 18 September of the same year, the Director-General
of the I.L.O. thanked the Deputy Executive Secretary of

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

E.O.L.A. for his invitation, and said he would be glad to consider the possibility of sending to Latin America an official
to work in close co-operation with E.O.L.A. on this question.
In October 1948 the General Assembly of the United
Nations, acting on a proposal by its Second Committee, adopted
a Eesolution requesting the International Labour Organisation
to examine, in considtation with the United Nations and its
regional economic commissions, the most appropriate arrangements for facilitating the admission to the world's centres of
training for apprentices and technical workers of qualified
persons from countries which suffer from a lack of technicians
and specialists.
The Director-General submitted to the Governing Body
of the I.L.O. at its 107th Session (Geneva, December 1948),
a proposal for a comprehensive manpower programme covering
questions of employment, migration and vocational training.
I t was intended that this programme should be applied on a
regional basis in a manner appropriate to each region. The
proposal specified the first steps that might be taken to apply
the programme in Asia in the light of an enquiry which the
I.L.O. expert had just carried out in that region together with
E.C.A.F.E. The Governing Body was informed at the same
time of the request made by E.O.L.A. and of the promise of
co-operation which the Director-General had given.
On 22 January 1949, Madame M. THIBEKT, whom the
Director-General had appointed to conduct this latter enquiry,
left Geneva to study the question on the spot. 1
During the period of the enquiry, the Fourth Conference of
American States Members of the I.L.O. was held in Montevideo
(April-May 1949). At the close of the discussion on the
Director-General's Eeport, on 7 May, the Conference adopted
a Eesolution concerning the social aspects of the economic
development of the American Continent. This Eesolution
suggested to the Governing Body a programme of technical
assistance in the region ; its second part related to manpower
problems, including vocational training. The text of the
Eesolution is appended to the present report. As will be seen,
it sketched the main lines of a constructive manpower programme which might provide the American countries with the
technicians and skilled workers indispensable to their economic
1

Madame THIBEKT was accompanied during part of her mission by

Mr. F . JONES and Miss S. FRÍAS.

INTRODUCTION

development ; and it emphasised that, in implementing this
plan, the I.L.O. should work in close co-operation with the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Organisation
of American States.
In order to provide a groundwork for the operation of this
programme, the Eesolution suggested the establishment of a
Latin-American Manpower Field Office, and such field missions
as might be necessary. A few weeks later, on 4 June 1949, when
taking note of the Eesolutions adopted by the Fourth Conference of American States Members of the I.L.O., the Governing Body authorised the Director-General to establish the
proposed Manpower Field Office, and this regional centre is
now in operation at Säo Paulo, Brazil. The Governing Body
also approved the main lines of the manpower programme
for Latin America which had been traced by the Eesolution
adopted at Montevideo, and decided at the same time to
establish a m o n g its own members a Manpower Committee for

Latin America which would aid the Office, and the Governing
Body itself, in implementing the manpower programme in
the region.
The present report has been drafted on the basis of information collected during the enquiry on the spot, and of other
information available to the I.L.O, for the use of E.C.L.A., of
the I.L.O. itself, and of its Manpower Field Office for Latin
America.
As in the case of the enquiry into the problems of vocational
training in t h e Far East, which an expert from the International Labour Office undertook in 1948 at the request of the
regional economic committee concerned 1 , the scope of the
enquiry into problems of vocational training in Latin America
undertaken by the Mission from the International Labour
Office in 1949, in conjunction with the Economic Commission for Latin America, was necessarily conditioned
by the purpose of the enquiry. There could be no question of exploring thoroughly the whole field of vocational
training. Such training had to be considered as one of the
methods of procuring for the countries in question the manpower of all degrees of skill which was needed for their
economic development. I t was necessary, therefore, to consider
first of all the methods of training technical staff which were
1
Cf. International Labour Office, Studies and Reports, N.S., No. 11 :
Training Problems in the Far East (Geneva, 1948).

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

calculated to make a direct contribution to the economic
life of a country.
Therefore, no attempt was made to consider how vocational
training was organised in Latin America for all trades and
occupations. The Mission deliberately excluded from the
sphere of its enquiry occupations which exert a profound
influence on the social structure of a society and are capable of
making a powerful contribution towards the welfare of the
population—and consequently its productive potential—but
which are not of a strictly economic nature, e.g., the medical
and nursing professions, lawyers, social workers, etc., whose
training is not usually described as technical. Nevertheless,
training for these professions is fairly well developed in Latin
America.
On the other hand, an effort was made to extract from the
data available all information concerning industrial, agricultural and commercial training, although the classification
which had to be carried out under these three heads gave
rise to many arbitrary decisions owing to the existence of
intermediate branches of activity.
For the purposes of this classification, the term " industry "
has been used in the sense which has been given currency by
international labour Conventions, that is to say, the term
covers extractive industries as well as transformation industries, and also construction and transport industries. The
handicraft forms of the transformation industries have not
been excluded from the study. In Latin America, as in Asia,
handicrafts play a considerable part in economic life, and,
while on the decrease for the population as a whole, are still
important in certain sectors, particularly in those aboriginal
groups which are isolated from the industrial centres by the
sheer immensity of American territory and whose local dialect
and customs have remained almost unchanged in their ancestral form. ÏTone the less, owing to the diversity of the training
methods by which the numerous skills of the handicraftsman
are usually handed down from one generation to another,
there was no hope either of listing all the means adopted to
this end or of studying the various methods. The commonest
method is training within the family group or the local community, and such a study was outside the scope of an enquiry
which had to be undertaken very rapidly. I t was only possible
to mention the measures officially taken to maintain handicraft

INTRODUCTION

techniques in the face of the competition of mechanised
industry, or even to improve such techniques, for instance, the
organisation of courses in handicrafts in elementary vocational
schools, and particularly courses of this kind associated with
primary education which chiefly deal with the use of local raw
materials such as leather, wood, wool, clay, etc. For the first
session of the Committee of Experts on Indigenous Labour
(La Paz, January 1951), the International Labour Office
prepared a study of indigenous handicrafts and related problems. This study forms a most useful supplement to such
information as could be collected on training for handicrafts
during the present enquiry. 1
In accordance with the traditional classification in labour
statistics, agriculture has, for the purposes of the study, been
considered as including all the main activities of a rural
population : cultivation and stockbreeding—a very important
branch of the Latin American economy—and where necessary
also forestry and fisheries, although, because of the scarcity
of information concerning the exploitation of the immense
resources in fishery and forestry of the region it has seldom
been possible to describe measures undertaken in this field.
The measures specially taken to train the rural population in
the use, upkeep and repair of mechanised agricultural material
or for the transformation on the spot of the products of a
given district are considered under agricultural training,
although manpower of this kind is often borrowed from urban
centres.
Although no attempt was made to carry out an exhaustive
study of facilities for commercial and administrative training
in Latin America—facilities frequently due to the initiative
of local authorities or by private enterprise, so that the general
organisation of such facilities is very difficult to determine—
some reference had to be made to technical training institutes
of this nature, since the efficiency of the administrative and
office staff of an industrial or agricultural undertaking is no less
indispensable to the efficiency of the undertaking than that of
its production staff. Some attempt has therefore been made
to indicate the share which Governments have taken in
organising this type of education.
1
Cf. : International Labour Organisation, Committee of Experts on
Indigenous Labour (first session—La Paz, Jan. 1951), CEIL/1/5, 1950 :
The Protection of Indigenous Handicrafts (Geneva, 1950).

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Furthermore, in no field, not even in those of industrial
and agricultural training, which were the main concern of the
Mission, could the analysis of the facts be complete. The
Mission tried above all to bring out the main features of the
organisation of training systems in each country and to give a
clear enough idea of how those systems operate in order that
the problems with which the pubhc authorities are grappling
may be fully understood.

OHAPTEE I
BASIC FACTORS
Vocational training certainly has educational effects.
Nevertheless, unlike general education which may be an end
in itself, its direct object is essentially utilitarian : preparation
for a trade presupposes the possibility of plying that trade.
A rational policy of vocational training should therefore aim
at balancing the supply of skilled personnel against the needs
of industry, thus avoiding both stagnation in a, given trade
owing to lack of the necessary technicians and skilled workers,
and unemployment among such workers. Such a balance
should not be considered as purely numerical, but also as
dependent on adjustment of individuals to a wide variety of
jobs and duties, for which training requirements are not
entirely uniform and vary from place to place and with the
passage of time. In training for industry, for instance, such
variations may be caused by changes in equipment or manufacturing processes, by increased (or reduced) division of
labour, and by many other factors.
Appreciation of training needs, while of outstanding importance as a basis for rational policy, is therefore at the same
time an extremely difficult matter. I t presupposes a knowledge of the structure of a country's economy, and of the
operation of that economy—as seen from various points of
view—and an understanding of its basic trend. The enquiries
conducted by the Economic Commission for Latin America
between its first two sessions provide an indispensable introduction to the study of vocational training problems in the
region. Of particular importance in this regard are Economic
Survey of Latin America, 1948, a first version of which was
submitted by the Secretariat of E.C.L.A. to the second session
of the Committee 1 , and the preliminary report on technical
assistance requirements in Latin America. 2
1
2

United Nations Document E/CN.12/82 (Lake Success, New York, 1948).
United Nations Document E/CN. 12/84.

TABLE I. TABLE OF OCCUPIED POPULATION AND OF WA
ENGAGED IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY, CONSTRUCTION INDU
TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS FOE TEN LATIN AMERIC
Wage ( arners
Country

Year

Number

All persons occupied

Percentage *

Number

Percentage

Wage <
J

Number

Manufacturing industry
Argentina . .
Brazil . .
Chile . .
Colombia
Cuba . .
Mexico .
Nicaragua
Panama .
Peru . .
Venezuela

1943
1940
1940
1938
1943
1940
1940
1940
1940
1941

782,485

—

184,702
150,254
80,624
331,580

17.2
10.6
16.8
12.7

.—
—

—
—

113,016
87,073

12.6
17.3

911,991
1,400,056 3
297,979
440,989
190,148
355,795
36,072 4
14,712
380,281
206,711

10.0
17.1
9.9
12.5
6.5
10.2
7.1
15.4
16.7

_
—

50,336
75,255
10,342
55,970

—
—

40,770
36,310

Mining
Argentina . .
Brazil . .
Chile . .
Colombia
Cuba . .
Mexico .
Nicaragua
Panama .
Peru . .
Venezuela

1943
1940
1940
1938
1943
1940
1940
1940
1940
1941

22,958 6

—

.—

.—
—

—
—

85,270
45,034
3,699
85,309
37,895
17,643

8.0
3.2
0.8
3.3
4.2
3.5

25,991 6
390,560
96,090
75,374
5,507
106,706
4,871
373
44,694
23,457

2.8
5.5
1.7
0.4
2.0
1.4
0.8
1.8
1.9

—

48,807
24,216
24,721
81,969

—
—

27,329
39,467

Sources : International Labour Office : Year Book of Labour Siatislics 1945-1946 (Geneva, 1947) ; Síntesis E
Census of Cuba, 1940 ; Census of Mexico, 1940 ; Census of Venezuela, 1941.
1
Percentage of all wage earners in country.
• Percentage of all gainfully occupied persons in
* Includes commerce.
• In undertakings employing not less than 5 workers (includes 9,978 persons e
undertakings employing not less than 5 workers (includes 11,671 persons occupied in the petroleum indu
and foremen,

BASIC FACTORS

At this stage, therefore, we may simply refer to these
valuable studies as a background for our own, and await
supplementary information from the revised versions now in
course of preparation. However in order to grasp the significance of what has already been done, and to appreciate
what may yet need to be done, certain features of the background of any attempt to organise vocational training must
be borne in mind. Even though these features may already
be described in the above-mentioned studies, it will be
appropriate to recall them briefly here.
TABLE n .

NUMBERS EMPLOYED IN MANUFACTURING, BY MAJOR

GROUPS, IN NINE LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRIES 1
(Percentage distribution)

Country

Year

Argentina
Bolivia . .
Brazil . . .
Chile . . . .
Colombia
Guatemala
Mexico . .
Uruguay.
Venezuela

1943
1942
1940
1945
1945
1946
1941
1936
1936

All
manu- Food
profactur- ducts
ing

100.0
100.0
1000
100.0
100.0
100.0
100 0
100 0
100.0

TobBever- acco
proages
ducts

o-> n
16.4 17.2
3.7
21.2
3.0
17.9
6.9
20.3
17.7
8.8
22.3
3.8
31.1
5.9
— 55 .8 —

1.5
6

1.0
5.6
4.4
1.4
1.7
4.8

Textiles
and
clothing

Lumber
and
lumber
products '

17.7
24.6
34.7
21.1
28.4
32.3
35.1
17.3
12.2

9.3
3.7
8.1
7.9
6.1
8.8
3.8
5.0
3.9

Chem- Basic
Leath- icals metals
er and and
and
leather chem- metal
ical
proproducts pro- ducts
*
ducts

Miscellaneous

4.3
2.2
4.4
7.4
4.0
3.1
4.5
3.2
4.6

21.9
24.6
15.3
14.6
15.8
18.6
15.5
13.8
9.6

4.3
9 0
1.8
10.4
6.6
2.2
1.0
6.7
8.7

19 6
0.7 4
10.7
16.6
6 3
4 0
13.1
15.5
0.1

Source : United Nations, Economic Commission for Latin America : Economic Survey
of Latin America, 1948, p. 17. (Official national censuses for the years indicated.)
1
The data have been adjusted to exclude mining, public utilities and building.
' Including manufacture of furniture and fixtures. 3 Manufactures of basic form of
metals (castings, forgings, etc.), and their products, including machinery. * Excluding
tin smelting. " Included in food products.

The distribution of manpower in the national economy is
a first indication on which to base forecasts of the intake
required to keep the labour force at its existing level. Unfortunately, as E.O.L.A. has already pointed out, there is a lack
of statistical data for many countries in the region ; and such
information as we have is generally out of date. Pending the
results of the census of 1950, the very rough sketch which
can be drawn from available statistics must suffice.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

ECONOMIC FACTORS

Industrial Structure of Latin American Countries
Manufacturing

and Construction.

The relevant columns of table I give a general conspectus
of the situation in manufacturing industry, and table I I
makes it possible to analyse this general picture to some extent.
I t will be seen from table I that the number of persons
engaged in manufacturing industry represents a relatively
small proportion of all gainfully occupied persons. The range
is from 6.5 per cent, in Mexico to 17.1 per cent, in Chile ;
whereas in the United States the personnel of manufacturing
industry comprises 22 per cent, of the gainfully occupied
population.
Table I I shows the working force of each group of manufacturing industries in relation to all such industries together.
I t brings out the importance of the food and drink trades and
of textiles and clothing and the small part still played in Latin
America by the metal and—still more—by the chemical
industries. Nevertheless, the relative weight of these groups
is beginning to alter in some countries. Metals have caught
up with textiles in Argentina, and are almost as important as
the food trades in Chile. Knowledge of the new trends which
these changes indicate is essential to an appreciation of training needs which vary greatly from one group to another ;
regular proof of their further development would therefore
be extremely valuable.
I t has not been possible to nil in the " wage earners "
columns of table I for most of the countries. These columns
were introduced because they alone contain figures which are
comparable as between one country and another. They are
also interesting for another reason : there may of course be
differences between the groups chosen, in each industry or
country, in order to make up, with wage earners, the total
number of gainfully occupied persons ; nevertheless, it is
impossible not to be struck, at least when considering the
situation in each country separately, by the considerable
discrepancy between the number of wage earners and that of
all persons occupied in industry ; and whether this is due
to the inclusion of a large number of heads of very small

BASIC FACTOES

establishments, or to the inclusion of many self-employed
persons or members of employers' families, it may be regarded
as evidence of an economy still partly at the handicraft stage.
The need for vocational training is affected by such a situation. The same type of training does not suit all forms of
production : as a rule, handicrafts require complete training
for a high proportion of their personnel ; whereas modern
industry uses some highly qualified technicians, but the
remaining personnel generally needs only to specialise in a
particular job, and the necessary training can be acquired
with relative speed, although it must usually aim at great
skill and precision in performance.
Some of the manufacturing industries having an important
place in the over-all industrial activity of the region are now
in course of transition from handicrafts to mass production.
In the clothing industry, for instance, big ready-made clothes
factories are being established, with a division of labour which
involves specialisation of personnel in each separate part of
the making of a garment and in the various finishing jobs ;
whereas the bespoke tailoring and dressmaking workshops seek
craftsmen who can make the whole garment. Clearly, mass
production is not, as yet, the commonest method employed in
the clothing industry, and both types of training must still be
given side by side. Similar comments can be made on other
industries.
Consequently, not only does the need for vocational training
vary with the relative size of the different manufacturing
industries in a country's whole industrial economy ; it
varies also with the pace of industrial concentration and
mechanisation in each trade.
In many Latin American countries shortage of data prevents an analysis of the structure of industry such as would
show exactly what vocational training is required, even merely
to keep up the present labour force. Nevertheless, in at least
one country, a reasonably complete analysis of this kind has
been made precisely with the purpose of evaluating training
requirements. I n Brazil, when the National Industrial Apprenticeship Service, run by the General Confederation of Industry,
began to organise its network of apprenticeship schools, it
analysed industrial trades and occupations by means of direct
enquiries in the factories and workshops of the country. After
the investigation had been carried out in the six industrially

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

most important regions, the National Industrial Apprenticeship Service found that, out of a million and a half industrial
workers enumerated in the course of the investigation x ,
292,560 were skilled (or at least semi-skilled) workers, whose
training involved methodical apprenticeship. The trades and
operations regarded as " skilled " were divided into four
groups, according to the length of the apprenticeship which
would be necessary (this was roughly equivalent to grading
the skills required). The representation of the various industries in the resulting list of skilled trades and operations, and
in the four groups into which it was divided, was remarkably
uneven. In all, 77 trades and occupations appeared in this
first list : of these 21 belonged to the metal industries, including precious metals, jewellery, watchmaking, etc., and 16 of
these were placed in the group requiring the longest apprenticeship ; 11 belonged to the textile industry, and of these
only two were placed in the first group ; eight belonged to the
wood industry (first and second groups), eight to the leather
industry (second and fourth groups), seven to the building
industry (third group), seven to the glass, pottery and precious
stones industries (second group), three to the electricity
industry (first group), three to the food industry (second
group) and one to the chemical industry (second group).
It may therefore be deduced from this Brazilian occupational analysis that the metal industries, despite their minor
importance as a source of employment in the region, deserve
a big place in any rational programme of vocational training.
There are various reasons for this. First of all, these industries
include many jobs of a particularly skilled character, and also
require the assistance of a wide variety of other trades and
specialities. 2 Secondly, the metal industries are expanding.
There may also be a functional reason, for specialists belonging
to the metal trades have a most important service to render
to all other industrial groups where mechanical equipment is
used : they are responsible for keeping such equipment in
good working order ; and this function is all the more vital
1
The investigation also revealed a substantial increase in industrial employment
in Brazil ; in 1946 the number of wage earners alone exceeded the total number of
persons who had been occupied in 1940 in the industries in question (manufacturing
industries and building).
2
Cf. International Labour Organisation, Metal Trades Committee, Third
Session, Report II : Vocational Training and Promotion in the Metal Trades
(Geneva, I.L.O., 1949), pp. 3-14.

BASIC FACTORS

where the personnel operating the machines is relatively
inexperienced and ignorant of proper maintenance procedures.
Lastly, metal trade workers are indispensable for the repair
and maintenance of household and public equipment, the
importance of which is growing rapidly owing to the highly
modern character of many Latin American cities.
It should be pointed out that the responsibility of the
Brazilian National Industrial Apprenticeship Service is confined to the training of manual workers. A similar analysis
made with a view to the training of technicians would no doubt
give rather different results, and perhaps show a more regular
distribution of training needs between the various industries ;
those employing mainly semi-skilled workers, such as the
textile industry, or mainly unskilled workers, such as the food
industry, sometimes require a very thorough specialised
training for their senior technical personnel. The reason why
the chemical industry plays a relatively unimportant part in
the Brazilian list is that the National Service is concerned
only with the training of manual workers, i.e., laboratory
assistants, excluding laboratory chemists and research personnel.
This analysis has provided a basis for precise evaluation of
the number of apprentices to be trained. In order to keep
up the existing skilled labour force, it will be necessary to
train a constant intake of apprentices, the number depending
on the length of the course of training. In the trades in the
first of the above-mentioned groups, the number of apprentices
must be equal to 15 per cent, of the total working force ; the
corresponding figure is 10 per cent, in the second group, 7.5
per cent, in the third and 5 per cent, in the fourth. The number
of apprentices required under present conditions in the Brazilian manufacturing industries and construction was thus
estimated at 38,286 ; but expression of the necessary intake as
a percentage of the total working force provides for automatic
readjustment of the number of apprentices according to the
increase in total employment.
The columns of table I, which relate to the construction
industry, do not call for much comment. The percentages
of the gainfully occupied population employed in this industry
are greater in the Latin American region than in the United
States, and are about as great as in Canada (4.7 per cent.).
To some extent, the training for trades in this occupational
group resembles that required for workers in the woodworking
2

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

and metal trades, so that the same technical schools quite
often run classes for both. As a recent study by the I.L.O.
has shown 1 , this industry generally has an exceptionally high
proportion of skilled and semi-skilled workers, who almost
everywhere make up over half and sometimes two thirds of
the labour force (in Canada the proportion is 72 per cent.).
Mining and

Transport.

Table I also contains figures for employment in the mining
industry and in transport and communications.
The former, as pointed out in Economic Survey of Latin
America, 1948 2, occupies only a small proportion of the total
population ; but being an export industry it is important as
a source of foreign exchange to the countries of the region ;
and extensive mineral resources are still undeveloped. The
percentages of the total occupied population range from less
than 1 in Panama, through approximately 2 in Colombia,
Mexico, Peru and Venezuela and 2.8 in Brazil, up to 5.5 in
Chile. Economic Survey of Latin America, 1948, also reveals a
characteristic feature of this industry in the region, which has
affected methods of organising vocational training ; the mining
companies, frequently themselves foreign, usually arrange for
the training of their own personnel, with or without a systematic
programme 3 ; and official training institutions for this type of
labour are somewhat rare in the region.
Two of the industrial committees of the International
Labour Organisation have dealt with employment and vocational training in coal mines and in the petroleum industry,
which is of more direct concern to Latin America. Information
collected by the I.L.O. shows that, both in drilling and production and in refining, the skilled and semi-skilled workers
employed by the petroleum industry constitute a very large
proportion of its working force. In a typical undertaking in
the United States, fully skilled workers made up 26 per cent.
of all those employed in extraction and 23 per cent, of all those
1
International Labour Organisation, Building, Civil Engineering and Public
Works Committee, Second Session, Report III : Becruitment and Training in the
Construction Industries (Geneva, I.L.O., 1949), p. 9.
2
Op. cit., English edition, pp. 72-73.
3
For instance, the monographs on Peru and Venezuela describe the training
programmes of petroleum companies and the monograph on Chile deals with those
of a copper mining company.

BASIC FACTORS

employed in refining ; semi-skilled personnel accounted for
53 per cent, of the former and 26 per cent, of the latter. This
industry also needs large numbers of technicians—engineers,
geologists, chemists and other scientists (making up 8 to 10
per cent, of all personnel in some cases). Furthermore, it
requires the co-operation of groups of workers trained in a
wide variety of special trades, who install the technical equipment and see to its maintenance and repair. The vocational
training needs of the petroleum industry are therefore particularly high. 1
As regards transport and communications, the number of
personnel is small, though slightly greater than in mining.
The percentage of the gainfully occupied population engaged
in these industries ranges from 0.7 per cent, in Nicaragua to
2 per cent, or slightly more in Panama, Peru, Cuba and Mexico,
and 4.3 per cent, in Chile.
This heading covers activities with widely different training
needs. Whereas the work of loading, unloading and handling
goods requires, almost exclusively, unskilled labour, other
branches need highly qualified personnel (air transport,
telecommunications) or at least workers who are skilled in a
wide variety of operations and who should, in the public
interest, receive sufficient training (railways).
General schools of vocational training provide courses that
are helpful for transport and communications to a greater
extent than they do for the mining industries. Most of these
schools include in their curricula electricity courses with
application to radio engineering, and sometimes even special
courses in radio communications (there are many of these in
Argentina for instance). Courses in general engineering are
also of some value to workers in this branch of employment.
Nevertheless, it would appear that, as for the mining industry,
provision for the training of transport and communications
personnel is more frequently made by the undertaking than
at the national level. 2
It is interesting to note that some of the training programmes of private companies exceed national boundaries,
1

International Labour Organisation. Petroleum Committee, Second Session,
Report II : Recruitment and Training (Geneva, I.L.O., 1948), pp. 3-14.
2
One of the transport undertakings in the region is national—i.e., it is run
under the direct responsibiKty of the Government—namely, the Mexican national
railway company. Its extensive training programme is described in the monograph
on Mexico.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

just as do the services which those companies provide (international air transport and telegraph companies, for instance). 1
It has often been pointed out that communication deficiencies greatly hamper the economic development of many
Latin American countries, whose territory is extensive, underpopulated and mountainous. 2
Plans to establish new means of communication, such as
those adopted by Peru in May 1949 to link up territories east
of the Andes and in the Amazon basin, will probably therefore
be adopted in the next few years in several countries as a
preliminary to the more complete development or industrialisation of their internal areas. An increase in training requirements in this branch of employment is therefore to be expected.
Structure of Agricultural

Economy

Table I I I shows the number of persons engaged in agriculture and the percentage which they make of the total
gainfully occupied population. This percentage varies from
TABLE

III.

POPULATION ENGAGED IN AGRICULTURE * IN
LATIN AMERICAN

TEN

COUNTRIES
Persons engaged in agriculture

Country

Chile
Colombia
Mexico
Peru

Thousands

Percentage of the
total gainfully
occupied population

2,045
9,453
620
3,320
630
3,831
258
109
1,546
636

36 a
67
36
74
41
65
73
52
62
51

Year

1947
1940
1940
1938
1943
1940
1940
1940
1940
1941

Sources : Economic Survey of Lalin America, 1948, op.
Book of Labour Statistics, 1945-lOiS, except for Mexico
and Argentina (Presidential Message, 19iS).
1
Including forestry and fishing. * The number of
expressed as a percentage of the total gainfully occupied
by E.C.L.A.
1

cil, p. 87, calculated from Year
(Compendio Estadístico, 1947)
persons engaged in agriculture
population has been estimated

Cf. the training system of t h e Panagra Company described in Appendix I :

Peru.
2
Cf. particularly United States Department of State : Report of the Joint
Brazilian-United
States Technical Commission, Rio de Janeiro, 10 Mar. 1949,
pp. 76 et seq.

BASIC FACTORS

36 to 74 in the ten countries from which data are available,
and exceeds 50 in seven of these countries.
For such a considerable labour force, training facilities
would appear to be very scanty. The number and size of
agricultural education institutions—with the exception of
rural primary schools—are far inferior in number and in size
to institutions for industrial training, the proportion being
sometimes as Uttle as one to 10, or even one to 15. On the
other hand, in Argentina the agricultural population is almost
double the population employed in manufacturing industries,
in Chile, a relatively industriab'sed country, it is double, and
in Colombia it is seven times as great. In these circumstances,
agricultural vocational training institutions can only exercise
a very insignificant influence in training this huge mass of
people, even if the intention were not more than to train
supervisory staff.
The report of B.C.L.A. referred to above contrasts the
considerable amount of manpower which agriculture absorbs
with the small contribution which that occupation makes to
the national income. At the last census, agriculture's contribution to the national income was not more than 15 per
cent, in Mexico (65 per cent, of the gainfully occupied population being engaged in this branch of work), 17 per cent, in
Brazil and Chile (as against 67 and 34 per cent, respectively
of the gainfully occupied populations), and 33 per cent, in
Peru (as against 62 per cent, of the gainfully occupied population). Now, the situation would not appear to have improved
since then, there having been a fall in output per person rather
than an increase, so much so that production lags behind the
increase in the population unless the deficit is met by an
extension of cultivable areas.
The Commission ascribes this situation to various causes,
among which are the low level of technical knowledge and the
inadequacy of extension services. In the resolution on the
development of agriculture and fisheries, which it adopted
at its second session at Havana in June 1949, the Commission
recommended the organisation of training methods in order
to cope with this situation. I t also recommended the estabbshment of programmes for the training of technicians of
various kinds {e.g., preserving of foodstuffs, handling and maintenance of machines, etc.), and also the creation of a greater
number of schools for agricultural vocational training. I t

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

furthermore suggested training measures for the staff as a
means of improving the extension services.
These recommendations agree with those put forward
several weeks earlier by the Fourth Conference of American
States Members of the International Labour Organisation
(Montevideo, April-May 1949) as a result of the discussion of
an item on the agenda concerning conditions of employment
of agricultural workers. The Conference recommended measures to organise employment " as an integral part of the
national programme for the full and efficient use of productive
resources ", and a complete programme of vocational
training including, inter alia : (a) a system of practical education in agricultural schools ; (b) practical on-farm training
and short farm courses supplemented by the organisation of
young farmers' clubs ; (c) special agricultural colleges for farm
managers, technicians and instructors ; (d) regional research
stations, extension services and experimental stations ; also,
methods of co-ordinating vocational training activities and
the work of the authorities concerned with their development.
Manpower and Economic Development
The percentages of occupation shown in the previous tables
have certainly undergone some change since the date of the
information concerned. Nevertheless, arguing from partial
data, the Economic Commission came to the conclusion that,
up to 1947, the variations from the pre-war situation were
only matters of detail and did not substantially modify the
economic structure of Latin America. To what extent is the
comparatively slow economic development in the direction
of industrialisation due to lack of manpower ?
I t is generally admitted that, in its present state of development, industry does not suffer from any quantitative shortage
of manpower. In some countries the needs of expanding
industries could even be filled by the surplus manpower
available in certain other branches. In Uruguay, and still
more in Mexico, some surplus manpower was available in the
textile industry after a considerable increase in employment
during the first years after the war. I t is true that this surplus
was offset in Uruguay by a shortage of manpower in the construction industries. In so far then as an attempt is made to

BASIC FACTORS

maintain the mobility of manpower, labour could theoretically
be moved from one branch of industry to another; but in many
countries in the area employment is stabilised in industry by
protective measures which make for rigidity, so much so that
the adjustment of supply to meet demand in the employment
market as a whole is difficult when a depression sets in in any
one industry.
In view of the low output of agricultural labour in many
countries in the area—as has been stated above—it would
probably be possible, by applying more intensive measures
of production in this sector, to free a certain amount of manpower for the requirements of industrialisation without
prejudicing the agricultural economy ; such a policy might
even strengthen it. But to justify such transfers there must
be adequate training facilities for the vocational retraining of
workers. Finally, in all the countries the regular supply of young
workers coming into industry has hitherto largely kept pace
with economic expansion. There are reasons to believe that
these two sources are closely connected, since it is probably
by drawing on young rural workers rather than on the adult
population already engaged in agriculture that the manufacturing industries—and probably also other urban activities
—obtain labour from the countryside. This would explain
the extraordinarily high percentage of young workers shown
in Colombia in 1945 by the industrial census; the proportion
of workers between 16 and 20 years of age was as high as 27.9
per cent. In all, 56.3 per cent, of the industrial workers were
under 25 years of age.
These observations as to the resources of manpower that
may be available to the Latin American countries on the spot
do not in any way lessen the prospects of a resumption of
immigration movements or of the introduction of a bmited
number of foreign workers which certain countries are considering. The vast natural resources available in many countries of the region make it necessary in some areas to reinforce
the primary producers in order to permit of fuller development.
Furthermore, the immigration of workers carefully selected
from the occupational point of view, by supplying some of
the technical elements which are most lacking in the national
economy, may well stimulate that economy and allow of
absorbing at a later period a larger proportion of the national
manpower which is not yet trained.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

What seems to cause most concern is the question of
quality. Although there is no lack of manpower in quantity,
there is a lack of variety. In their anxiety to transform their
national economy, which is mainly devoted to the production
of raw materials, into an economy producing finished products,
these countries inevitably have difficulties concerning the
skill of their manpower as well as finance and equipment.
Thus, the two problems, industrialisation and technical
training, are closely connected in people's minds. They are
considered together, both in countries which can hardly be said
to have entered upon industrialisation and in those which
have already passed through several stages of it. In Bolivia,
which is still in the initial stage, the President of the recently
created Industrial Education Council stated the close connection of the two problems at the time he assumed office—
. . . In our present era of machinery and highly developed
technique, the progress of a country or a community depends almost
exclusively on its industrialisation, since the exploitation of raw
materials is only a very limited source of wealth. That is why
industrial education is the lever which must be used1 if an effective
policy of industrial development is to be followed.
Anxiety to secure the much needed technical skill is no
less great when development is in progress, since plans for
industrial expansion are always opening up new fields. Thus,
the leaders of institutions for promoting the national economy
seem to deplore the lack of skilled manpower as a major obstacle
to the furtherance of their schemes. This difficulty was referred
to in general terms by the Chilean Development Corporation
which reached its tenth year of existence recently, and also
by the Colombian Institute for Economic Development ; the
same applies in Ecuador, and similar statements have been
made by the Ministry for Economic Development in Peru.
This latter Ministry has even set up a committee for the study
of potential manpower, whose duty it is to make a survey
of available manpower and to detect shortages in order that
any necessary action may be taken.
The shortage of adequately trained manpower would
appear to be felt—or to be apprehended when plans for development are under consideration—in various fields, although
the deficits are not clearly estimated. Examples are the
1
Revista de la Escuela Industrial
4 Aug. 1949, p . 23.

de la Nación " Pedro Domingo

Mwrillo ",

BASIC FACTOBS

introduction or extension of basic industries (iron and steel,
chemical industries, electrification), or new transformation
industries (tyres, etc.), or industries for the exploitation of
natural wealth (fisheries or forestry) and the creation of
industries derived from timber and fisheries.
The lack of skilled labour for the manufacture of mechanised
agricultural material is also pointed to as one of the causes
which delay the modernisation of methods of cultivation and
consequently act as a drag on the improvement of output 1,
since, being dependent upon foreign countries for the supply
of these machines, the countries in question cannot purchase
them on a sufficient scale to make the effects of their employment really felt. The shortage of competent manpower for
the maintenance and repair of these machines was also alluded
to as a major difficulty.
In the sphere of private industry a similar apprehension
is expressed concerning the shortage of skilled manpower.
The Association for Industrial Development in Chile (Sociedad
de Fomento Fabril), the Costa Eican Chamber of Industry,
the National Association of Industrialists in Colombia, the
Association of Industries in Peru, and many other occupational
organisations also see in this shortage one of the reasons for
the slowing down of industrial development, particularly in
branches which need highly skilled workers, such as the metal
industry.
The extent of the difficulty varies according to the class of
manpower required. There does not seem to be any major
difficulty in providing for semi-skilled operations, owing to
the large measure of adaptability generally shown by loeaJ
manpower. The higher the skill needed for any particular
work, the more does the recruitment of inadequately trained
manpower give rise to difficulties.
It is also stated that the recruitment of well trained supervisors is difficult. Hence each undertaking has to train its
own supervisors. The fact that expanding industries are often
compelled, in order to fill their manpower needs, to have
recourse either to young persons who are just reaching working
age or to sections of the population which have not been
affected by industrial development, such as rural workers,
1
See the speech of the representative of Chile in Committee I (Agriculture)
at the second session of the Economic Commission for Latin America, United
Nations Document E/CN.12/AC.1/W 4, 3 June 1949.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

increases the need for the utmost care in providing for the
supervision of new workers by recourse to foremen and other
supervisors with sound technical qualifications who will be
listened to. The problem would be even more serious if, owing
to a rapid expansion of industry, it became necessary to make
use on a massive scale of the reserves of adult agricultural
workers with no industrial tradition, to whom reference has
been made earlier. A few novices can rapidly be assimilated
by a homogeneous group of well trained workers, but the
dilution of manpower on a large scale might seriously lower
the quality of the labour force as a whole unless measures
were taken beforehand to ensure that the new intake would
be efficiently supervised.
I t is mainly among higher technical staff that the shortage
of adequately trained national workers seems most acute.
This is emphasised by the authorities responsible for the
economic policies of these countries. At one of the institutions
for promoting national economy, to which reference has been
made, the requirement was stated most emphatically. We
need, it was said, more technicians, first in order adequately
to explore the natural resources of the country, then to prepare
plans for the exploitation of these resources, and then to put
such plans into practice.
It therefore not infrequently happens that the national
authorities endeavour to secure technicians abroad to help
them in this threefold task, either on the basis of assistance
agreements with a Government which has the necessary
resources—and particularly the Government of the United
States—or by utilising the services of private foundations,
such as the Rockefeller Foundation or the Armour Eesearch
Foundation, or by directly engaging the services of foreign
experts.
With regard to agronomy, mineralogy, forestry resources
(particularly as regards rubber) and fishery resources, in several
of the countries visited by the I.L.O. Mission, surveys have
been carried out with the help of foreign technicians, generally
Americans or Europeans, but in some cases nationals of some
other Latin American country. Although this technical
assistance was limited as compared with that given during the
war by the United States with a view to finding supplementary resources for the common cause, it showed more clearly
in what respects each of the countries concerned had needed

BASIC FACTOES

foreign aid in order to make up for its shortage of technicians.
The information given to the Economic Commission before its
second session by six of the countries concerned (Bolivia,
Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama and Venezuela) as to
the technical assistance which they wished to receive for the
development of their national economy, referred in many cases
to the loan of technicians for work of this nature. 1
The assistance of foreign technicians in the exploitation
of natural resources is customary in the mining industry owing
to the grant of concessions to foreign companies, but it is not
limited to this field. More direct recourse is had to such assistance,
or is contemplated by Governments with a view to the establishment of basic industries, which are considered necessary
for the promotion of industrialisation, e.g., iron and steel, basic
chemical industries, such as sodium, or the hydro-electrical
industries.
So, too, in private industry, the shortage of national technicians is clearly shown by the employment of foreign technicians.
The purpose of such employment is of course to start new
industries, such as : tyre factories, automatic glassworks,
electrical apparatus, paper manufacture or ready-made
clothing, according to the country concerned. But the employment of foreign technical staff is now such an established
practice in the older industries that it continues because no
facilities for training such staff have ever been organised in
many of the countries concerned. This is so, especially as
regards dyeing, in the textile industry in Colombia, Ecuador
and Peru.
I t is true that during the last 20 years the employment
of foreign technicians has been somewhat restricted in the
countries concerned as the result of the regulations which most
of the Latin American countries have adopted. These regulations consist generally in establishing the maximum percentage
of foreigners which each undertaking may employ. The fixed
percentage varies greatly from one country to another, being
5 per cent, for salaried employees and 10 per cent, for workers
in Paraguay, and as high as 40 per cent, in Uruguay. Cuba,
the Dominican Republic and Mexico fix the maximum in
principle at 10 per cent., Chile at 15 per cent., Colombia and
Peru at 20 per cent., Venezuela at 25 per cent, and Brazil
1
Cf. Preliminary Study on the Requirements of Latin America in connection with
Technical Assistance, op. cit.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

at one third of the total manpower. Among the countries
where immigration has played and continues to play a considerable part, Argentina has never adopted any regulations
of this nature. On the other hand, countries which have
adopted such regulations are tending generally to make the
application of the rule more elastic as regards technicians by
providing for the possibility of exceeding the established
maximum with the permission of the Government department
concerned, in the case of a specially skilled technician, or when
the undertaking is in a position to prove that it cannot find any
national to fill the post or posts in question. The facilities
which have been granted by Brazilian legislation 1 to technicians desirous of acquiring naturalisation may be considered
to be a tacit recognition of the existing shortage of skilled
workers and technicians and of the desire permanently to
keep such persons as have been attracted to the country.
I t may therefore be considered that the regulations concerning the employment of foreigners do not constitute a
major obstacle to such employment as a means of making
up for the shortage of technical staff, but it has probably had
the effect of compelling foreign companies to organise technical
training for young persons in the country itself. In fact,
foreign mining or petroleum companies, and also manufacturing undertakings exploiting foreign patents, which have been
authorised to start operating with a very high proportion of
foreign engineers 2 have been induced by sheer necessity to
" nationalise " their technical staff in order to bring the proportion of foreigners down to the legal percentage, and to
organise training for national technicians in the particular
operations of the undertaking, or else they have sent these
technicians to be trained abroad in larger numbers than would
have been the case if they had been able indefinitely to continue
employing foreign technicians almost exclusively. Several
examples of such training programmes are to be found in
Mexico and Peru. 3
1
Article 9 of the Naturalisation Act No. 818, adopted by the National Congress
on 18 September 1949, lowers from five to three years the minimum period of
residence required for naturalisation in respect of persons who possess occupational,
scientific or artistic qualifications, and also of agriculturists and workers who are
specialists in any particular branch of industry.
2
Up to 95 per cent, in one petroleum company whose plans for the nationalisation of their technical staff are proceeding regularly (see Appendix I : Peru).
3
See Appendix I.

BASIC FACTORS

Occupational Qualifications and Productivity
National requirements in respect of technical staff are not
merely quantitative. From some points of view it might seem
that the objectives of vocational training should not be solely
to train more technicians and more workers, but also to
improve the skill of the workers already in employment with
a view to better production.
With reference to the structure of agricultural economy,
stress has already been laid on the low output of
Latin American agriculture on which light has been thrown
by the work of the Economic Commission for Latin America
and it was pointed out that the Commission partially explained
this low output by the lack of vocational training. No doubt
in a lesser degree, it would seem that industrial productivity
has also been adversely affected by insufficient training. In
Economic Survey of Latin America, 1948x the lack of general
education and of technical training were both mentioned as
factors which may make for a low level of industrial output in
the region as compared with countries that are economically
more developed.
So far as such comparison is possible—e.g., in the case of the
branch of a foreign company whose equipment is exactly
equivalent to that available in a country that is industrially
more developed—several heads of undertakings commented
on inferior output to the Mission. In all cases low output is
attributed largely to lack of training, together with more
general factors such as absenteeism or malnutrition. The
differences mentioned sometimes exceeded 50 per cent. In
many cases, comments on productivity were coupled with
others concerning the difficulty which undertakings found in
securing a competent supervisory staff; it seems, therefore,
that the low output of production workers is due not only to
their own lack of training but also to the inefficiency of supervisory staff. Thus the problem is twofold : in some cases
new courses may have to be organised for adults ; in others
the training given in existing institutions may need to be
improved.

Op. cit., p . 36.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL FACTORS

Vocational training is organised in view of a given economic
situation ; but human beings are the material upon which it
has to work and the reactions of human beings are realities
with which the organisers of training methods have to
reckon.
The low economic level of large strata of the population
often deters children from undergoing vocational training,
and even sometimes from ordinary school education, since
families endeavour to place their children as soon as possible
in employment which may lead to some small remuneration. These circumstances have led the authorities to take
several measures either to offer material help to children
during the period of study or to combine technical instruction with paid work. Comment will be made below upon
these measures.
However, it seems that vocational training must have
made some progress in the various strata of the population
despite the existence of prejudices which are unfavourable
to technical instruction.
On the one hand, the mass of the population, which is
largely illiterate, has not sufficiently understood the advantages which might accrue to their children from methodical
training. Once this preliminary resistance is overcome, and
the younger generation is attracted to the vocational schools,
the application of the knowledge which they acquire there is
often obstructed by the older generation. This is true above
all in agriculture, but also in rural handicrafts. I n Mexico, when
practical schools of agriculture were organised, it was confidently hoped that persons who graduated from such schools
would be able to influence their family circle and local environment. I t was found, however, that the influence worked the
other way and that young trained agriculturists were obliged
to adopt traditional methods. The present policy, therefore,
is rather to favour the placing of young persons who leave
agricultural schools on land which has recently been made
available for cultivation so that they may have full freedom
to apply in practice their knowledge of modern methods. 1
1
Cf. Secretaría de Educación Pública (Mexico) : Escuelas Prácticas de Agricultura, pp. 279-286.

BASIC FAGTOES

In Colombia the same slowing up of one generation by another
has been noticed. 1
On the other hand, the middle classes have shown great
attachment to theoretical education, and tend to despise
studies leading to the exercise of activities which require
physical effort and manual capacity. In order to overcome
this prejudice, the industrial colleges—institutions for
elementary technical education—have not been established
in Bolivia as independent institutions, but have been attached
to the secondary colleges. In places where an industrial section
has been created in a college of this nature, all the pupils
are obliged to take this educational course for at least one
year. Thus the young persons of the middle classes are given
the opportunity of taking an interest in such manual trades and
of trying their hand at them. In Peru, pre-vocational industrial
or agricultural courses, as appropriate, have been introduced
into the curricula of secondary colleges as into those of primary
schools, the main object being to organise them in the greatest
possible number of establishments. The absolute equivalence
admitted in Brazil and Ecuador of technical and classical
studies is inspired by the same preoccupation. In Uruguay,
the name of " labour university " given to the national system
of vocational training is well calculated to give such courses
the prestige which attaches to intellectual studies.
Thus a twofold propaganda effort has been necessary
in order to make vocational training a national habit. Eecent
statements by responsible authorities—particularly in Bolivia
and Colombia2—prove that this necessity still exists. The
propaganda already undertaken has certainly borne fruit,
since the number of candidates for technical courses has continually increased; but, although the capacity of the schools
could be increased to the extent which the national economy
requires, it would undoubtedly be desirable also to endeavour
to arouse public interest in order that candidates with the
largest measure of the required ability should be attracted to
such studies from both of the sources mentioned.
Psychological effects, some favourable to vocational training, and others unfavourable, are also produced by conditions
of employment. The mere prestige of a vocational title might
1
Cf. Ministerio de Educación Nacional : Panorama de la Educación Vocational
era Colombia, p. 11.
2
Cf. Appendix I.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

well be inadequate to stimulate the efforts indispensable for
systematic training if the material gain from such training
were negligible. If skilled workers can earn a wage definitely
superior to non-skilled workers, the attraction of vocational
courses will be powerful.
It would seem that the law of supply and demand should
tend to favour skilled workers in Latin America because of
the shortage of such workers in that region. But there are
many other factors to be taken into account in the establishment of wage rates, and, according to the preponderance of
one or other of these factors, their combination leads to very
different results as between one country and another and even
as between one town and another, in the same branch of work
and, even more, in different branches of work.
Data that might give a general view of the situation are
lacking. Nevertheless, partial indications may be gathered
from information, communicated to the International Labour
Office by seven or eight of the countries concerned, relating
to wage rates in 30 occupations. For October 1947 x, the last
month for which information is published, fairly complete
details exist, e.g., for the construction industry, on rates of
wages in six Latin American countries. Comparison of the
data concerning the capitals of these countries—towns which
are chosen in order to maintain the best possible conditions of
comparison—yields the following information with regard to
the scaling of wages in the construction industry. The scale
is reasonably well graded in the capitals of Chile, Costa Eica
and Venezuela. The average wage rates of skilled workers
—in particular, plumbers, carpenters and electricians—is in
all cases more than double the average wage rate of manual
labourers, and in certain cases nearly triple. At Caracas, the
average rate is 3.20 bolivars for electricians in the construction
industry, as against 1.16 bolivars for manual labourers. At
Santiago, the same rates are respectively 13.12 and 5.62 pesos.
In Mexico and Peru, and above all in Uruguay, the spread is
narrower. In Peru, the highest paid class of skilled workers,
i.e., that of plumbers, enjoys average wage rates which are about
90 per cent, higher than the average wage rate of manual
labourers, whereas the wages of a carpenter are only 80 per
cent, higher. In Mexico, the wages of only one class of skilled
1

Cf. I . L . O . : Year Booh of Labour Statistics, 1947-48, table XVI, pp. 182-183.

BASIC FACTORS

workers—painters—are very nearly 100 per cent, higher than
those of the manual labourer. In the case of other skilled
workers in the construction industry whose wage rates are given,
these rates differ from the wages of the manual labourer by no
more than 30 to 50 per cent. In Uruguay, the approximation
of the rates of a skilled category of workers to that of manual
labourers is still more marked. In the case of the most
favoured skilled worker (namely the plumber), the difference
between his wages and those of the manual labourer is no more
than 60 per cent. This difference is 55 per cent, in the case
of an electrician and is in general no more than 30 per cent.
in the case of other skilled building workers.
Vocational training is perhaps still more likely to be
stimulated or discouraged according to the system adopted for
promoting workers. If promotion depends on merit, and if
certificates earned during upgrading courses can serve as
qualifications for promotion, or even if, in cases where candidates for promotion have to pass special tests, they benefit
by the knowledge they have acquired during these courses,
they have a strong incentive to accept such training. If, on
the other hand, promotion depends on seniority, workers are
not much encouraged to make the necessary effort to attend upgrading courses. In a large-scale undertaking which was visited
by the I.L.O. Mission, where labour relations were regulated
by a collective contract laying down the principle of automatic
promotion by seniority, the course of vocational upgrading
which the management had endeavoured to organise had
recently been suppressed for lack of pupils. On the other hand,
in a petroleum undertaking in which the labour contract laid
down the principle that the most efficient should be promoted,
seniority being taken into account only in the event of equal
proficiency, the numerous upgrading courses offered to the
staff were made full use of. Nearly 3,000 persons took
advantage of these courses from 1947 to 1949.
Thus, the framework of a national system of vocational
training includes very different factors. All should be clearly
known if proper guidance is to be given to efforts to organise
or readapt the system in question and to give it maximum
effectiveness.

CHAPTEE I I
ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION
T H E NATIONAL PLAN

According to the Vocational Training Becommendation
adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1939,
the work of the various official and private institutions which
deal with vocational training should be co-ordinated and
developed on the basis of a general programme based on
the occupational, cultural and moral requirements of the workers ; the labour requirements of employers ; and the economic
and social interests of the community.
The conception of the national plan whose object is to
guide the policy of each country in connection with vocational training, is developed at length in the resolution adopted
by the American States Members of the I.L.O. at Mexico
City. 1 This resolution invites the countries to define the social
and economic objectives of their respective programmes with
a view to achieving the threefold purpose referred to above
" in each area and for the country as a whole ". A very
general scheme of organisation was also proposed by the resolution in question, and it constitutes the outline of a general
plan for the organisation of vocational training which could
be adapted to different national conditions.
In view of the very lively interest which all the delegations
attending the Mexico City conference took in the drafting
of this resolution, it may be useful to consider what were
the ideas which guided the attempts of the various countries
covered by the enquiry to organise vocational training in
accordance with a general plan.
In some countries the main idea of the plan became apparent
at a comparatively early stage ; under the pressure of various
circumstances—political • or economic—general ideas came to
1

April 1946.

ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

light about the need for vocational education. These ideas
resulted in the training institutions being developed according to a unified plan though not necessarily with a unified
administrative structure. This was the case in Mexico.
In several other countries the economic development of
which is of comparatively long standing (Argentina, Brazil,
Chile), there has been, in the course of years, a somewhat
hurried development of training institutions under the pressure of requirements as and when they arose, without any
general plan. Sometimes even, in the early periods, private
institutions played the part of pioneers. But for several years
now there have been signs of remarkable efforts to introduce
some order into this spontaneous growth.
Be that as it may, the idea of a plan was prominent towards
the end of the war and in the post-war period when most
of the countries in Latin America felt the need of creating
vocational training institutions or of developing and improving existing institutions, in order to increase the production
of foodstuffs, and because their economy was being industrialised. The need for a plan was most clearly understood
in certain countries which had, up till then, had very few
institutions for this purpose (such as Colombia, Ecuador,
Guatemala and Peru) and which therefore offered fairly free
scope to the responsible authorities to prepare the foundations
of the future in an ideal setting which would not be obstructed
by a number of old-standing institutions. Nevertheless, in
many countries which already possessed a not inconsiderable
number of institutions, a general plan was drawn up and
efforts are now being made to readapt the methods already
in operation to the needs of the plan.
In several countries the national plan has taken the form
of the text of an Act which would seem to imply a decision
of a compulsory nature. But the necessary credits for enforcing the provisions which have been promulgated have not
always been obtained, or sometimes the material preparations
for applying the Act have not been completed. In such cases
the Act is only the outline of what may be the future organisation. Thus, factual information, chiefly statistical, should,
so far as it is available, accompany any summary of legal
provisions for a vocational training system, in order that
progress in the enforcement of those provisions may be
assessed.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

ADMINISTRATIVE

ORGANISATION

Both in the resolution concerning vocational training,
adopted by the American States Members of the I.L.O. at
their third Conference in 1946, and in the Recommendation
adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1939,
stress is laid on the need to ensure substantial administrative
co-ordination between all the competent public authorities in
the matter of vocational training and to secure the active
collaboration of bodies such as the organisations of employers
and workers.
Appendix I contains much information on the assignment,
to one or more public authorities, of administrative responsibility for vocational training, and also on the relations which
the competent authorities maintain between themselves and
with the interested groups. Several general characteristics
may be distinguished.
Centralisation or Co-ordination ?
The more administrative responsibility is centralised, the
easier it is to ensure unity of plan and action. Thus in many
Latin American countries which have recently organised or
reorganised their systems of training on a general plan, the
tendency has increased to ensure unity of command by a
strong central organisation of administrative responsibility
for carrying out the plan concerned. Wherever centralisation
has taken place, it has been carried out in most cases under
the authority of a department of the Ministry of Public
Education.
Some countries have achieved almost complete centralisation. In Peru, for instance, the directorate of technical
education of the Ministry of National Education controls
almost all the official facilities for vocational education,
both elementary and medium, whether such education is
intended for young persons or for adults, and whether for
agriculture, industry or commerce. The directorate supervises
private institutions of the same kind, and collaborates with
other departments of the same Ministry in the organisation
of training at other levels. In Colombia, too, the whole federal
system of vocational training institutions is in the hands of
the department of technical education of the Ministry of

ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

Education, whose duty it is to apply the plan put forward
in Act No. 143 of 1948, through the agency of three sections—
industrial, agricultural and commercial, in administrative
and even financial collaboration with provincial and local
authorities wherever necessary. Centralisation is also far
advanced in Uruguay since the foundation of the labour
university, whose competence extends also to industrial,
commercial and agricultural education and to the training
of adults as well as young persons. Similarly, the system which
is now being developed in Ecuador is highly centralised under
the Ministry of Public Education.
The problem is far more difficult when administrative
responsibility is fragmented. This was the case in several
countries where the organisation of vocational training began
early and where various administrations have come in the
course of time to take an increasing interest in it from their
own particular point of view. When to this development is
added the effect of a Federal Constitution, the result is often
the co-existence of highly complicated administrative structures in which responsibilities overlap and where unity of
action, in the midst of such diversity of ends and means,
demands the creation of a strong co-ordinating power.
Thus, in Brazil, in all spheres of vocational training,
there are official institutions of the Federation and of the
States and municipalities, and also private institutions,
some of which are approved. In some cases, in particular
as regards agricultural training in the State of Säo Paulo,
two Government departments of the same State maintain
schools of the same class (the directorate of vocational education, and the Ministry of Agriculture). Furthermore, in
the case of industrial training, and in that of commercial
training given to persons already in employment, there must
be added to all these traditional systems educational training
courses which are organised and administered as mandatories
of the State by the employers' associations—the National
Federation of Industry (the system known under the name of
" Senai ") and the National Confederation of Commerce (the
system known as " Senac ") respectively.
An endeavour is made to co-ordinate these very ramified
systems by legislative action, supplemented by administrative action in virtue of powers conferred on central authorities
in the Union Government.
The organic laws concerning

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

vocational education, namely, Legislative Decrees No. 4,173
of 30 January 1942 concerning industrial education, ÍTo. 6,141
of 28 December 1943 concerning commercial education,
and No. 9,613 of 20 August 1949 concerning agricultural
education, and supplementary enactments, have established
a curriculum in each one of these forms of education, and the
programmes of the courses and the study cycles in general
must be published in regulations. Many such programmes have
already been published in this way. They are in force in the
establishments of the Federal Government itself and in
establishments authorised by the Government, which are
administered either by the States or by the Directorate
of the Federal District (such establishments are referred
to as equivalent establishments) or by the municipalities
or by private persons (approved establishments).
The
only bodies authorised to issue diplomas corresponding
to the professional titles established by law are schools which
conform to these plans and to these curricula. The work of
bringing the schools into line is in progress. The central
authorities, that is to say, the Minister of Education and
Health, acting through the medium of the specialised sections
of the Ministry (section of industrial education and section
of commercial education) and the Minister of Agriculture,
acting through the medium of the directorate of agricultural
education, respectively, enjoy a power of control over all
establishments subject to the law, and the power to enquire
into conditions for the issue of occupational diplomas and
to register such diplomas as delivered by the approved schools.
The Act provides that the work of inspection carried out by
the Ministry of Agriculture in agricultural schools should
be correlated with that of the Ministry of Education for
purposes of co-operation in teaching methods. The Senai
and the Senac, who are responsible for organising one of
the branches of education defined in the plan of studies,
report annually on their administration to the Minister of
Education, who is thus at the centre of the whole national
system.
In Argentina the administrative structure of vocational
training is no less complicated. Here may be found the
grafting of institutions on to the Federal, State and municipal
plans. In addition, in respect of the Federal plan—at any
rate from the point of view of industrial training—the insti-

ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

tutions concerned form part of various systems administered
respectively by the Ministry of Pubüc Education, the Ministry
of Public Works or other administrations of a technical
nature, and also by the Ministry of Labour. Nevertheless,
in entrusting to a special organ of this latter Ministry, in 1944,
the administration of the new system of schools for young
persons and of courses for adults with the special object of
training manual labour, the Act at the same time invested
the Ministry with the power of co-ordinating the activities of
its own institutions with the similar activities of other national
Ministries, of autonomous organisations, of the provincial
Governments, of the municipalities or of private institutions.
In a situation of this nature the work of co-ordination is
not easy. But if, by sound methods of collaboration, the
general unity of direction can be maintained, and if, overlapping being avoided, the various programmes are brought
into harmony in order to serve the common end by each programme achieving its particular object, nothing but advantage
can result from the participation in the organisation of vocational training of different administrations each of which
has a different basis and aims at a different objective. One
might almost go so far as to be apprehensive of too absolute
a monopoly of an administration confining itself to a limited
objective. Vocational education is indeed educational, but
it is intended to serve economic and social interests. The
contacts of those who direct it with the various elements in
the economic life of the nation are all the more indispensable
if the administrative structure is highly centralised in a single
administration, and especially if it is mainly scholastic. There
thus arises in full force the second problem : that of the relations
which should be maintained between the administration responsible for vocational education and economic and social circles.
Either by chance or under the pressure of circumstances,
two main methods of administration are found in the countries
of Latin America, each of which has its advantages and disadvantages. A clear perception of the latter will make it possible
to overcome them by appropriate measures.
Relations
The problem of the contacts which should be established
between the administration or administrations responsible
for vocational education and the economic spheres which

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

such education is intended to serve clearly arises in a very
different manner in each of the countries concerned ; partly
because of the internal structure of the system of technical
education, as has been shown above, and also because of the
economic organisation of the country and of the more or
less definite influence which the State exerts or seeks to exert
on the development of that economy.
In countries where State guidance of the economy has
developed in recent years, owing to the institution of official
bodies for encouraging economic development and planning,
such bodies have taken special interest in the potentialities of
technical education for the achievement of their plans. On
the other hand, by direct or indirect influence, the technical
education authorities have been inspired by the plans and
- undertakings of the economic organisations, and have endeavoured to serve their national objectives. In Chile, in particular,
where the Development Corporation has already ten years of
work behind it, it is easy to deduce the influence of its plans
and activities in the drafting of special plans for technical
education, and in the development of vocational training in
definite directions, corresponding in general with the tendencies
of State economic planning.
Knowledge of the requirements of the private sector of the
national economy is more complex and certainly demands the
provision of more accurately defined methods of contact.
One of the first methods which may be used for ensuring
such contacts is the creation of advisory committees including
a wide representation of the various interested bodies, and
particularly of the employers' and workers' organisations.
The Third Conference of the American States Members of the
I.L.O. suggested the formation of such committees at various
levels, the national, the regional and the local.
At the national level, recourse to this tripartite method of
collaboration is not unknown in Latin America, but it is still
exceptional. Some of the new planned systems provide for it
(e.g., in Ecuador and Peru). So, too, representatives of the
employers and the workers sit in Argentina on the National
Commission for Apprenticeship and Vocational Guidance, an
organisation which is at once the administrative organ for one
system of institutions—those which are maintained by a tax
on industrial undertakings—and the co-ordinating body of
other systems of technical education. In some cases the

ORGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

employers are asked to be represented on the council of a
national system of vocational education, while no mention is
made in the regulations of the representation of the workers.
In most cases, the advisory committees which are established by legislation are of a purely administrative character,
or, if it is provided that persons outside the administration
can sit on such bodies, these persons are appointed by the
Government on its own initiative, rather than appointed by
such and such an organisation which is entitled to take part
in the work of the committee in question. Moreover, there is a
danger that provision for such advisory committees may
become somewhat theoretical if there is no legal guarantee of
regular meetings. I t would, therefore, seem that liaison
through the medium of advisory committees has hitherto
played a somewhat restricted part in the countries in
question.
It is true that different relationships have been established
between the central authorities responsible for vocational
training policy and economic circles. Mention should be made,
for example, of the very special relations which have been
established in Brazil between the State and the employers'
organisations within the educational system referred to above.
Thus, the Confederation of Industries and the Confederation
of Commerce, which have been empowered by the State to
organise and administer on their own responsibility all training
institutions financed out of taxation paid by industrial and
commercial undertakings, have so associated themselves with
Government action as to take direct responsibility for one
branch of vocational education.
In default of permanent methods of collaboration, the
responsible authorities have sometimes employed the method
of special enquiries in order to sound the opinion of economic
circles. Thus, in Colombia, in December 1948, a questionnaire
was addressed to the employers' associations and to about
50 large-scale undertakings, making enquiries as to their
technical manpower requirements in respect of various
specialised qualifications. When, at the beginning of 1949, the
I.L.O. Mission visited this country there was a scheme on foot for
instituting a similar enquiry among the trade unions and the
staff of large-scale undertakings, in order to ascertain their
views as to which training methods they wished to see
employed. Nevertheless, enquiries of this nature would need

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

to be continually renewed if they are to be on a scale sufficient
to keep the education authorities well informed of economic
developments.
The interest which one sector of the economy sometimes
takes in the question is so great that, of its own accord, it
offers to collaborate. Thus, in Colombia, the Industrial
Employers' organisation, known as the A.ÏLD.L, has offered
financial collaboration to the Government—and clearly, too, its
advice—in connection with the foundation of a higher technical
educational institute which at the moment is lacking.
At the local level, it is very rare for any regular official
methods of liaison to be provided, such as the representation of the occupational organisations on school councils ;
but there are very often practical relations between certain
schools and economic circles in the zone served by each body,
in particular, for the purpose of arranging probation periods
for the pupils or for placing them in work. To a certain
extent, these purely utilitarian relations afford the technical
educational institutes some possibility of keeping themselves
informed of the requirements of the national economy. Such
information, however, is confined to thè special qualifications with which the education given in the school already
deals, whereas it would be no less useful for the school to
ascertain the requirements of industries which it does not yet
serve and which perhaps no school serves. Whatever then
the importance of such semi-official relations, they remain
inadequate for any regular guidance in the information of
plans, curricula and methods of teaching, or for ensuring any
concordance with economic reality.
In point of fact, the I.L.O. Mission was able to note, on the
side of the employers, a very considerable interest in the
organisation of vocational training. But it also frequently
heard representatives of the employers or heads of undertakings criticise the lack of adaptability to their real requirements in existing training methods, and express regret that
they are not able to avail themselves of direct channels of
communication in order to make known their points of
view to the responsible authorities. I t is possible that, in
this particular connection, a valuable source of information is
drying up.
The collaboration of workers' organisations with the
authorities concerning the organisation of vocational training

OEGANISATION AND ADMINISTRATION

would seem to have been even less active. Official channels
for such collaboration are lacking to a greater extent than in
the case of the employers, and opportunities for casual contact
are more rare. Nevertheless, such relations would appear to
be necessary from a twofold point of view : in order to make
known to the authorities responsible for organising training
methods the point of view of the second social partner immediately concerned, and also in order to stimulate the full
employment of such institutions and to obtain the maximum
possible results from them. In particular, it is impossible to
hope for any full success for systems of workers' upgrading
so long as the organised working class takes no interest in
the question, and so long as collective agreements do not
sanction a method of promotion founded on qualifications
acquired as a result of the training facilities placed at the
disposal of the workers.

CHAPTER I I I
TRAINING OF JUVENILES
PROGRAMME AND CHOICE OP METHODS

Hitherto, the authorities of the countries concerned have
devoted their efforts mainly to the training of juveniles. While
facilities for the vocational training of adult workers are in the
initial stage of development, those for the training of juveniles
are comparatively developed.
This is only natural. More use might perhaps be made in
certain countries of new methods for vocational upgrading and
readjustment of adults, which industrialised countries have
already worked out, particularly during the last war, in order
to satisfy their imperative manpower needs. Nonetheless,
since the items in a national programme of technical education cannot be applied in full at once, it is only reasonable
that preference should be given at the outset to basic
training, namely, that given to young persons.
The emphasis laid on the adequate training of young
persons is, therefore, particularly justified under the demographic conditions existing in the countries in question. As the
result of the age composition of their population (which is
wide at the base of the age pyramid) the younger groups
—15 to 24 years of age—tend to make up a larger share of
the active population than they do in the older countries. 1
They should be so trained as to be useful producers.
The rapid yearly increase in the group of young persons
attaining the age of vocational education, although a valuable
future asset for countries which—with the exception of the
1
The lateBt general censuses published showed the following percentages for
the age classes from 15 to 24 years : Costa Rica, 20.4 ; Brazil, 20.1 ; Colombia, 19.7 ;
Cuba, 19.6 ; Chile and the Dominican Republic, 19.3 ; Peru and Mexico, 18.1 ; as
compared with 12.7 in Trance ; 14.4 in Sweden and in the United Kingdom (1947
estimate) ; 15.6 in Denmark and in Switzerland ; 15.9 in Italy ; 16.7 in Belgium.
It has been seen above that in Colombia the industrial census of 1945 showed an
even higher participation of the same age classes in employment in industry.

TRAINING OP JUVENILES

Antilles—have still such vast territories to populate, neverthelesss also makes it necessary for the authorities entrusted
with the duty of providing for their education, to attempt,
constantly and with great difficulty, to readjust the available
means to the new requirements. This is certainly a serious
problem. With regard to primary education, the problem has
often been mentioned. This year again, the Secretary of
National Education in Mexico emphasised the difficulty
on many occasions. He explained that as a result of the rapid
pace at which the number of children of school age was increasing, the very considerable efforts made by the Mexican
Government, particularly in the last 15 years, to provide the
country with an ever closer network of schools, were almost
brought to nothing. Every year a larger proportion in the
public budget was devoted to the item of education ; but, this
notwithstanding, 50 per cent, of the children of school age were
still without schools.
A similar difficulty arises, on a smaller scale—for only a
small minority of young persons make use of the technical
training establishments—in adjusting methods of vocational
training to the requirements of each new age class.
This problem has been less discussed because the lack of
vocational training does not strike the imagination as much as
illiteracy. The problem is, nevertheless, a real one. From the
economic angle it may be estimated that in order merely
to maintain at a constant level the vocational skill of a rapidly
increasing population, the creation of new training facilities
must be continuous. Now, in all the countries concerned
the aim is to improve the skill of the population. The problem
is a considerable one. By what methods can it be solved ?
Technical Schools or Apprenticeship
In many European countries and in the Anglo-Saxon
countries, only engineers and technicians of medium rank
receive their training in a technical school, while manual
labour is trained in most cases by apprenticeship within the
undertaking.
In Latin America, despite the particularly
difficult conditions under which a system of technical schools
has to be created and maintained, it is nonetheless such a
system which is favoured whenever it is desired to train
skilled workers or even specialised workers.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

It is true that the great majority of young persons enter
employment direct, e.g., a factory, an office or an agricultural
undertaking, without passing through the technical school.
Erom statistical information about the size of vocational
schools in Appendix I, it would seem that seldom more than
5 per cent, of the population of an age to make use of such
schools, and often barely 1 per cent., can find places in them.
In practice, therefore, the majority are trained for a trade in
their first employment, but generally in an empirical fashion.
Some of these novices receive methodical training on their
employer's initiative 1, but no official supervision is exercised
over apprenticeship in the undertaking in order to guarantee
the efficiency of the instruction and to ensure that it is in
accordance with general standards.
It is true that certain laws and regulations concerning
apprenticeship reflect a desire to utilise the resources which
might be supplied by the undertakings to ensure the vocational
training of young persons, since an obligation is laid on the
employers in such legislation to engage apprentices in a fixed
proportion to the staff of each undertaking : e.g., 5 per cent.
in Mexico and 5 to 15 per cent, in Ecuador in industrial undertakings taken as a whole ; 10 per cent, in Uruguay in shipbuilding yards. It is generally laid upon the employer as a duty
to instruct the apprentice in his trade. Nowhere, however,
has the regulation of apprenticeship been pushed to such a
'point as to enable the training in the undertakings to be made
into a systematic method of training different from, but equal
—in the value of the skill it gives—to, the instruction given in
a school, and even, from some points of view, with better
results. The term " apprenticeship " has remained a vague
one, capable of being applied to routine training for a nonskilled or semi-skilled occupation as also for a completely
skilled craft. Nowhere, except in Brazil, in connection with
the establishment of a special system which will be discussed
later, has there been any attempt to proceed to an analysis
of trades and to their classification from the point of view of
the skill required in order to determine the conditions of apprenticeship for each one of them, and particularly the duration
1
Certain programmes of apprenticeship and upgrading in force in undertakings,
public or private, have been analysed in Appendix I by way of example. Some
are concerned with the training of a number of wage earners higher than the
number of pupils in all the vocational schools in the country.

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

and the successive controlled stages of the training. On the
very important question of the_ duration of apprenticeship,
existing legislation has little to say, beyond either leaving it to
the two parties to the apprenticeship contract themselves to
fix the duration of the contract by mutual consent, or fixing
the duration of apprenticeship in a standardised manner,
whatever may be the trade and whatever the difficulties to be
overcome. The considerable variations which may be noted in
the legally fixed period—which is, for example, two years in
Bolivia and four years in Cuba—leave it to be understood that
the period has been determined for non-technical reasons. The
main object would appear to be rather the limitation of the
period during which the services of a novice can be used at a
wage lower than the current one. 1 Apprenticeship is considered
as a form of employment whose conditions are to be
determined, and not as a method of instruction whose
programme is to be established.
Similar observations might apply to almost all the other
legal provisions concerning apprenticeship which are found
in the laws of Latin America: e.g., those which reserve places
as apprentices for certain fixed categories of persons (in Mexico,
for example, for the children of trade union, workers employed
in the same undertaking) ; those which establish the right
of apprentices to vacant places in the undertaking in which
they have done their apprenticeship ; and those which grant
an apprentice (he being a young worker who has to live away
from his family) physical and moral protection. Moreover,
the greater part of the social protection clauses to be met
with refer to a situation which does not occur in modern
industrial apprenticeship, namely, the living-in of the apprentice with an artisan master. Technical considerations therefore
are almost entirely absent from such regulations. Nevertheless, one provision in Mexican legislation is directed to this
end, namely, the possibility of an appeal to an ad hoc committee to verify the progress of the apprentice ; but this is
generally looked upon as an exceptional procedure which the
1
Certain cases may, however, be quoted in which the duration of apprenticeship
has been fixed with reference to the work which it is intended to serve, but such
regulations derive from a contract with compulsory application in a given branch
of industry, e.g., the collective contracts in Mexico, especially certain contracts
concerning specific branches of the textile industry. It is probable that clauses of
a similarly purely contractual nature may be found in other countries in collective
contracts with a more limited scope.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

apprentice may claim rather than a normal measure of control
of the technical results of apprenticeship.
Nevertheless, in two countries, Argentina and Brazil, the
comparatively recent legislation on apprenticeship has had
very remarkable effects and is the basis of an important
system of vocational training fed by a tax on undertakings.
This is not a method of technical training in the undertaking,
but technical training in special vocational schools for young
persons of a definite age class (14 to 16 years in Argentina,
14 to 18 years in Brazil), who are employed by an undertaking
in an occupation requiring skill. This system is therefore a
mixed one, and closer to the method of training in school
than to that of training in the undertaking, since, contrary
to the various European or North American apprenticeship
systems or to the Australian and New Zealand systems,
according to which only the theoretical part of training is
given in the apprenticeship school, in Argentina and in Brazil
the apprenticeship schools also give instruction in the workshop
by means of systematic exercises. The undertaking is called
upon only to give the apprentices a practical training in the
work of production. It should be noted that in these two
countries the selection of apprentices for such systematic
training is very carefully carried out according to psychotechnical methods. A detailed description of these two methods
of training will be found in Appendix I in the sections relating
to the two countries concerned. Let it only be emphasised
here that in imparting systematic instruction in apprenticeship schools to numerous young persons who are compelled
by material necessity to engage in paid work so soon as they
reach legal age, the technical level of the national manpower
may be improved to a remarkable extent. In Brazil,
the system of apprenticeship also extends to commercial
personnel.
It is true that the respective advantages of apprenticeship in the workshop and of technical instruction in school
have been frequently debated ; each one of these methods,
which are not necessarily exclusive but which may usefully
supplement one another, has strong supporters. Therefore
we may well ask what are the reasons which have led throughout the Latin American region to a clear preference, as against
apprenticeship in the undertaking, for the technical school
or mixed forms of apprenticeship such as those referred to

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

above, systems which require costly organisation of workshop
schools ? It is true that apprenticeship, if it is to be complete,
needs to be supplemented by theoretical courses in school,
but it at least uses the material of the undertaking for all
manual training, an advantage which may be considerable in
countries where such material is to a large extent imported,
and consequently rare and expensive.
The answer would seem to lie in the comparative youth
of Latin American industry, which is still too deficient in
really skilled adult personnel and in sufficiently trained supervisors to make it possible to entrust the direction of apprenticeship to such persons. But a remedy may be found for this
difficulty in the organisation of courses for the training of
supervisors. The instructors in technical schools and those
in so-called apprenticeship schools in Argentina and in Brazil
also need training. Measures have already been taken in
several countries, including Brazil, to give them such training.
When used for the training of factory foremen, courses of this
nature may well achieve a twofold purpose, namely, improving production in industry and allowing the organisation of
systems of apprenticeship in undertakings which make use,
as regards equipment, of the resources of those undertakings.
In some of the countries concerned there is, however, a
certain amount of recourse to the equipment of production
undertakings for the purposes of vocational training. This is
mainly with a view to supplementing the practical training of
pupils in technical schools. There are quite a number of cases in
which schools make semi-official arrangements with industrial
or agricultural undertakings to take their pupils for a practical
course. Generally speaking, such courses are organised during
the period of school holidays or over a period of several months
during school term. In some cases they are an indispensable
condition for the issue of a diploma. (This is practically always
the case in Peru.) The I.L.O. Mission has not had the opportunity of noting any case in which arrangements of the same
kind have been made for practical courses at more frequent
intervals, on certain days of the week or certain hours of the
day, as a sort of equivalent to the system of half-time courses
and half-time work in Argentina and Brazil. This would be
another possible utilisation of the material resources of
undertakings.
4

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

Available

Facilities

Because of the preference given in the region to the school
method of vocational training—the sole method of which the
authorities retain full control—the numerical development of
official vocational schools is of particular importance. I t has
therefore been thought desirable, in the monographs prepared for
the countries visited by the I.L.O. Mission, to state the number
of these institutions and their capacity, as measured by the
number of pupils enrolled. In point of fact, this enrolment,
except in very rare cases, represents the full capacity of these
schools, which are as a general rule compelled to refuse, for
lack of space, a considerable number of candidates.
So far as possible, an endeavour has also been made to
give information as to the pace of development of these
institutions, relying upon the latest statistical data available,
and also on data concerning previous years. Whenever it
has been possible to collect such information, it is generally
possible to note a considerable and in some cases a really
substantial increase in the number of institutions in recent
years. Thus, in Colombia, the number of schools administered
by the general directorate of technical education has risen
from 31 in 1942 to 45 in 1946.
In the endeavour to form a precise idea, however, of the
vocational schools, a first difficulty arises in the exact enumeration of the institutions in question. These are of various
types. Schools for general education also undertake a certain
amount of vocational education. Certain institutions are even
characterised by charitable assistance together with general
and vocational education. As will be seen later, this affects
chiefly agricultural education. I t is thus particularly difficult
to form an idea of what is, from a quantitative point of view,
the degree of development of such education as a whole.
Nevertheless, when the enquiry is confined to schools of a
really vocational nature, capable of imparting a more or less
methodical education, a striking fact is the limited number
of openings available for agricultural training, which are
always less than those available for industrial training, whereas
the numbers of people engaged in these two forms of activity
are in inverse proportion.

TRAINING OP JUVENILES

It is possible to arrive at slightly more exact results in
the enumeration of institutions for technical industrial education and in the calculation of their capacity, but it is imperative that figures should be interpreted, and this is where the
difficulty begins. Schools of this category are developing in
number and in capacity, but the question is what stage has
actually been reached in their development. To what extent
are they capable at this moment of taking part in the training
of skilled manpower, foremen and technicians of whom the
national economy has great need ? What is the actual meaning in comparison with the requirements of the national
economy of the figures shown for each country ?
It would be in the highest degree presumptuous to attempt
to give any exact answers to these questions, and still more to
judge whether this quantitative development should be the
principal objective in organising a national system of vocational training, or whether it is not more important to
improve present facilities. Nevertheless, it is worth while to
group the statistical data against the background to which
they relate in order that they may have some significance.
A method has recently been employed in Brazil for this
purpose which, if transferred to other countries, might probably help to make possible an interpretation of data concerning the number of industrial educational institutions. As
has been explained above, as a result of the studies made in
Brazil for the purpose of assessing the skilled manpower
requirements of the manufacturing and building industries,
an estimate was made of the capacity of the institutions
necessary to satisfy the said requirements. According to
these studies, the national service of industrial apprenticeship
(Senai) has estimated that, in order to provide in adequate
time for the replacement of the skilled workers (about
292,000 workers) in a total manpower amounting to about
a million and a half workers, it was necessary to have available
in the training centres facilities for the education of about
38,000 apprentices. The relation between the number of
school openings and the number of workers effectively engaged
in the industries to be served is, therefore, roughly, 1 to 39.
It should be remembered that, since the task of Senai
is confined to the training of manual labour in half-time
training centres, the training facilities contemplated should
be added to those already existing in industrial schools

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

administered or controlled by the directorate of industrial
education (Union Ministry of Education and Health), in
other words, 66 institutions affording, in 1948, rather over
13,700 vacancies now intended mainly for the training of
foremen and junior supervisory staff. When the equipment
of Senai is completed, the industrial training organisation
in Brazil will have at its disposal about one vacancy for each
28 workers engaged in the above-mentioned branches of
industry.
The application of this method to other countries as an aid
to the proper interpretation of the situation can result only
in very approximate estimates of the relation between the
capacity of technical schools and employment in industries
mainly served by such schools x, since, contrary to what has
happened in Brazil—where Senai was able to proceed to
a kind of census of the industries concerned at the moment
when it became necessary to calculate the facilities needed
for those industries—the available data concerning industrial
employment are several years old as compared with the data
relating to the schools. There is, therefore, a risk that requirements may be underestimated in comparison with existing
possibiüties. Nevertheless, the analysis is worth trying in
order to obtain some quantitative basis in the matter. If
such an attempt were made—with the aid of certain statistical
data concerning employment in the main industrial groups
which it has been possible to collect, and of statistics of
technical education contained in Appendix I—the result would
probably show that in the various countries of the region,
technical education has developed to a very different extent
from that reached by the branches of economy which such
education' is destined to serve. Probably an analysis of this
kind might lead to useful readjustments, as has been the case
in Brazil.
Vocational Education and General Education
Normally, vocational education should be able to rely on
the general knowledge acquired in the course of previous
studies and, as a basis, on primary studies. Any gaps, therei n addition to the manufacturing and construction industries, the mining,
transport and communication industries also benefit by the training given by many
oí the industrial schools.

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

fore, in general primary education are liable to cause serious
difficulties in the organisation of technical education properly
so called, in particular when such education is carried out
on scholastic lines.
Illiteracy is certainly a serious obstacle to the development
of vocational education among the masses in countries which
have not yet been able to free their people from this scourge.
But truancy and school desertion, which are commoner in
the countries in question, also undermine the basic education of many of the candidates for vocational education
properly so called.
It has not been thought necessary in this study to analyse
in detail the existing situation in each country with regard
to primary education and illiteracy or school desertion.
Many studies on the subject have already appeared and been
forgotten, and in any case the question is one of the chief
preoccupations of U.îî.E.S.C.O. This international organisation
is setting up in Latin America a regional centre, one of the
chief duties of which will be to encourage national campaigns
against illiteracy and school desertion and to help the efforts
of the countries in question to improve their primary education.
Nevertheless, the difficulty caused in the sphere of vocational education by gaps in primary education cannot be
passed over in complete silence.
True, the situation is appreciably different as between one
country and another and also as between one class and another
in the population of a single country. The lack of primary
education—or the low level of education due to irregularity
in school attendance—is particularly noticeable in the rural
population, and agricultural education suffers seriously thereby.
With very few exceptions among the countries concerned,
school attendance is lower among girls than among boys, a
fact which may partly explain the retarded development of
vocational education for girls, which will be dealt with below.
However, the vocational education of boys for industrial
trades is not completely free from this unfavourable condition
and, in order not to eliminate, by means of rigid and formal
examinations, persons who are otherwise well adapted, the
school authorities have been led to admit to vocational
schools of the lower grade, both industrial and agricultural,
young persons whose basic knowledge is very far from
complete.

VOCATIONAL TEAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Within the vocational schools, therefore, an attempt is
being made to supplement the general knowledge of the pupils.
Mexico has established a system of preparatory education for
two years with which the work, both in agricultural and in
industrial schools, begins. The education given in these
preparatory courses is essentially general knowledge with
certain elementary ideas of vocational education. In Chüe,
preparatory courses of a year's duration are offered to inadequately educated pupils before they begin upon the basic
technical curriculum. In most countries another method is
employed : the curricula in the vocational schools are for several
years burdened with a considerable number of subjects of
general education side by side with matters which are generally to be found in the curriculum of a technical school.
In Peru, in the curricula of basic vocational studies intended
for women, general education absorbs 50 per cent, of the total
time.
Although it would clearly be desirable—as is emphasised
in the Eecommendation of 1939—to make room for subjects
of general education in the curricula of technical schools, this
general education occupies in the timetables of the technical
schools of the countries in question a place which, at first
sight, a European would tend to think disproportionate to
the aims of technical education, and calculated to divert the
attention of the pupils from their main purpose. On further
thought, however, it should be recognised that in the present
state of affairs the maintenance of these subjects of primary
education in a specialised curriculum is obviously indispensable,
although it involves serious difficulties when establishing
curricula of technical education.
Furthermore, in many of the countries in question in which
the equivalence of technical studies and secondary traditional
studies is recognised (a fact which may be of advantage for
the prestige of the former), an attempt is being made to introduce into technical curricula the greatest possible number of
subjects contained in the general scheme of the humanities.
Thus, in the course of his occupational studies, the pupü
must undergo a dual curriculum.
The result of a curriculum so arranged is a considerable
prolongation of the total time a pupü must spend on his
studies before he can be said to have had complete technical
training. In many countries visited by the I.L.O. Mission where

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

an overloaded curriculum of this kind was in force, it was clear
that at the end of three years the training acquired was still
elementary, although such a period is amply sufficient in
many countries in which primary education is on a firm
enough foundation to train a skilled worker by devoting the
larger part of the timetable to technical education and to
questions in direct relation with such training, namely, safety
and industrial hygiene, the elements of labour legislation, etc.
It was not until the end of the second period of intermediate
education, that is to say, after a further period of studies
lasting two or three years and sometimes even four years,
that a pupil succeeded in really mastering the technique of
a skilled manual trade, such as that of a mechanic fitter or
an industrial electrician. However, at this stage the number
of pupils in technical schools is considerably reduced, for
material necessity is such that very few young persons can
spend so many years at school.
Official information is often insufficient to show exactly
what number of pupils engaged in a long-term curriculum
are leaving technical schools before completion of their study,
thus prejudicing the training given by these schools, but in
many of the countries visited by the Mission the register of
pupils showed the problem sufficiently clearly. In Peru, where
official statistics register new school pupils per year of study,
official information confirms this impression. 1 In 1946, registrations at the polytechnics—which are establishments giving
at the same time both basic and second-grade vocational
education—which numbered 372 in the first year, had already
fallen to 138 in the second year, and were no more than 61
in the fourth year for the whole of the country.
It would seem, therefore, that the combination of general
education and technical education in the curricula of vocational schools in the countries under review raises somewhat
difficult problems, partly because of the necessity of supplementing the basic education, which is frequently inadequate,
and partly because of the difficulty of keeping young persons
in these schools for a sufficiently long period to complete a
double curriculum.

Cf. Anuario estadístico del Perú, 1946, op. cit., p . 380.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Graduation of Studies
Elementary

Education.

In the countries under review the elementary school was
found at the foot of the ladder of vocational studies far more
frequently than it is in other parts of the world.
The use made of the curricula of this essentially popular
type of school to initiate pupils into trades is particularly
striking in Latin America. The elementary school is not solely
concerned with pre-vocational education, but reliance is placed
on it in special districts or under special conditions to prepare
the young person for the trade which he is to follow throughout
his life.
I t will be seen, for example, in the section on Chile in
Appendix I, that the directorate of elementary education has
developed various types of vocational education in some of the
schools administered by it, either education of a handicraft or
semi-industrial nature in certain urban schools situated in
districts which have not very many resources in the matter
of technical education, or, above all, education which is partly
agricultural and partly concerned with handicrafts or domestic
work, in the rural schools. In Argentina, agricultural courses
are also organised in the fifth and sixth classes of elementary
rural schools.
This use of the elementary school as a vocational school
is not solely an expedient due to the lack of vocational schools,
and to the fact that for many children the elementary school
will be the only source of knowledge to which they will ever
have access. I t is also a considered method of education which
is applied mainly in the education of the Indian population
in several other Latin American countries. I t is considered that,
because of its utilitarian nature, this school education will be
more attractive to populations where there is a high proportion
of illiteracy in the adult generation (the Peruvian census of
1940, for instance, showed in five provinces where the population is mainly of Indian stock a proportion of illiteracy as high
as between 80 and 90 per cent, among the populationof 15 years
and over). I t is also hoped that an education which begins
by making the pupil observe his own environment and form
a rational conception of activities with which he is already
familiar will penetrate his mind more deeply and develop his
character more than would a teaching which he would memorise

TRAINING OF JÜVKNILES

as something quite extraneous. Education by means of actual
work has therefore become the basic method in this system.
Since the populations educated by these methods are
country folk, the rural school has become the principal agent
of this method of vocational education, and agriculture and
stockbreeding are the chief subjects taugh in Mexico—where
this conception of education was introduced—and in other
countries in which the system is applied, such as Bolivia,
Guatemala, Peru and Venezuela. Nevertheless, handicraft
education is also given, both artistic handicrafts, in which
these countries are particularly rich, and also utilitarian
handicrafts, such as carpentry, bootmaking, etc., some of
which courses approximate almost to industrial training.
The question may be asked whether this form of education
belongs to a transition period which must be passed through
before the Indian populations begin to be assimilated to the
community as a whole, or whether its utility will disappear
automatically after a certain time. In the case of each individual,
does the education thus given at the school adequately prepare
young persons who are fitted for the technique of modern
economy to make use thereafter of the regular vocational
training establishments which are within the reach of the
population as a whole ? Or is it preferable to supplement
the elementary training thus given by yet more specialised
methods in order to facilitate the participation of the pupil
in the various forms of this economy ? Very many questions
arise in considering the initiation of this peculiar type of
training. It would be rash to seek to give any premature
reply as the vocational training of the indigenous workers was
included among the five problems concerning these populations
which the Committee of Experts on Indigenous Labour had
on the agenda of its first session (La Paz, January 1951).1
1
See the report prepared as a basis of discussion for this item of the agenda :
The Development of Programmes of Vocational Training for Indigenous Workers,
(Roneoed document, CEIL/1/7-1950). At the La Paz meeting a resolution was
adopted which laid down the principles that each Government should take full
responsibility for ensuring the existence, within the framework of the national
vocational training programme, of facilities calculated to enable indigenous persons
to develop their vocational aptitudes fully, and suggested various measures. A
technical assistance programme is under consideration, in order to assist Governments, at their request, in the implementation of such measures. Moreover, a
study of the problems of indigenous workers in the independent countries
has also been prepared by the Office (Boneoed document, CEIL/1/3). A revised
edition is being prepared for printing. It will contain the information submitted
to the Committee of Experts at La Paz on various items of the agenda.

VOCATIONAL TBAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Technical Education
Levels.

Proper—Elementary

and

Intermediate

Yocational studies proper follow on elementary education.
During the last six or eight years the majority of countries
in the region have been striving to bring about some system
in vocational education. These efforts have largely consisted
in making the education uniform in all schools of the same
type and in dividing the studies into various stages, each
leading to a certificate or diploma recognised throughout the
country. In Brazil and Peru particularly, this systématisation
is very widespread, since the same divisions are to be found
in all types of study—industrial, commercial and agricultural
—and since parallels also exist within industrial education
between that for boys and that for girls, although the
content of their curricula are entirely different.
The division of studies varies considerably from country
to country both as to the number of stages and as to their
duration. Since apprenticeship within an undertaking has
not been organised as a method of training manual labour,
all technical education systems in Latin American countries
provide a first stage of study in vocational schools for such
labour. That is generally known as the basic stage. Its
duration may vary according to the level of elementary education required for admission, and it also sometimes varies even
where entrance conditions are more or less similar. Por
instance, the basic stage of study for children who have
completely finished their elementary education lasts two years
in Guatemala, three in Chile, and four in Argentina and
Colombia (industrial study) ; in Mexico and Uruguay, the
duration varies according to the subject chosen. The diploma
awarded at the end of such study carries with it a title which
is not necessarily the same in all countries but which amounts
to a diploma as a skilled worker.
The second stage is intended to train either supervisory
personnel or higher grade skilled workers. They are generally
given the degree of " technician " or " expert ".
Besides these two fundamental stages, there is in some
countries an intermediary stage of study. In some cases,
as for instance in Ecuador, yet further divisions of study
are created by the temporary survival of a system of education which is gradually being abolished. But other divisions

TRAINING OP JUVENILES

have been created in answer to definite needs. In Colombia,
for instance, there are so-called handicraft studies, elementary
and essentially practical, which last three years, and " industrial " studies, which are also elementary although rather
more thorough, which last four years with a preparatory
course. Some years ago a simplified programme was drawn
up in Chile, training semi-skilled specialised workers in two
years ; that programme is additional to the regular threeyear programme training fully skilled workers—after a preparatory course of one year, if necessary. This simplified
programme answers the need of industry to find an increased
quantity of semi-skilled workers for mass production. The
result has been so satisfactory that the responsible authorities
are planning to double the capacity of the courses. It would
seem that simplified courses of this type may also answer a
more social need : that of providing limited but definitive
training for children who cannot devote many years to their
study. Such a training programme is preferable to the abandonment of more complete studies before they are finished,
which is all too frequent in those countries where the basic stage
uniformly lasts three or four years. 1
A small number of countries distinguish, at the second
stage, between training programmes for master handicraftsmen
and those for technical personnel. The former may be considered as continuation courses, improving on the studies done
during the basic stage, and intended to train manual workers
who may later take on supervisory duties. The rather more
theoretical courses for technical personnel train semi-manual
workers for work in industrial research. The distinction seems
fully justified and very useful. It would appear from conversations with heads of undertakings that in those countries
where no such distinction is made, the uniform granting of
the degree of " technician " to young persons who have only
supplemented the very elementary training given in the basic
stage by a few extra years of study, and especially where the
initial training provides largely a general basic knowledge, is
not without certain disadvantages, for it tends to inspire
ambitions disproportionate to the actual training received and
to divert people holding the degree from the skilled work
in which they would prove most useful.
1
See the preceding section for a description of this problem of leaving
technical courses before completion.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

In various countries in the area the second stage is itself
a step towards more advanced study. In Chüe and Mexico
particularly, advanced three-year courses have been organised
for some time, the standard of work approximating to that
done at universities, while being more thoroughly practical
in character. The subjects of study are very clearly defined
in Mexico where there is a choice between no fewer than
fourteen, some dealing with industries of considerable national
importance, as petroleum and textiles, and some with development schemes, dealing, for instance, with hydraulics. There
is also an advanced stage for specialised study in the technical
schools of the Ministry of Education in Argentina ; the
technical university faculties are, in addition, open to those
holding diplomas from technical schools. Further, the national
apprenticeship and vocational guidance board of the Ministry
of Labour has recently opened a labour university to train
industrial engineers. There are also plans for setting up a
technical faculty in Colombia ; and for opening courses at the
advanced stage training industrial engineers in Ecuador.
This type of study was started in Chile at a time when
the university faculty of engineering did not admit candidates
who had not matriculated ; this restriction created a major
obstacle to the rise of the most promising students as they
finished their practical technical studies. 1 That particular
difficulty, however, does not exist generally. With the exception of a very small number of countries, the regulations
concerning university study in the countries within the area
are carefully designed to allow students to pass from technical
studies at the secondary level to university study without
requiring the diploma awarded at the end of a classical education. In some countries there is even such a parallel between
classical and technical studies throughout that students may
pass from the one to the other at any moment. This is particularly true of study in Brazil and Ecuador. In any case,
the right to sit for the entrance examinations to technical
faculties at universities without having matriculated is granted
almost everywhere. Many examples of similar exceptions in
favour of graduates of vocational schools will be found in
Appendix I. The great majority of American States have thus
1
That faculty has admitted those holding diplomas from technical courses
since 1948, exempting them from matriculation provided that they follow certain
preparatory classes.

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

shown their approval of the principle expressed by the International Labour Conference in its Eecommendation of 1939,
where it is suggested that the curricula of vocational courses
should be so organised as to " enable promising pupils with
the requisite knowledge to pass from a lower to a higher grade
and to obtain admission to higher technical education at a university or equivalent institution ". This approval is all the more
significant as it comes from a group of countries which have yet
to find the higher technical staff necessary for their economy.
Another problem to be noted at the advanced level of
study is that of the lack of certain branches of education.
Sometimes, as in the case of mining engineering in Cuba, a
branch of study may be totally lacking ; at other times, as in
the case of agronomical study in Mexico, studies may be
organised up to the level of the licentiate's degree but do not
lead to any more advanced level. Even where study may have
been organised in a broad subject, say industrial chemistry,
specialised branches of that subject may not have been organised covering all the specialised branches which would be useful
for the full economic development of a country. In order,
therefore, to get round such gaps in national education, the
available facilities abroad must be resorted to.
[Reference is made later * to the difficulties which must be
overcome in order to develop these educational facilities
abroad and to ensure that those who use them derive the
greatest possible benefit from them ; the measures that have
already been taken by various countries will also be examined.
Curricula
The setting up of curricula for technical education seems
to present a variety of problems : problems as to the choice
of trades to be introduced in the curricula, as to the guidance
of students, in accordance with their abilities, towards those
branches of study which are of major importance for the
country, and as to a rational and uniform ordering of subjects
in the various schools which teach specific trades.
Choice of Subjects.
To choose the subjects to be introduced requires a clear
understanding of the needs of the general economy, both on a
1

See Chapter V.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

national and on a regional or local scale, as well as of the changes
in those needs. Since the authorities responsible for organising
training facilities generally only have very limited resources
which do not allow them to provide an infinitely wide scope
of education in each school, once the needs are understood the
problem remains of ascertaining which are those which must
be dealt with by means of theoretical education and methodical
practice, which can only be taught in schools. The training
of less highly skilled labour may then perhaps be done in
undertakings themselves.
This research into the various needs and the taking of
decisions regarding the manner in which these needs are to be
dealt with, presuppose close co-operation between school
authorities and the industrial undertakings in the manner
that has been referred to above. A certain number of cases
have been noted in which precise investigations took place or
are taking place into the needs of the general economy. The
influence of various economic planning bodies on the extension
of technical education has also been noticeable. The opening
of new courses in complete harmony with the interests of the
main national industries (in Argentina, for example, the setting
up in 1949 of a course in the chemistry of food dealing with
meat preservation) is also indicative of the attention that
is being given to economic needs when school curricula are
drawn up. Thus the number of subjects is growing little by
little, gradually extending the scope of education, particularly
industrial education, and increasing the co-operation between
education and the general economy. In Argentina, Brazil,
Mexico and particularly in Chile, there is already a great
variety in the subjects taught.
However, probably more for lack of funds than for lack
of understanding of the country's requirements, the evolution
of technical education is still far slower than that of the
general economy, instead of being in advance of the latter, as
would be desirable in order to help to strengthen it.
Indeed, in several countries in the region, the curricula of
technical education have not yet gone beyond a very narrow
circle which is all the more limited by the infatuation of students
for two or three subjects, as will be seen below.
The courses most frequently attended by boys are those
in general and automobile mechanics—but rarely those in
repairing agricultural machinery—in electrical installation,

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

industrial electricity and radio. Certain trades of very general
value, as for instance sanitary plumbing, are still missing
from the syllabuses of industrial schools in several countries
(study in this trade was being organised in Peru when the
Mission visited that country in 1949). Except in a group of
semi-international private schools, the schools of the Salesian
Brothers, the printing trades are very poorly followed.
Although the textile industries have been operating for a long
time in most countries of the region, facilities for training
textile technicians are still lacking in several countries. In a
very different field of activity, there is a striking lack of
facilities throughout the Pacific coast for training the experts
needed to exploit the abundant natural richness of fishing
resources; south of the Mexican border not a single fisheries
school is to be met before reaching Chile.1
Apart from education in cutting and sewing—the value
of which is undeniable—the syllabuses of vocational schools
for girls, in many countries in the region, consist largely
of luxury handicrafts courses : hand linen work, embroidery,
art toy making, art pottery, artificial flower making, worked
leather, and so on ; it may well be asked how the talents
which this education has systematically cultivated in such
quantity will later be put to effective use in the national
economy. That education certainly has very little in common
with the normal, already fairly highly developed, use of
female labour which may be noted in undertakings of all
countries. For example, it is almost exclusively in Argentina
and Brazil, in the new syllabuses of the National Apprenticeship Board and Senai respectively, that a few courses in
electrical mechanics, usually courses in electrical winding,
are open to women, while throughout the world an increasingly
large proportion of women is being employed in mass 1
production of electrical apparatus and radios. These women
are being employed both as skilled labour and, in large
measure, as specialised semi-skilled labour. The admission
of women to technical courses of this sort would make it
easier for them to pass from the second category to the first.
Again, the only course for chemical laboratory assistants for
1
The Joint Brazilian-American Commission has suggested setting up fisheries
schools in connection with its proposals on the expansion of the fishing industry
in Brazil. So far there has only been one fisheries school in Brazil, a private
foundation which was recently transformed into an oceanography institute.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

women seems to be that organised by Senai, while women
workers are to be found in all pharmaceutical and chemical
establishments in the area and while, at the university level,
women enjoy numerous training facilities which they are
denied in this branch at the elementary and intermediate
levels.
A revision of syllabuses from the staudpoint of the economic
value of subjects taught would, no doubt, suggest many
additions, but it might also lead to the suppression of certain
subjects which have so far been included in the syllabuses
rather by tradition than for their own value ; these might be
replaced by subjects with a more certain future without
involving any additional expense.
Directing Public Opinion towards Subjects Useful to the General
Economy.
Although the choice of subjects offered to students is
often too large, not all those for which instruction has been
organised are fully utilised. Fashions are created in this
field, as in. others, which obey irrational prejudices. When
technical schools were visited, the very irregular distribution
of students among the workshops was particularly noticeable.
Mechanics and electricity workshops are overtaxed to such a
degree that the practical experience to be gained there is
seriously compromised by the disproportion of machine users
to machines, while carpentry, joinery and cabinet-making
workshops are deserted. 1 These workshops are hardly attended
by others than students in the preparatory courses for whom
such work is usually a part of the compulsory curriculum ;
only a very small minority of students still choose to
specialise in woodwork in spite of the immense forestry resources
that abound throughout the area. îsfot even the wood trades
which have a big industrial future, such as the making of
casting moulds, are popular.
This unbalanced distribution of students among the workshops certainly constitutes a great difficulty in education.
1
The same disproportion was noticeable in all countries visited by the
Mission. One establishment with 360 students had only three students using t h e
carpentry and cabinet-making workshop, while the mechanics and electricity
workshops were packed. I n another establishment, for which exact statistics on
t h e distribution of students were available, 52 per cent, of the students were
enrolled in mechanics courses while the others were distributed among t h e five
other sections.

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

While both equipment and teachers are lacking in one field,
capital remains stagnant elsewhere in the form of unused
equipment, unless adult workers are engaged to use this
equipment for production work as has been observed in some
schools ; this is a characteristic makeshift arising from the
strange situation created by the lack of interest among the
young generation for these trades. On the other hand, if
there need be no fear that the general economy will be
saturated with mechanics in view of the great need for them
which exists throughout the area, especially for maintenance
and repair work, there is a real fear that other growing trades
will not have the manpower available for production, as is
proved by the fate of the smelting industry.
This situation is a source of concern to the competent
authorities. The Minister of Education of Colombia deplored
the narrow scope of technical education in 1948 when he
reviewed the situation with a view to implementing the new
programmes which had been drawn up. 1 The regulations in
Colombia provide a long list of trades which should be taught
both in the handicrafts and in the industrial schools, but
students confine themselves to four or five sections. In 1947,
out of 1,879 students following specialist courses in the schools,
1,416 were in five sections, mechanics (593) and electricity (219)
predominating ; while the remaining 463 were distributed
among fifteen other trades.
If it is valuable to widen the scope of trades taught in the
schools, it is indispensable to take measures, either beforehand
or simultaneously, to make knowledge of the various professions and branches of activity as widespread as possible—as is
suggested in Article 8 (3) of the Vocational Guidance Eecommendation 1949—in order to guide young persons and to urge
them to go into those branches of activity where it is desirable
to increase the labour supply or to improve technical skill.
Obviously, making apprenticeship compulsory in any one
trade is not even to be considered, but a person's choice can
be influenced by clever publicity showing the advantages and
attractions of trades which are unreasonably neglected, along
the lines of the collective guidance methods whose efficiency
has been proved in some of the economically developed countries. Attempts at guidance of this kind have been made.
Panorama de, la Educación Vocational en Colombia, op. cit. p. 34.
5

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Lectures are given during the first year of study at the National
Engineering School in Peru, an institution of advanced study,
giving the students information on the careers to which the
subjects taught there may lead, and trying to influence their
choice in favour of economic branches in which an increase of
technical staff would most greatly benefit the country. Preferences for one trade rather than another, at the manual labour
level, may also be kept in better balance by means of leaflets,
lectures to families and students, interviews with the students
and visits to industrial establishments.
Action of another kind may also be necessary in order to
achieve a better distribution of young persons among the
skilled trades ; that would be to examine the material conditions of employment in neglected trades. It seems probable
that unfavourable wage conditions are keeping young persons
who are quite rightly eager for vocational training away from
some trades and are influencing their choice. The necessary
readjustments may then have to be made in two ways ; each
trade must be made attractive, and a vocation for those
trades must be awakened in the students.
Standardisation of Curricula.
The aim of standardising education by giving uniform
training in all schools of any one type and by the award of
training diplomas recognised throughout the country has not
yet been achieved everywhere, but a number of measures
have been taken for that purpose.
In many of the countries visited, detailed curricula have
been drawn up by the central authorities which all schools of
the same class, whether official or private, have to follow. It
often happens, even, that the text of the curriculum is published
as a Decree.
Another measure which is more directly effective, since it
provides a precise skeleton plan for applying the curriculum, is
that of drawing up textbooks or syllabuses of practical exercises
for use in all schools of the same type. These textbooks
may be used either by the students or by the teachers.
In Argentina the national apprenticeship board has
already published several textbooks of this kind for use in
its own schools. In Brazil, Senai is preparing textbooks
for use in its apprenticeship schools ; while the industrial

TRAINING OP JUVENILES

education section of the Ministry of Health and Education
has, with the assistance of the Brazilian-American Commission
on Industrial Education 1 , also begun to prepare textbooks for
schools belonging to the educational system which it controls.
In Peru the preparation of textbooks for use in all schools in
the country is being actively pursued by the vocational
education directorate with the assistance of the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service. In Mexico the polytechnic
Institute began to undertake the same task in 1949 both for
the provincial institutes and for the central institute. In
Bolivia and Guatemala much the same work has been begun
by drawing up textbooks for the teachers, with a view to
remodelling education in rural schools according to the new
educational principles.
However, the full series of these educational textbooks
is nowhere complete. A long-term effort will indeed have to be
made and constantly revised in order to keep education up to
date with the evolution of industrial, agricultural and commercial processes. That work of preparation and revision
seems to be disproportionate to the resources available in
countries which as yet have only a limited system of technical
education and in which the publication of technical textbooks
would entail excessive costs. This problem is considered
particularly difficult to solve in Ecuador. The application
of regional co-operative efforts would no doubt help to
smooth over these difficulties.
Student Selection Methods
Various kinds of entrance regulations are imposed on
candidates wishing to enrol in technical education establishments. The combined effect of these regulations does ensure
some sort of selection, the results of which may be very
different according to the various criteria which apply. It
would be desirable, in order to ensure a successful education,
that those admitted to the schools should be the most gifted
for the occupation, profession or trade to which the education
given in the schools eventually leads, on condition that the
students have sufficient preparation to be able to assimilate
the knowledge they receive. This is of course the goal more
1
An organisation similar to that known as the " Inter-American Co-operative
Educational Service " in other Latin American countries.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

or less directly aimed at by all admission systems, but the
methods used for selecting candidates may lead more or less
surely to that goal.
I t should be noted in the first place that as the procedure
of admission is conceived at the moment, it cannot constitute
true vocational guidance. If vocational guidance is to direct
the best elements to schools, it must be carried out over a
wider field than the mere precincts of the school itself. At
the moment, selection can only be made between those who
are, in fact, directed to the school. While vocational guidance
proper may increasingly attract the attention of the public
authorities in Latin America, it is only applied in the primary
and secondary schools of a very few of the countries in the
area (especially in Chile and Peru), and has so far only been
applied to a very limited number of subjects. 1 Under these
conditions, the selection of candidates for schools plays a
particularly important part.
The standards established for selection vary considerably
from one country to another. In some countries selection is
almost automatic : this may be useful with respect to the
organisation of training, but it does not make for selection
with reference to ability ; an example of automatic selection
is the fixing of minimum and maximum age limits for each
grade of study.
Sometimes conditions of residence or birth are laid down
and they too make for an automatic selection of candidates.
The fairly frequent rule obliging students to enrol in the vocational courses of a general type, whether dealing with industry
or with practical agriculture, which are nearest to their place
of residence, may be explained by the need to ensure a proper
distribution of students among the various establishments of
any one type. In the case of agriculture, there is another
more technical reason for such a regulation, namely that of
affording future farmers in a certain region experience in the
types of farming which are prevalent there and which are
taught by the local school. Priority is also sometimes given
according to family origin ; that is to say, preference is given
to children from families following a trade or occupation
which is taught in the school. This raises rather serious
1
In 1950 a vocational guidance examination was made compulsory in Peru
for all children about to complete their primary education (see Appendix I :
Peru).

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

problems. As regards agricultural training, the rule might be
justified in part by practical considerations as, for instance,
when the training given is eventually to be used in running
a family or communal estate (ejidos in Mexico). The rule
applies for the same reasons to training in handicrafts. In
the field of industry, however, the rule may well have an
unfavourable effect, with no counterbalancing practical advantages, on the development of a rational vocational guidance
based on individual abilities on the one hand, and on economic
needs on the other. When vocational training takes place
in the course of gainful employment, obstacles of this kind
to a free choice of trade are, it is true, more frequently encountered in the area in view of the almost corporative traditions
which have survived. It is therefore all the more desirable
to use vocational training in schools to break these narrow
bonds which hinder guidance in accordance with the capabilities
of the individuals and which make for an extremely rigid
structure of employment in many countries of the area,
whereas the fact that modern economic conditions are constantly fluctuating makes it imperative that rapid adjustments
in the distribution of labour should be possible between related
branches of activity in order to ensure a sound balance of
productive forces and to avoid both labour shortage and
unemployment.
Minimum educational conditions are usually required
because technical education must be founded on some basic
knowledge. We have seen above that several countries have
considerable difficulty in enforcing strict requirements because
of the inadequate organisation of primary education, and that
the candidates' lack of basic knowledge has been remedied
by providing for preparatory courses in the vocational schools
themselves. The knowledge tests set in entrance examinations
thus fairly often serve as a means of placing successful
candidates either in preparatory courses or in the regular
courses.as well as of eliminating entirely unacceptable candidates.
It is interesting to note that conditions of health and
physical ability are more and more frequently laid down for
admission to Latin American technical schools. In some
countries, the requirement of a medical certificate still is
rather a matter of social hygiene : admission being refused
to contagious persons. But in the majority of countries

VOCATIONAL TBAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

visited by the Mission, medical examinations testing physical
capability were an integral part of the procedure for admission
to vocational schools, as was suggested in the Vocational
Training Eecommendation adopted in 1939 by the International Labour Conference.
Complete psychotechnical examinations have recently been
included in the admission tests for technical education in
some countries of the region. Usually these are given by
vocational schools to the candidates, either on a voluntary
basis by the schools of some countries which are equipped for
the purpose (some official schools in Brazil were so equipped),
or, in other countries, as a general rule. In Peru the
results of the psychotechnical examination are given more
importance than those of other tests for admission. Psychotechnical tests have an even wider application in the two
systems of technical education linked to employment which
have been set up in Argentina and Brazil. In Argentina
—at any rate in Buenos Aires for the moment—the national
apprenticeship and vocational guidance board gives psychotechnical tests to all applicants for an employment or apprenticeship workbook, and consequently to all future students
in its schools, before those students begin any definite specialisation. In Brazil Senai does not yet apply those tests generally
but rather experimentally to students in pre-apprenticeship
courses in the schools of certain areas, that is to say, at times
when a choice may be made between different branches of
activity.
In two countries—Mexico and Uruguay—the principal
technical education establishment in the country gives psychotechnical examinations, but only after admission and then
only to part of the students, so that those examinations are
used for classifying or reclassifying the students in the various
trades which are taught in the establishments rather than for
selection purposes.
The various experiments that are being made in several
Latin American countries with a view to applying rational
methods of selecting candidates for vocational training and
also to guiding such candidates, at least within the framework
of the education given in each school, will probably, in the
years to come, encourage the application of such methods in
other countries. We may therefore hope for greater efficiency
in existing training facilities.

TßAINING OF JUVENILES

Buildings,

Equipment and Supplies

Philosophical education may have reached its zenith
with the peripatetic school, but vocational education can
hardly be satisfied with such inexpensive methods. I t must
be carried out in conveniently arranged and well-lit buildings,
well enough heated where the climate makes it necessary, so
that fingers retain their dexterity.
Building programmes were in progress in almost all the
countries visited by the I.L.O. Mission, either rebuilding or
enlarging the buildings already in use, or setting up new units.
In some countries this work was being carried out on a
particularly large scale.
In Argentina and Brazil very large building programmes
have been put into effect as a result of the setting up of new
systems of apprenticeship at schools whose funds are provided
by contributions from undertakings at a rate of 1 per cent, of
the total wage bill. In Argentina, from 1944 to 1949, the
national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board set
up no fewer than 119 establishments, sometimes in temporary
buildings, but usually in new buildings especially designed for
the purpose. The building programme is being continued to
cover the entire country. In Brazil the national service of
industrial apprenticeship (Senai), which was set up in 1942,
has also undertaken a preliminary building programme
affecting 67 buildings for apprenticeship schools, of which 24
had been finished between 1943 and 1947 ; work on the
remainder began in 1948 and 1949. This building programme
is to be continued according to need. The Government of
Brazil has also undertaken some building, largely for agricultural education. The advanced agronomy school and the
veterinary school (forming the " rural university ") were
built as part of a plan for separate buildings on a large property
belonging to the State, and they alone form a sort of university
city provided with the very best equipment.
In Mexico the building of technical schools is part of
the school building campaign which was vigorously pursued in
1948 and 1949 to improve the equipment of the country with
the help of the entire population. The plans for technical
schools include enlarging the central polytechnic institute
and building provincial institutes as part of the same system
of vocational education. One of these provincial institutes was

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

completed in 1949 in the State of Durango, and work has
begun on five others, either under the sole responsibility of the
Federal State or with the financial collaboration of the State
in which the institute is located.
However, many of the schools visited by the I.L.O. Mission
had to put up with very modest buildings, and the paucity of
those buildings obliged them to limit the number of admissions
in spite of the increased number of applicants, thus imposing
increasingly strict entrance conditions. The over-population
of workshops was obvious in many schools and did not create
favourable conditions of work. The combined lack of available
buildings and of resources for increasing their number had also
led to new "technical schools in provincial areas being housed
in very inadequate temporary buildings ; one such school was
in a sort of basement, another in a sort of shed. Obviously, the
lack of adequate buildings is one of the technical difficulties
which is slowing up the development of technical education in
many Latin American countries.
School equipment and supplies are perhaps even more
necessary ; it is conceivable that, if necessary, a school could
be run in some comparatively light shelter, where there is
a dry climate and where the temperature is more or less
constant ; but technical education cannot be organised without
machines and equipment for the practical training of the
students.
The machinery must be of various kinds to suit the diversity
of trades taught and the operations to be done in each branch
of work ; and, where possible, it should also be of the type
current in the area so that what the trainee learns to do with
that machinery may be directly applicable to the productive
work which he will later have to undertake. The number of
these machines should be proportionate to that of the students,
so that, with proper distribution of workshop practice, every
student may be constantly active during all periods of practical
work using the general machine tools in turn and his own
personal tool outfit at all times.
There is a great difference in conditions of work of this
type between one establishment and another. Some schools
had almost luxurious equipment including a complete assortment of machine tools in their workshops and all the material
necessary for research work in laboratories : electrical driers,
fume cupboards, a wide variety of measuring apparatus,

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

microscopes, and so on ; some school halls were provided with
cinema projectors and educational films. In other schools
the lack of equipment caused considerable difficulty in training ;
in several schools most of the students could only watch and
could not take an active part in the life of the workshop,
packed in groups as they were in front of a single machine
operated by one of them or on which the instructor had to be
content to demonstrate. At an agricultural school which had
just been promoted from the elementary to the intermediate
grade and where, according to the curriculum, practice in
mechanised agriculture had to be given, only one machine was
available, a small, much used mechanical plough of an outmoded
type. The national curriculum of the commercial schools in
another country included training in the use of calculating
machines but even the central school in the capital had no such
machine. The proportion between the number of students and
the amount of equipment, always a delicate problem in any
growing system of vocational training with limited credits,
was, moreover, upset by the irregular distribution of students
among the various specialised workshops of the school.
Thanks, however, to two factors, this problem is gradually
being solved ; those two factors are the help received from
abroad by many countries in the area and the efforts made by
schools themselves.
One of the points on the programme of the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service is to provide equipment for
the schools of those countries which come under the Service, or
to help them to import adequate equipment at the cost of
the Government concerned and to train the teaching staff in the
proper use of that equipment. In Appendix I, the sections on
Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala and Peru, show that as a result of
the co-operative agreements on education concluded by these
countries with the Government of the United States, substantial progress has been made regarding the equipment of schools.
Similar assistance has also been given to the Dominican
Eepublic, to Panama and to Paraguay. In this way, it has
been possible to add to the equipment of'schools such materials
as work benches, machine tools of various types—lathes,
milling machines, drills, etc.—tool kits, laboratory instruments and material, cinema projectors and educational films,
teaching equipment, protective apparatus and clothing and
many other things very necessary to vocational education.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The very progress made in technical education in the more
advanced countries makes it possible for vocational schools
to help themselves, or to be helped by other schools in the same
country. The making of tools by the students themselves is a
very generally accepted part of the curriculum in workshops,
almost from the very first year ; and it fairly frequently
happens that the education is sufficiently advanced for the
construction of machine tools to be undertaken later on. The
making of wood or metal lathes in school mechanical workshops
is particularly common. Sometimes only students in the
second grade of education are capable of doing such precision
work, but sometimes also the students in the first stage complete the sequence of their practical work by doing jobs of
this kind. Usually the machine that is built is a copy of
some imported model ; sometimes it has been possible to
make adjustments to that machine to meet the peculiar needs
of a given workshop. In addition to its utilitarian aspect of
gradually improving the equipment of school workshops
by the work of each successive generation of students, this
practice also has considerable educational advantages, offering
students a stimulating chance to test their knowledge in a
tangible manner by building a machine which will be the best
possible help in their own work, and by making co-operation
between different workshops necessary, particularly between
those dealing with smelting and those dealing with mechanical
engineering, thus providing extra incentive for both.
Reference has already been made to textbooks for theoretical education and to syllabuses of practical exercises as well as
to the important preparatory work being undertaken in various
countries for improving such publications, which, since they
are distributed among all schools of a given type, help to
ensure an adequate average level of education. I t is also
extremely important to provide the materials for workshop
exercises. This is largely a question of funds, but it also
depends on the governing bodies of schools taking the necessary administrative measures. Those bodies must take the
necessary steps in time to ensure that there is never any
lack of reserve equipment or supplies. It so happens that the
I.L.O. Mission visited some school workshops where the lack of
material for practical exercises caused general idleness and
demoralisation among students and teachers alike.

TEAINING OF JUVENILES

Teaching Staff
The value of any educational system depends above all
on that of the teaching staff. In establishments offering
technical education, the staff is perhaps even more important
than in those giving general education.
Particularly as regards practical work carried out in
workshops, the number of instructors must conform to
fairly rigid standards. If necessary, the number of students
in theory classes may be increased somewhat, but workshop
practice can only be supervised efficiently when the number
of students under any one teacher is more or less constant.
It is usually considered that in industrial training 10 to 15
students form a convenient group for one instructor. However,
the lack of instructors, or rather the lack of experienced instructors, is at the moment a considerable obstacle to the extension
of technical education in a sufficiently varied number of
subjects. This problem is aggravated, as it is in the case of
school equipment, by the irregular distribution of students
among the various trades which are taught. The authorities
responsible for vocational training have often indicated that
one of the major problems is that of recruiting teaching staff.
When the first Latin American schools were set up, their
directing staff and a large part of their teaching staff were
drawn from abroad. Some countries still look for outside help
in staffing their schools, and the regulations governing technical
education have allowed for this. The Decree of 28 December,
1947 which laid down the basis of a national plan of technical
education in Ecuador and provided that Ecuadorian schools
should be staffed by nationals, allowed an exception to this
general rule in the case of two categories of staff—teachers of
technical theory and practical instructors.
In the other
countries, with the exception of certain specialists, teaching
staff is now generally national, but few systematic measures
have been taken to provide for the training of such staff.
The universities afford an adequate supply of teachers of
theory, but it was long thought that practical instructors could be
recruited from among former students of the technical schools, a
manifestly inadequate source except in the case of a few persons
who are particularly gifted for teaching and are able to work out
teaching methods by themselves without any specialised training.
Most instructors, however, cannot do without such training.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

During the last few years several countries in the region,
which have revised their national education system to make
it more efficient, have had to examine this problem and
to find better means of training their instructors. In Colombia
this educational reform was begun in 1944 by setting up
a training school for agricultural teachers. Under the plans
made in 1948 for reforming industrial education, it is now
proposed to set up two training schools for technical teaching
staff, one for education in handicrafts and the other for
industrial education.
In the various countries which have received technical
assistance during the last few years from the Government
of the United States with a view to reforming their industrial
or agricultural vocational education (Bolivia, Brazil, Costa
Eica, the Dominican Eepublic, Guatemala, Haiti, Panama,
Paraguay, Peru and Salvador), one of the first points on the
programme carried out by the Inter-American Co-operative
Educational Service was the provision of training or continuation courses for the teaching staff of those schools. Measures
of various kinds have been taken—
(1) Temporary courses were organised during the summer
holidays, providing post-graduate training for existing staff
(Bolivia, Brazil and Peru). In some cases these courses were
organised as evening classes extending over a longer period
{e.g., six months in the Dominican Republic). Some 2,000
persons have taken such courses in Peru. In Costa Eica,
temporary courses have also been given for the training of
teachers and visitors in domestic economy.
(2) Permanent courses were instituted in special establishments. In Bolivia, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras, rural
teachers' training schools were set up and, in Peru, a course for
industrial instructors was attached to the Polytechnic Institute.
The purpose of these courses was to train the personnel necessary for teaching new industrial skills. For instance, in 19481949 a first team of twelve was trained as instructors in
sanitary plumbing in Peru. In Guatemala it is planned to set
up a permanent institute for training instructors in technical
education.
(3) Mobile units have been organised as a sort of travelling
school to improve the training, particularly in agriculture, of
rural instructors (the cultural missions of Costa Eica).

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

(4) Manuals and textbooks have been published for
teachers and instructors.
(5) Persons who already hold or are candidates for appointments as teachers and instructors have been sent to the
United States for periods of training which, in some cases,
have been as long as one year (in Brazil 40 persons in 1948
and 25 in 1949 ; in Panama nine up to the end of 1947 ; in
Paraguay eight, etc.).
In other cases, similar efforts have been made by national
authorities. For example, the national apprenticeship and
vocational guidance board in Argentina uses some of its
workers' evening continuation classes as a means of training
teachers in industrial education.
In Brazil, Senai has undertaken a big training programme for its personnel which has so far principally taken
the form of sending carefully chosen and prepared young
men to study abroad for a fairly long period. Twenty-nine
had been trained up to 1949, and 18 were preparing to
go. Most of them were sent to France, as the methods
applied by Senai are partly based on French methods
of technical education.
The Brazilian students attended
either the teachers' training college of the French apprenticeship centres, or, for specific trades the various specialist
schools, such as theBoubaix textile school, theBoulle furniture
school and others. Senai is now planning to set up a teachers'
training school for technical education in Brazil itself.
The important problem of basic training for instructors in
technical education is, therefore, being actively considered in
several countries, but it has not yet been solved. It is a
problem of the greatest urgency if really efficient training
facilities are to be available in each country. 1
There are also related problems concerning the need to
ensure the stability of trained teaching staff. The whole
world, including Latin America, is well aware of the problem
1
Several of the applications for technical assistance submitted to the I.L.O.
since the drafting of the present report (i.e., during 1950 and 1951) refer either
to the loan of the services of foreign experts in order to start instructor-training
programmes, or the grant of fellowships to enable nationals of the applicant
countries to be trained abroad as instructors or as organisers of instruction programmes. Indeed, a regional instructor training programme for technical education
is under consideration. This is to take place under the auspices of the I.L.O.
Manpower Field Office for Latin America at Sào Paulo, the Brazilian Government
and the Brazilian industrial apprenticeship service (Senai).

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

of competition between industry and education, industry
frequently attracting away from the schools the best elements
in the teaching staff and paying them higher wages in technical
administrative positions. The conditions of employment of
teachers in several countries should be made considerably
better if efficient education is not to be endangered by unstable
teaching staff. In Peru, the Decree of 22 March 1949 constitutes one measure towards this end by improving the organisation of continuation courses. I t is laid down in this Decree,
which deals with the regulations concerning the promotion
of teaching staff in technical schools, that the marks obtained
in continuation courses are to be considered as proof of
merit, which is one of the factors affecting promotion. I n
addition, the sending to the United States of prospective
technical school teachers or instructors at the cost of the
Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service generally
entails signing a three-year contract.
ACCESS TO TRAINING FACILITIES

The existence of a large number of institutions for technical
education would in itself be inadequate to ensure an increase
in the number of students if measures were not taken to make
attendance easier for those with the necessary ability to
benefit from the courses. Consideration must be given to
various factors affecting facility of access to those courses—
factors such as the geographical distribution of training establishments ; equal treatment for both sexes ; and cost of
attendance.
Geographical Distribution of Training

Establishments

Physical access to training facilities depends on the geographical distribution of those facilities being in accordance
with the needs that have to be met. The Vocational Training
Recommendation, 1939, stressed the importance of ensuring a
rational geographical distribution of educational facilities both
from the point of view of the interest of the workers, in order
that all may be in a position to develop their own abilities,
and from the point of view of the economic requirements of
each region or locality.
The resolution adopted in 1946 in Mexico City by the
American States Members of the I.L.O. stresses those prin-

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

ciples with much force, insisting that national programmes
for vocational training should meet " the immediate and
prospective labour requirements of industry and agriculture in
each area and in the country as a whole ", that they should
provide " opportunities for developing the full capacities of
the young persons and men and women in each area and in
the country as a whole ", and that they should ensure " that
the training programme is directed towards the general wellbeing, by helping to develop national human and material
resources with a view to raising living standards throughout
the country ".
It has been possible to collect some information on the
geographical distribution of existing training facilities in the
countries of the area as well as on the geographical plans
for extension. Information on this subject will be found
in Appendix I, particularly in the sections concerning Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. It would appear
from these facts that technical education, which, as happens
in all countries, was limited to the larger centres to begin
with, has undergone a substantial geographical extension during these last years ; Argentina, for example, may boast of
having technical schools right down to Tierra del Fuego.
Several countries also have plans for extending their technical
education faculties.
Nevertheless, an attentive study of the geographical distribution of technical schools still fairly frequently shows an
irregularity in their distribution which is not entirely due to
differing needs. In particular, it is generally recognised that
it would be advisable to improve farming methods for the
entire rural population, but agricultural schools are still far
from being easily available to the population in all areas.
This difficulty has in part been obviated by entrusting agricultural education to rural primary schools ; it must, however,
be recognised that such education can only be very rudimentary. It is still really almost a privilege for a child coming from
a farming family to be admitted to an agricultural education
centre, which is often hundreds of miles from his native village.
A similar situation also obtains fairly often regarding
industrial training, even as regards training in industrial
processes of a very general value, as, for instance, mechanical
repairs, electrical installation, sanitary plumbing and others.
The problem is still very acute when training given in a

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

specialised school as distinct from general vocational training
is in question, for instance in the printing trades for which
several countries of the area have only one school.
The great size of several Latin American countries, the
sparseness of their population, the peculiarities of their
physical make-up, and the isolated conditions of development
of some localities whose means of communication are insufficient often make it almost impossible to provide technical
training institutions immediately in certain areas where both
the population and the general economy require them. In
several cases, in Peru for instance, the responsible authorities
have had to close down certain units which were already in
operation because it was becoming too difficult to supply
them adequately for efficient education, and because it was
also impossible to provide them with capable staff, who were
reluctant to live in the conditions of isolation and discomfort
which had to be accepted in the area. The problem of an
adequate distribution of training facilities is therefore more
complex than would be suggested by looking at a map ; and
there can be no doubt that a wide variety of considerations
have to be taken into account in any attempt to decide how
to create a proper balance between the implementation of a
general plan for the extension of training facilities and the
improvement, in the first place, of institutions whose situation favours such improvement and the fullest use of their
facilities.
Equal Treatment for Both Sexes
The Recommendation of 1939 lays down the principle
that women have an equal right of access to all vocational
training facilities and to the diplomas awarded on completion
of study, and the resolution adopted in Mexico City by the
American States Members of the I.L.O. asks those States to
adopt measures including both the orientation of general
education towards vocational aims and vocational guidance
to assure women complete access to all forms of training.
This principle of equality has an economic as well as a
social justification. Especially in countries with a limited
population and with large natural resources, a great potential
factor in national development would be excluded if the
abilities of one half of the inhabitants were ignored.

TRAINING OF JUVENILES

The I.L.O. Mission undertook its enquiry in the spirit of
the above-mentioned decisions, that is to say, the problems
of vocational training were considered as normally applying
to both sexes. However, the actual conditions confronted the
Mission with situations which had to be recognised, if any
exact idea of the organisation of vocational training in the
various countries of the area was to be given ; special subsections on the vocational training of women have frequently
had to be included in Appendix I.
The situation may also differ considerably according to the
level of education. At the higher level, Latin American women
have reached a position of almost absolute equality in law,
and they very largely take full advantage of that equality.
It is true that fewer women university students are enrolled
in the technical faculties than in the faculties dealing with the
humanities ; however, there are almost no subjects of university study, including engineering studies, where there are not
some women students. The proportion of women is approximately 30 or 40 per cent., and in certain scientific faculties,
chemistry for instance, it is even higher (in Ecuador, there
were 42 women out of 116 students in the chemistry faculty,
in 1947-1948). With the exception of advanced schools run as
boarding schools, and these are largely agricultural schools,
technical institutions leading to responsible positions are
therefore open to women.
It is a rather paradoxical fact that the same is not true of
technical study at the intermediate level, although Latin
American industry is employing more and more women
as manual workers. Accessibility to schools at this level
on an equal footing for boys and girls is almost exceptional.
In Brazil and Mexico, the federal industrial schools are coeducational, but that is not true of the schools run by individual
States. The legislation of Colombia and Ecuador lays down
a principle of equality governing access to vocational training
facilities coming within the national plan, but, in practice, a
distinction between the sexes is made. Although measures
have been taken for improving educational methods in girls'
vocational schools in several countries, particularly in Argentina, Chile and Peru, those schools, as stated above, usually
offer little scope for industrial training.
The facilities for agricultural training available to women
are even more restricted. Since the practical agricultural
6

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

schools are boarding schools, they are not open to women, and
nowhere in Latin America did the Mission find a really well
developed programme of education in rural domestic economy.
I t is true that some schools of this type are to be found, as,
for instance, the advanced rural home institute recently
set up in Argentina and some farm schools in Uruguay. A
rural domestic economy service is being developed in Costa
Rica, but training facilities are only provided for rural social
workers and are run as temporary courses. These, however,
are isolated instances which by no means constitute a generalised system of vocational training. The rural primary schools
do indeed prepare peasant women for an active part in the life
of the farm, as in Chile for example, but the education afforded
in those schools can only be very elementary.
On the other hand, the commercial studies given in coeducational schools, or in schools for women, do prepare a
large number of Latin American women for active participation in the administrative side of economic life. In Argentina,
for example, the statistics of enrolment in commercial
schools in 1948 showed that out of a total of 21,884 students,
8,451, or approximately 40 per cent., were women.
Cost of Attendance
The question of the financial conditions governing accessibility to training facilities is yet another problem which the
responsible authorities are striving to solve.
I t should be stressed at once that a foreign visitor is
favourably impressed by the efforts which have already been
made by Latin American Governments to make vocational
education free for the entire population. Such education is
free at the elementary and intermediate levels almost throughout the region. A few countries do, however, make a small
charge on the families for the upkeep of these establishments,
either in the form of an enrolment fee, which is always very
low, or in the form of examination fees.
Higher education is less generally free, although it is still
very frequently so in the establishments directly maintained
by the State. Many technical faculties in autonomous universities charge matriculation and examination fees which are
usually very moderate and certainly do not cover the real cost
of the education given. In addition, most of those universities

TRAINING OP JUVENILES

exempt worthy students with no means of their own either
totally or partially from those fees.
However, in view of the low economic level of the working
population in most of the countries in question, the problem
of accessibility to technical education cannot be solved merely
by providing free study. The important problem of the upkeep of young persons while they are studying remains unsolved.
Various measures have been taken in this connection, without,
however, arriving at any complete solution.
One such measure is the provision of boarding facilities
within the technical schools, thus also helping to simplify
the problem created by the distance between the school and the
home, even in the case of students who are in a position to pay
the fees. A relatively large number of dormitories has already
been opened. I t has often become a general rule for the
authorities to provide boarding allowances for students in
training institutions to which those authorities attach a
particular importance for the general economy of the country.
That has been the case, for example, with the agricultural
schools, for all levels of education in Mexico and, since 1949,
in Argentina. In five or six countries, it is customary to provide
day students in technical schools with their mid-day meal,
and in some cases also to provide them with transport when
the school is outside the area in which most of the students
live. In addition, in Argentina, a " schools grant " is made
in schools run by the national apprenticeship board, the
grant being a monthly allowance, increasing from the first to
the third year. Wide support has thus been given in the region
to Paragraph 6 of the Vocational Training Eecommendation,
1939.
Another way of making school attendance easier, which
has also been noticed in one or two countries in the Par East,
is that of allowing students in technical schools to earn small
amounts by their work in the school workshops. Such a
measure is not perhaps completely in accordance with the letter
of the 1939 Eecommendation which states in Paragraph 14 (2)
(c) (ii) that the work of pupils in technical and vocational
schools should not be intended for commercial profit.
Two different kinds of situation may be noted in this
connection. In two or three of the countries visited there was
a regrettable tendency to use technical schools as centres of
production, some schools even going so far as to engage adult

VOCATIONAL TBAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

workers in order fully to utilise their equipment. In other
schools, outside orders were accepted, in addition to those
placed by the State administrative services, so that students
might have practice in work providing a wider trade experience
than is to be found in workshop exercises. It must be admitted
that, from the point of view of training in method, there were
certain advantages in carrying out these orders ; the workshops
visited which used this system had an appearance of activity
which was sometimes lacking in other school workshops where,
from reasons of principle, no utilitarian work was being done,
not even for public administrative services, and where, since
the costs were in no way offset, there was a lack of the supplies
required for fairly thorough practical exercises. As to the
small earnings which students may make through this work,
in countries where the poverty of their families is a major
obstacle to the extended education of many young persons, a
measure which may help to attenuate that difficulty seems to
be justified by its results. Here, too, it would seem necessary to
arrive at some reasonable compromise between the aim of
keeping technical schools from competing commercially
with undertakings and the need to provide those schools
with facilities for the effective training of the largest possible
number of children, especially for those children with the
greatest need for improved social conditions.
There are two further ways of overcoming the difficulty in
attending vocational schools which arises from the poverty
of the students' families. The first, which has not been systematically developed in the area, is the organisation of vocational
training during employment through some system of apprenticeship in an undertaking. The second, which is proving extremely
successful both in Argentina and in Brazil, largely because it
does help to overcome this difficulty, is the organisation of
adequate part-time training facilities for children and young
persons, who are obliged, for reasons of practical necessity,
to enter gainful employment as soon as they have reached
the minimum admission age. x

not
too
the
the

In Brazil particularly, it was frequently noted that vocational schools could
operate at full capacity because the need for gainful employment prevented
many children from attending ; this state of afíairs was stressed in 1949 by
Brazilian-American Technical Commission which conducted an enquiry on
means of developing Brazilian economy.

OHAPTEE IV
TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS
General education was the main purpose of the first
courses for adults organised in Latin America. They were
a part of the struggle against illiteracy or of the popular
university movement, although some basic principles of
vocational education were sometimes included in their curricula. A similar idea underlies the plan for industrial training
which was recently drawn up, in the Decree of 5 February
1948, by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare in Ecuador
for workers' continuation courses. Many of the educational
programmes for rural areas are also intended to raise the
level of education and health of the population as well as to
improve economic conditions by the application of better
methods of cultivation.
During the last few years, however, training facilities of
a more specifically technical character have been developed
for adult workers in several countries of the area. The facilities for industrial training differ considerably from those for
agricultural training, and will therefore be treated separately.
INDUSTRIAL TRAINING

Training or Continuation Courses
So far as the Office is aware, the courses for adults which
have been, or are being, organised by public authorities in
Latin America are, with the few exceptions to be considered
below, short-term courses for persons already in employment.
I t does not seem that any attempt has yet been made—as
in industrially developed countries during the unemployment
crisis of the 'thirties and during the second world war and
subsequently with a view to the resettlement of labour in a
peacetime economy—to set up permanent training centres
which would facilitate a later readjustment of labour by

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

giving intensive full-time retraining to adults. So far no
allowances have been paid during the period of training in
any of the official courses for adults * ; it has therefore been
necessary to make arrangements enabling adult students to
ply their trade during the period of training. These courses
are given either during the evening or during the week outside
normal working hours, on Saturday afternoons or Sunday
mornings for instance.
Thus courses for adults have so far not been organised
with a view to any major redistribution of the labour available
in the employment market, although private firms have done
so on their own initiative 2 ; such courses are rather to be
viewed as facilities offered individually to unskilled workers
providing them with the opportunity to acquire a training
which they were unable to get during their youth, or as facilities allowing workers who have already had some training
to continue it and thus to improve their status through their
own efforts outside working hours.
If the need were felt to provide the economic system with
new supplies of adult labour by drawing either on non-industrial
areas, or on industries which are at the moment on the decline
owing to the disappearance of the exceptional circumstances
which favoured their development during the war, it might
be necessary to apply full-time training methods for adults,
taking the additional financial measures that are essential in
such cases.
Although they only provide for individual retraining,
the courses which are being held at present are of various
kinds, and in several countries they are so organised as to
allow trainees to decide for themselves how much time they
will devote to upgrading.
Indeed, some of these courses provide complete training
to become a fully-skilled worker while others only give the
short training required by semi-skilled specialist workers.
Senai, for example, provides both kinds of training :
courses of the first type, lasting two years with five classes
per week, lead to the trade certificate normally given in basic
1

With the exception of courses for supervisory personnel organised in Brazil
by Senai (see below).
* Various examples are given in Appendix I. Where new industries have been
set up, the training systems organised by private firms covered a large number
of persons, during the actual setting up period—a number greater than that of all
adults following courses in the official institutions of the country.

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OP ADULT WORKERS

courses in technical schools (certificates as mechanic, electrician, carpenter and cabinet-maker, or in other skilled trades) ;
short courses of five months, with four classes per week,
train such semi-skilled workers as metal-turners, welders,
electrical winders, etc. Very much the same is true of the two
kinds of evening classes for adults which are given in Bolivia.
The Decree of 22 July 1948 provides for no fewer than four
courses for adults in Chile, all having 15 hours of classes and
workshop practice per week and lasting respectively one
year (supplementary courses providing slightly increased
training for a worker who has already had some practice),
two years (apprenticeship courses for skilled workers), three
years (corresponding to courses for master craftsmen given
to young persons), and trade courses of a rather higher level
which may be organised according to the requirements of
candidates.
Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay have also organised
various kinds of trade courses for workers.
The basic conception underlying the organisation of
courses for adults in Argentina is somewhat different. The
national apprenticeship board runs a complete educational
system for those who were unable to undertake sufficient
study during their youth. The full system includes three
phases of study which a student may follow successively,
beginning with the basic two or three year course for skilled
manual workers, through the technician's course, leading
finally to the advanced course for industrial engineers, which
will be started when the labour university is fully organised.
The continuation courses are of various kinds and have
a longer history ; some of them were, for instance, set up
when the first arts and crafts schools were created in Argentina,
Chile and Mexico. Originally, these courses were intended
to give young persons finishing the basic courses in technical
schools an opportunity to go on to more advanced study while
still entering gainful employment. For instance, the courses
given by the B.S.I.M.E. school in Mexico (a mechanics and
electricity school) were organised long before those for adults
which are now run by the polytechnic institute. The former
are sometimes attended by adults though more frequently by
young persons. A certificate of completion of basic vocational
study is generally required for admission to continuation
courses.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

I t will be seen from Appendix I that enrolment in adult
courses is on the increase. However, only in a very few countries does enrolment reach a sufficiently high level for the
courses to exercise any great influence on the technical value
of labour as a whole. The most successful work has been done
in Argentina and Brazil under the new systems whereby
vocational training is in large part financed by an apprenticeship tax. The national apprenticeship board in Argentina
ran adult courses in 64 establishments in 1949, over 18,000
students being enrolled. In 1947 a little over 4,000 students
were enrolled in adult courses in Brazil in each semester.
Since the short courses last five months, it may be assumed
that approximately 6,500 persons attended them during the
year. Allowing for the difference in population, it is probable
that adult courses in Chile were very nearly as successful,
for by May 1948 2,876 students had been enrolled. In 1949
approximately a thousand students were enrolled in adult
courses in Mexico. However, excluding courses for women,
which deal at least as much with domestic economy as with
industry, in several countries only a few hundred persons
were enrolled in courses for adults.
Foremanship

Courses

Eeference has already been made to courses for training
teaching staff, including workshop instructors. What will
now i>e considered is the category of intermediary administrative personnel, and particularly the supervisory personnel
in production workshops. The duties of foremen and of
instructors in vocational schools are rather similar in certain
respects : they both combine a need for precise technical
knowledge with that for ability to command and for the gift
of clear exposition. However, the steps which have been
taken to train instructors so as to improve the value of
technical education have very seldom been applied by public
authorities to the training of foremen and other persons
in supervisory positions within undertakings. Whenever it
has been a matter of training skilled workers already in
employment for supervisory functions, that training has been
left to the undertakings themselves. It is true that so-called
foremanship courses have been included in the curricula of
vocational schools and that technical staff in intermediate

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OP ADULT WORKERS

grades are supposed to be provided by such courses, but
those courses are intended for young persons without practical
experience outside school, and they can do no more than
provide rather remote training for such duties. The foreman's
job calls for ability to lead men, and this, in turn, for maturity
of mind ; and any direct training for such a position should
therefore be given to adult persons.
Foremanship courses for adults would not overlap with
those given in technical schools, but would rather supplement
the, work done there either by retraining the same students
several years later, when they have acquired practical
experience in workshops, or by affording an opportunity
for upgrading workers who have done well in the shops.
So far as the Office is aware, only in Brazil have foremanship courses been organised for adult workers, that is, courses
which aim at developing not only the necessary technical
knowledge but also ability to teach a job. The Brazilian
courses were organised in 1947 by Senai, not as evening
classes as in the case of other adult courses,- but as full-time
courses with appropriate arrangements for the trainees'
subsistence. Persons who are to follow these courses are
chosen throughout the country and sent to a school specially
selected for their training. The courses last five to six weeks
with intensive training. During the first two years, 137 and
182 foremen respectively were trained. Although this is a very
limited experiment, being entirely new in the area it is of
considerable interest.
Rehabilitation

Courses for Disabled Persons

The rehabilitation of disabled persons is a form of vocational education which is almost unknown in Latin America.
There are schools for the blind or for the deaf and dumb in
almost all countries, as well as some institutions for the mentally defective ; these are all institutions for persons with
natural handicaps, providing general education as well as
vocational training, and training those persons to earn their
living. But only in Cuba is there any institution for workers
who have already been trained for a trade which they can no
longer carry on owing to accidental disablement.
The Cuban experiment is thus the more interesting for
being quite exceptional in the area. The Cuban rehabilitation

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

institute for disabled workers includes a psychotechnical
guidance service, vocational rehabilitation facilities and a
prosthetics department ; recently, a surgery and therapy
department has been added. Physical and vocational rehabilitation are carried out simultaneously. However, hardly more
than 30 persons per year avail themselves of the facilities of
this institute.
The exceptional causes which have made for a tremendous
increase in physical disability throughout North America,
Europe and Asia have, it is true, had but little effect in Latin
America ; nevertheless, there are probably enough accidents
of all kinds, including employment injury, to warrant the
establishment of special facilities or of a special institute within
the general framework of adult vocational training.
In order to appreciate the need for rehabilitation, it might
be as well to start by enquiring into the average number of
labour and other accidents, street accidents for instance,
causing disability, as well as of occupational or chronic ailments
obliging employed persons to give up their normal occupations.
If the results of such enquiry showed a relatively substantial
loss of power through invalidity, and if it were consequently
proposed to return disabled persons to productive Ufe in order
to free society from the burden of their upkeep and so that
their working power might serve the economic system of the
country, it would then be necessary to study possible rehabilitation facilities. In the light of experience in other countries,
a first choice might be made of useful occupations, corresponding to the current conditions of the employment market, for
which persons affected with a given disability might be
re-educated in an efficient manner. To start with, the choice
of trades might be reduced as much as possible in order to
make it easier to organise training facilities, the range of
trades being gradually increased as experience permits. I t
would seem necessary to arouse the interest of medical persons
in making these preparations, for their co-operation would be
indispensable both for the physical rehabilitation and for the
vocational training of disabled persons.
It would also seem advisable to train the personnel necessary for organising the first rehabilitation institute ; that
institute might serve as an experimental centre for perfecting
methods of rehabilitation before extending their application
over a very wide field. It might be necessary to send some

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OP ADULT WORKERS

instructors from technical education branches to foreign
countries to study methods of vocational rehabilitation for
disabled persons and invalids ; or the help of some foreign
expert might be sought to get the scheme going.
However, it almost seems, judging from the Cuban experiment, that the usefulness of the facilities provided by rehabilitation centres is still not fully understood in Latin America,
even by those directly interested ; this would explain the
absence of such facilities in the other countries. I t would
therefore probably be necessary, when setting up the first
institute, to undertake a sufficiently intensive publicity
campaign to make those who would benefit by rehabilitation
services eager to resume active life.
Periods of Practical Experience Abroad for Technical Staff
Eeference has already been made to grants or allowances
to students for advanced study in foreign countries. I t has
also been pointed out that a fairly large number of vocational
schools try to give their students the chance to acquire
practical knowledge by qualifying periods in industry as soon
as their studies are finished ; some of those schools have
established close connections with foreign countries, especially
with the more highly industrialised neighbouring countries,
in order to provide that supplementary education in an
efficient manner. Certain Ecuadorian and Peruvian schools
fairly frequently send their students to Chile.
But it is generally recognised that it is even more useful
to offer technicians who have already acquired some practical
experience the chance to improve their technical industrial
knowledge in some other country. 1
Opportunities for officials in technical services to work
abroad are provided by the service grants offered by the
United States for work in its technical administrative services,
particularly in aviation, surveying, mineralogy and mining
research. Offers of technical assistance made by certain other
Governments (particularly by the Netherlands delegation to
the second session of E.C.L.A.) give reason to believe that
more facilities of this kind will become available.
1

Cf. particularly Economic Commission for Latin America : Preliminary Study
of Needs for Technical Assistance in Latin America (United Nations Document
E/CN. 12/84), pp. 29-31.

VOCATIONAL TKAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Technicians employed by foreign-owned firms may also
receive supplementary training by being sent to some other
branch of their firm. The necessary arrangements for the
supplementary training of technicians employed in private
national industrial firms have to be made to suit individual
cases, and this is not always very easy.
In addition, some Governments in Latin America are
taking steps to make it easier for their nationals to acquire
experience abroad, especially when that experience is likely
to be of use to some branch of industry which is particularly
important to the economic development of the country.
Thus the scholarships granted in Chile by the Pedro Aguirre
Cerda foundation may be used for periods of practical work
in private industry as well as for university study. The New
York office of the Chilean Development Corporation also
helps by enquiring into the opportunities that may exist for
undertaking those periods of practical work in industry in
the United States. The new systems of grants in Bolivia and
Colombia may also be used for practical experience of this
kind ; the same applies to the scholarships offered by industry
in Mexico under the system of collective agreements which
is very generally applied in the main branches of industry.
However, there is still much to be done in the way of
providing facilities for this kind of training on a sufficiently
large scale to make for real improvement in industrial
techniques in Latin America.
AGRICULTURAL

TRAINING

The technical training of the adult rural population raises
even more serious problems than does that of the adult industrial population. For one thing, training facilities for young
persons are less developed for future farmers and stockbreeders
than they are for future workers or technical personnel in
industry in relation to the number of persons engaged in
those two branches of activity. While industrial training
facilities for adults may be viewed as supplementary to those
for young persons, the training facilities for the agricultural
population which is actually working are absolutely essential.
In the second place, there is an urgent need to increase agricultural production which is particularly low and which
results in the low standard of living of the rural population,

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OP ADULT AVORKERS

by far the predominant population in most of the countries
in the area. This need has been shown clearly by the work
undertaken by E.C.L.A. in collaboration with the Food and
Agriculture Organisation.
If there is to be a rapid improvement in this situation,
information on modern methods of soil conservation, of farming,
of crop preservation and of other agricultural processes must
go directly to the labourer in the field. If national production
is to be increased at the same time as the income of the agricultural producer by more or less intensive local processing
of such food products as milk, fruit and vegetables or even
possibly other agricultural raw materials which are easily
processed, the rural population will have to be taught a wide
variety of agricultural techniques. The women should not
be forgotten here for they have an important part to play in
the use of these raw materials.
These problems have not gone unnoticed, and various
solutions have been attempted : in Brazil, for example, in
connection with the formulation of the " Salte " plan and
the work of the Brazilian-American Technical Commission,
in Colombia in connection with the reorganisation of the
vocational training system, in Cuba and Ecuador in connection
with the implementing of the economic development programme which is founded on agriculture, and in a dozen or
so other countries in connection with programmes for the
development of food production which have received technical
assistance from the United States.
There has been an appreciable development in these
facilities during the last few years, but the work is still far from
complete.
Some information, although necessarily brief, will be found
in Appendix I on the very varied ways which have been
adopted for providing the adult rural population with this
education. If they were all as fully developed as they are
varied, the problem would soon be solved. There are, however,
still many obstacles to be overcome before any final solution
can be arrived at.
Extension services are operating in a number of countries :
in some, a large number of localities have an official agronomist
who lends his services to the local farmers (300 in Argentina) ;
in others, action centres have been set up (24 in Brazil).
These centres rely particularly on the experimental stations

VOCATIONAL TRAINING I N LATIN AMERICA

of which there are three in Cuba and six in Colombia. The
same system is being organised in Peru and Ecuador ; the
areas in which each of these stations operates differ widely
owing to the great variety of climates and types of farming
that is to be found in countries crossed by the Andes, and
consequently the stations have to specialise.
On account of the large area they cover and the poor
means of communication between them and their users, these
agricultural centres or experimental stations find it difficult
to reach a substantial proportion of the population which
needs them.
In addition to these services, some countries, including
Argentina, Mexico and Uruguay, rely on the co-operation of
the practical agricultural schools, which are bound by their
regulations to give assistance to farmers in their area. The
successful results which these schools obtain in their farming
are considered a more direct and effectual demonstration of
the value of scientific farming and stockbreeding methods
than is mere advice.
The rural elementary schools may also offer useful advice to
the parents of their pupils, particularly in areas with an
Indian population, where some countries have organised the
rural schools on the principle of education through practical
work (Bolivia, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru in particular).
Although obviously less scientific, their influence may be
more extensive since direct contact is thus established in
each village between the directing centre and the local
population.
Long-range publicity methods have also been used, frequently by means of leaflets or printed forms which are easy
to distribute in large quantities. This written publicity may
be prepared either by some central service, as it is in Brazil
and Mexico, or by the experimental stations. Consultation
services by mail, and sometimes even correspondence courses,
have also been organised, but it is obvious that a major difficulty, illiteracy, prevents recourse on a large scale to the
written word. The influence of such services is therefore
limited despite the great pubKcity efforts which have been
made in several countries. In Mexico, for instance, where
correspondence courses are entirely free and where they have
been the object of considerable publicity, only some 3,000
persons avail themselves of those courses in any one year.

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OP ADULT WORKERS

Mexico may also serve as an example of a country using
radio broadcasts for the same purpose ; this oral means of
communication might indeed get round the difficulty, were
it not for the poverty of the rural population, many homes
being still without any receiving set.
There is also a growing tendency to develop other means
of disseminating information by the spoken word. Extension
services make use of visiting officials as quite a general practice ;
but it would be a tremendous task to send those officials to
each farm. Some countries therefore have organised collective
meetings run by travelling education officials. Those meetings
provide farmers in each area with the chance to have a very
profitable exchange of views. The Inter-American Co-operative
Educational Service has introduced the custom in Costa Eica
and Peru as well as in other countries to which it gives
technical assistance for the development of food production.
In this connection, it should be noted that Mexico has long been
accustomed to send out travelling technical assistance missions
(misiones culturales) to farmers, with very satisfactory results
in areas with an Indian population which does not speak
Spanish. Costa Eica and El Salvador have recently organised
missions of this kind, particularly with a view to improving
the technical training of rural teachers.
The training of officials to advise the rural population is
certainly of the greatest importance if their advice is to have
any real influence or value. I t is therefore particularly interesting to notice certain measures which have been taken to this
end. Eeference has already been m a d e x to the measures
taken for the training of teaching staff in practical and rural
schools. What will now be considered is the organisation of
training or continuation courses for other categories of public
service officials responsible for helping and enlightening the
rural population. In Brazil the national centre for agricultural
education and research under the Ministry of Agriculture
offers a large variety of short courses for those of the Ministry's
officials who are to take up specialist careers. The number of
those courses may differ from year to year ; there have
frequently been as many as 20, some lasting six or seven
months with ten to 12 hours per week, others lasting only
three months.
1

See Chapter I I I .

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Of a somewhat different Mnd are the training courses for
social workers in domestic economy ; the organisation of such
courses in Argentina dates back to 1915, but they have been
intensified during the last few years by the foundation of a
new school which acts as a sort of teachers' training college
and centre for these social workers. Short courses for the same
purpose have been introduced in Costa Eica and Paraguay
by the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service.
Training facilities have been arranged for key personnel
in various other fields, as for example, training courses in
Paraguay for staff to organize and operate the agricultural
loan scheme.
The need for promoting the use of agricultural machinery
raises a serious problem of technical training, since persons
trained in the use and maintenance of that machinery are
often not available. In addition to the regular methods
employed in several practical agricultural schools or in certain
specialist schools, such as that recently set up at Miramar in
Argentina, measures of a non-academic character have also
been taken. I n Chile, for instance, under an agreement between
the military and civil authorities, the army has recently organised courses training 250 recruits every year in the use and maintenance of agricultural machinery. It was announced in 1949
that a similar agreement had been reached between the Ministry
of National Defence and the Ministry of Agriculture in Mexico.
At the higher level, both national and international facilities exist for the advanced training of the agronomists and
other specialists whose duty it is to promote the progress of
agriculture in their respective countries.
On a national scale, temporary courses have been organised
in Uruguay by the agricultural schools specialising in oenology
and in the growing of citrus fruits. The experimental stations
also provide facilities for similar study and for training in
scientific investigation methods. Several stations in the area
afford an opportunity for making use of the experience of
foreign experts since they were organised under an international agreement for technical assistance. Examples of
this are the experimental stations of the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service, for instance, the Tingo
Maria station in Peru, or the stations set up by the
Rockefeller Foundation, the Chapingo station in Mexico
and the Pichingué station in Ecuador.

TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Methods of two different kinds have been adopted on an
international scale : the setting up of an institution for such
education, and the offer by certain other countries of their
facilities to citizens of Latin American countries. The foundation of the Inter-American Institute of Agricultural Science
at Turrialba, Costa Bica, under one of the Conventions of the
Organization of American States may be given as an example
of the first method. That Institute is concerned with scientific
research and also holds one-year courses. I t is open to nationals
of Member States of the Organization who hold diplomas from
agricultural schools as well as to experts from the experimental
stations and to teachers on leave who wish to improve their
knowledge of tropical farming. Study is divided into four
branches dealing with applied rural science, plant growing,
rural welfare and economy, and the study of cocoa diseases
and their prevention. Various kinds of scholarships and grants
are offered. When the I.L.O. Mission visited the Institute
during the second quarter of 1949, there were 55 students
of whom 46 came from 10 different Latin American countries,
two from Colombia, seven from Costa Bica, three from Ecuador,
two from Guatemala, two from Haiti, one from Honduras,
six from Mexico, one from Nicaragua, one from Panama, and
under a special agreement, 21 from Venezuela.
Facilities for practical work abroad for adults have been
offered by the Department of Agriculture of the United States
in particular ; the Department had taken 68 trainees in
1946-1947. In some cases, work was done in Puerto Eico in
order that persons coming from tropical countries might study
under climatic conditions similar to those of their own country.
It is true that the question of climatic conditions, which is very
important for the success of practical work in certain branches,
does limit the application of this kind of advanced study.
However, the experience acquired in certain branches, for
example, in those dealing with irrigation and flood control,
may be used independently of geographical location. The
offers of assistance made to Governments in the area by the
Netherlands delegation to the second session of E.C.L.A. show
that advanced study by technicians in the field of agriculture
may very probably be carried out on a larger scale in foreign
countries in years to come.

CHAPTEE V
TRAINING ABROAD AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
TRAINING ABROAD

As has already been said in various parts of this report,
Latin American countries have sometimes found it necessary
to make use of the facilities available in foreign countries for
training their own nationals.
Such training may be necessary for two different reasons ;
first, a student may have to go abroad when his own country
offers no facilities for study in some branch or when he can
hope to get more advanced training abroad ; secondly, technical students who have already received theoretical training
in their own country may have to go abroad to acquire more
thorough or more varied practical experience than is available
under existing economic conditions in their own country.
Study Abroad
Practical arrangements for study abroad involve—
(a) finding vacancies for nationals in the universities or
technical schools of another country, although it sometimes happens that that other country has hardly enough
vacancies for its own needs ;
(b) the adequate preparation of students going abroad so
that they may be able to derive the greatest benefit from
the facilities available to them ;
(c) financing study abroad which, since it is more expensive
than study done within the country, more frequently
requires State assistance.
In several cases, arrangements have been made between
countries in the area for an exchange of students. Such
regional exchanges have certain advantages since study can
thus be done in the same language. The difficulty does arise,
however, of the limited number of places available in the

TRAINING ABROAD AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

universities ; for this reason the regulations in several countries
restrict entrance to universities to their own nationals.
Nevertheless, definite arrangements have been concluded
as exceptions to these regulations, for example, between Chile
and Bolivia, and Chile and Colombia ; Uruguay has also made
agreements with Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay
and Peru ; the national agricultural school in Mexico sets
aside a substantial number of vacancies for other Latin
American students. The co-operation between Bolivia and
Chile is particularly striking since it has given rise to the
introduction of industrial education in Bolivia. Some ten
years ago, when Bolivia decided to set up its first industrial
technical school, there was no teaching staff available in the
country ; with the consent of the Chilean Government, ten
students were sent to train in the main technical school in
Chile in order that they might form the nucleus of the teaching
staff in the first Bolivian technical school.
An important condition for the success of study is a full
knowledge of the language in which that study must be
conducted. When scholarships are offered by the United
States or by some European country, it is usually stipulated
that the scholarship holders should know the language.
In some cases definite arrangements have been made by
the national authorities to ensure that the necessary foreign
language is known ; this has been done in Brazil for example,
partly by the Brazilian-American Education Commission when
sending persons to the United States, and partly by Senai
when sending instructors to train abroad. Another important
point does not seem to have received sufficient attention :
the curricula of preliminary study in different countries should
be sufficiently similar to ensure that, with such basic knowledge
as they have acquired in their own country, students will be
able to benefit fully by study abroad.
Information will be found in Appendix I on the financial
facilities which exist for study abroad. 1
Scholarships are granted by countries sending students
abroad to fill any gaps there may be in national education
(for instance they are granted in Mexico for advanced agricultural study which it has not yet been possible to organise),
and also in view of the importance that the State attaches to
1

I n the sub-sections on financial assistance for technical study.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

advanced study in some particular branch, even when certain
facilities already exist within the country. This is true of
agronomy in Colombia, and of industrial training in Chile in
recent years, in connection with economic development plans.
As a rule the number of scholarships awarded by national
authorities is fairly low, except when some indispensable
•branch of study has not been organised at all, such as medicine
in Costa Eica. Information on the number of scholarships
available is given in Appendix I. I t was admitted in all the
countries visited by the I.L.O. Mission that the number of
national scholarships awarded was distinctly insufficient, and
furthermore that the facilities offered by foreign Governments
or funds did not sufficiently make up for that lack. In some
countries special arrangements have recently been made to
facilitate study abroad in subjects which will have a favourable
effect on the economic development of the country. In Chile,
the Pedro Aguirre Cerda foundation, which is affiliated
to the Chilean Development Corporation, has awarded a
hundred scholarships for study or periods of practical work
abroad from the time it was set up in 1942 until 1949. In
Bolivia the industrial education council set up in 1949,
which administers the funds for industrial education, including
the annual revenue derived from the newly instituted tax on
undertakings, will be able to provide funds for scholarships.
I n Brazil Senai awards some scholarships to engineers
for study abroad in various processes of the textile industry.
In Colombia a new fund of two million pesos per year was
created in 1948 for the grant of loans for technical study
abroad, with the proviso that the ten recipients who did best
in their work should be exempted from returning the loan.
The Government of Guatemala announced in January 1949
that it would grant scholarships for advanced technical study
abroad. In Mexico, in addition to the scholarships awarded
for agricultural study by the Ministry of Agriculture, the
national bank awards some scholarships for work that will
promote the economic development of the country.
Practical Training

Abroad

Periods of practical training abroad are as much sought
after by the nationals of Latin American countries as are
facilities for advanced study. Whereas in the case of college

TRAINING ABROAD AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

or university studies, standing arrangements in the educational
establishments of the country visited are available for the
use of foreign students, in the case of periods of practical
training abroad, special arrangements must be made to suit
each case ; the success of such training periods therefore
depends on far more careful preparation. In some cases a
specific organisation has been charged with making those
arrangements. For example, the New York office of the Chilean
Development Corporation is largely responsible for arranging
for practical work by Chilean technicians, particularly with
a view to ensuring that the experience acquired will be of
service to the national economy.
Some foreign Governments have also taken steps to
arrange periods of practical work for Latin American technicians. The United States has organised a wide programme
of assistance for Latin American countries during the last
ten years ; officials of those countries are offered facilities for
doing practical work in the various administrative services
of the United States. The opportunity is provided, in large
part, for acquiring technical experience, for instance in agronomy and mineralogy, or for acquiring administrative experience
in implementing vocational training programmes through work
in technical schools either as directors or as teachers and instructors. France, the Netherlands and certain other countries also
occasionally offer similar facilities for Latin American instructors
in the field of vocational education or for technicians.
It would obviously be advantageous if facilities for study
and practical experience abroad could be developed still
further. The Fourth Labour Conference of American States
Members of the I.L.O. (Montevideo, April-May 1949) suggested
to the Governing Body that a Latin American manpower
field office should be established, and the suggestion was
adopted. Further, it was particularly recommended that that
office should " promote national, regional and international
exchanges of trainees, student employees, and instructors,
which is one of the most useful methods of encouraging a
general improvement in skills "-1
1
It should be pointed out that several of the technical assistance agreements
concluded by Latin American countries with the I.L.O. during 1950 and 1951
provide for the grant of fellowships to ofiScials of these countries, particularly in
order that they may study vocational training methods in foreign countries. As
already pointed out, a regional programme, of instructor training is in course of
preparation in Brazil, with the assistance of the I.L. 0. Manpower Field Office

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Technical assistance of various kinds has been received
from many quarters by Latin American countries in setting
up institutions for vocational training, perfecting methods of
technical education, and drawing up and implementing training
curricula.
A number of Latin American countries have privately
sought the co-operation of foreign experts in setting up their
first vocational training institutions : many directors both of
agricultural and of industrial schools and many teachers and
practical instructors have brought with them from Europe
not only their personal knowledge of these problems, but also
the heritage of several centuries of experience.
During the last decade, official assistance has come from
North America ; under agreements concluded with the Government of the United States, Brazil, the Dominican Eepublic,
Panama, Paraguay and Peru have received the assistance
of the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service in
improving their methods of technical industrial education,
and eight States (Bolivia, Brazil, Costa Bica, Ecuador, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti and Honduras) have received
similar assistance in improving their agricultural or rural
education. That assistance has principally been concerned
with the training of teaching staff, and, under several programmes, with the improvement of equipment and educational
supplies.
As Members of the International Labour Organisation,
many countries in the area had a share in framing the international standards laid down in the various texts on vocational
training adopted by the International Labour Conference as
well as by conferences of American States Members of the
I.L.O. I n return, they derived the benefit of the experience
of other Members from other regions who took part in those
conferences ; and they were obviously prompted, in drawing
up the plans for their national systems, by the standards
formulated in those texts—standards which were drawn up
as a result of world experience of the problems and methods
of vocational training.

TRAINING ABEOAD AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Other Forms of Assistance
As has been stated, citizens of Latin American countries
have been given the opportunity to undertake periods of
practical work abroad in order that they might obtain firsthand knowledge of methods of vocational education used in
countries with considerable experience in that type of education. Such opportunities for practical experience are also a
form of technical assistance. In several instances, official
missions have been sent abroad to bring back to their own
countries a knowledge of the principles underlying the organisation of the national system of vocational training which it
has planned to set up or to recast. Following on those missions,
experts have frequently been lent to assist in implementing
the plans.
I t has also often happened that Latin American countries
have given each other mutual assistance. In 1935, when
Venezuela wanted to set up rural schools as the first instrument
of agricultural education, a mission was sent to study the
Mexican system ; when Colombia was thinking of reorganising
its agricultural education in 1941, a mission was sent to study
methods in Puerto Eico, and a Puerto Eican expert later
went to Colombia to help in implementing the proposed plan
of reorganisation.
These few examples have been chosen from among many
others to show that vocational training in Latin America
has derived a considerable benefit °from the exchange of
experience between countries, which is the normal method of
development, as is an exchange of experience between individuals. Nevertheless it is highly desirable that such exchanges
should be carried out on a much larger scale. All forms of
technical assistance that help to improve vocational training
facuities are likely to receive a fresh stimulus from the arrangements which have been made to implement the I.L.O. labour
programme in Latin America as well as to apply the expanded
technical assistance programme.

CHAPTER VI
CONCLUSIONS
The foregoing survey of the present state of vocational
training in Latin American countries throws into relief the
diversity in the existing situation. Vocational training systems
are in all stages of development ; some countries have a century
or more of experience of technical education while others
have only recently opened their first vocational schools.
The task of the authorities in bringing training facilities
into line with the present manpower needs of the national
economy and with estimated needs to allow for economic
development varies greatly from one country to another.
The international assistance that the Governments concerned
may require in their task may also vary for the same reason^
NATIONAL EFFORT

In the course of this report a number of points have been
stressed on which it seems particularly necessary that national
effort should be focused^ in one country or another, to ensure
that vocational training facilities are really effective. These
points may be summed up as follows :
Assessment of Training

Requirements

1. Measures to obtain, through public employment services
or other designated national agencies, or, where necessary,
special ad hoc arrangements, a regular supply of reliable and
detailed information on the state of employment and on
present and prospective requirements for trained manpower
in industry, agriculture, and other fields of economic activity.
2. Systematic surveys to define occupational characteristics and requirements, in order to determine the character
and extent of training needs in particular industries and
occupations.

101

CONCLUSIONS

3. Development of techniques for forecasting the number
and types of trained workers required in each branch to
implement economic development plans.
Rational Employment of Vocational

Ability

4. Organisation or improvement of vocational guidance
facilities so as to determine individual ability and preferences
and make the best use of them to meet economic requirements.
5. The employment of suitable means to stimulate the
vocational interests of young persons and to develop their
vocational ability and capacities consistently with prospective >-—
economic requirements.
Reinforcement of Administrative

Structure

6. Preparation of unified plans and programmes for each
type of training needed by the country's economy and workers,
and of systematic procedures for periodic review.
7. Improvement of procedures for co-ordinating the
various public authorities responsible for vocational training,
both at national and local levels.
8. Setting up or development of machinery to co-ordinate
public and private training activities nationally and locally.
9. Making or development of suitable arrangements,
including the establishment of advisory committees, for
enlisting the full support and, where appropriate, participation
of representatives of employers' and workers' organisations
in the formulation and application of the country's training
policy and programmes.
Expansion

of the Vocational Guidance Network

10. Planning and execution of construction programmes
to provide adequate premises for technical schools and other
vocational training institutions. Determining priorities on
the basis of manpower requirements, population distribution
and other factors.
11. Implementation of purchasing programmes to provide
sufficient and suitable equipment for each kind of training
given in such schools and institutions. Consideration of these
programmes when deciding on building plans.

102

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

12. Organisation of specialised training facilities, where
lacking in certain countries or districts, especially facilities
for advanced training including the training of supervisors.
Provision of the necessary equipment.
Recruitment and Training of Vocational Instructors
13. Determination of standards for the recruitment and
selection of vocational instructors, having regard to national
economic needs and conditions and to the various occupations
and trades for which training facilities have been provided.
14. The organisation of initial and refresher courses for
vocational school and other vocational instructors.
Provision of Instructional

Materials

15. Preparation of manuals, visual aids and other instructional materials for use in vocational courses and schools of
all kinds.
16. Organisation of research centres for testing the
effectiveness of instructional materials and for ensuring that
they are kept up to date.
Improvement of Technical

Organisation

17. Provision for review and, if necessary, revision of
curricula, their content, the duration of each course, standards
for selecting trainees, conditions of training (including measures
to facilitate access to training), and the form of certificate
granted on completion of training.
18. Organisation of technical inspection services to appraise,
with a view to improving, the operation of training programmes
from the standpoint of technical preparation for the trades
and occupations concerned.
Placing Trainees in Suitable

Employment

19. Application by the public employment service or
other appropriate agency of procedures for placing trainees
in the employment for which they have been trained.
20. Arrangements to be made for a systematic follow-up
of trainees by the authority responsible for placing them in
employment, so as to ensure satisfactory job performance and
further assistance as required for this purpose.

CONCLUSIONS

103

INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

Reference has also been made in various parts of this
report to measures of international co-operation that would
reinforce and supplement national efforts to ensure the constant
improvement of vocational training facilities. Such co-operation is one of the main purposes of the Latin American Manpower Field Office set up at Sao Paulo, Brazil, by the I.L.O.
That office brings closer to Latin America the resources which
the I.L.O. can make available to each of its Members, resources
based on the experience acquired throughout the world by
all the other Members. Thus mutual assistance between
States Members of the I.L.O. which are geographically widely
separated is made more readily available, particularly for
Latin American States.
Since the field office is intended to assist Latin American
countries to solve their labour problems within the framework
of their economic development programmes it must also
provide the co-operating link between the I.L.O. and the
Economic Commission for Latin America and the Organization
of American States. It helps to co-ordinate the work that
the I.L.O., E.C.L.A., and O.A.S. are called upon to perform
for their Members with the high purpose of ensuring the
economic prosperity of Latin American countries and increasing
the welfare of their population.
In 1946 the Third Labour Conference of American States
Members of the I.L.O. drew up an important plan for regional
co-operation in vocational training, but no adequate agency
existed to carry out the plan until the field office was set up.
The plan and the suggestions put forward at the Fourth
Conference afford valuable directives for the progressive
development of that co-operation. The following points are
especially worthy of note :
Facilities for Study or Practical Expérience Abroad
21. Conclusion of bilateral or multilateral arrangements or
agreements to enable nationals of one country to obtain
training in another, either in or outside the region. (Such
arrangements or agreements could apply, in an order of
priority determined by national needs, to—

104

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

(a) Government officials responsible for drawing up and
implementing vocational training programmes ;
(b) technical training instructors ;
(c) supervisory staff in industry ;
(d) technicians and highly qualified specialists.)
22. Sending of national missions to study the operation
of vocational training institutions in other countries.
Technical Assistance
23. Direct assistance by the I.L.O. field office to Governments on request in working out the solution of training
problems.
2i. Advisory missions as required for the same purpose.
Regional Co-operation
25. Organisation, for the benefit of all or some countries
in the region, of courses or periods of practical training, e.g.,
for vocational instructors in technical education and Government officials responsible for training programmes, in accordance with the needs and requests of the countries concerned.
26. Co-operation in the exchange of information, instructional materials, documentation, and experience of training
problems.
27. Meetings of experts on particular training problems.

APPENDICES

¿>

APPENDIX I
NOTES ON VARIOUS COUNTRIES
For practical considerations—and particularly to facilitate
the provision of technical assistance to countries wishing
to improve the organisation and operation of their training
establishments, as well as to promote the exchange of information between Latin American countries—it has been decided
to publish the information assembled on each of the countries
which the I.L.O. Mission visited in 1949 at the time of the
enquiry held prior to the opening of a manpower field office
for Latin America. As far as possible, the existing facilities
for vocational training were listed and the relevant problems
analysed according to a uniform plan for all the countries.
The first part of each note deals with the training of
juveniles, the second with the training and retraining of
adult workers and the third with vocational guidance and
employment services.
In some cases it also seemed useful briefly to sketch the
circumstances which led up to the plan of development now
being carried out, when this was likely to clarify the ideas
on which a Government's present policy as to vocational
training is based.
Although this uniform arrangement of the relevant information is somewhat arbitrary, since people differing widely
in age sometimes make use of the same institution, a distinction has been drawn between facilities chiefly provided for
the training of young persons in view of a career and those
provided for the improvement of occupational skill among
adult workers or the retraining of such workers for other
occupations. A distinction has also been drawn between
technical training given at school or under similar arrangements and training acquired in the course of practical work
in an undertaking.

108

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

As to vocational guidance and employment services, there
could be no question of studying these two subjects thoroughly,
but, as they cannot be separated from those which form the
main subject of enquiry, their main features have been briefly
sketched.
Advising young persons, and adults, too, as to the kinds
of training that will suit them best and that is likely to lead
to employment is a very useful step towards successful training. Any general plan for training should therefore normally
provide for vocational guidance. That was the view taken
by the Third Conference of American States Members of the
International Labour Organisation, which in 1946 included
in its resolution on vocational training a paragraph to the
effect that measures should be taken to link vocational
guidance with all forms of vocational training.
Employment service is the last link in the administrative
chain of vocational guidance and training, but its organisation
in Latin American countries is significant in another respect.
There can be no rational basis for training programmes, nor
can trainees be advised to acquire the skills of which there
is a particular shortage, unless the state and the probable
fluctuations of the employment market in the various branches
of a country's economy are clearly perceived. The necessary
information can be made available to the appropriate authorities, provided the public employment service is well enough
organised.
The I.L.O. Mission therefore had to consider
how Latin American countries were placed in this respect.
The information which served as a basis for the general
comments made in the report is of course incomplete, and
its amplification will be one of the duties of the manpower
field office, both for the purposes of that office and for the
benefit of national administrations and other interested circles
in Latin America. On the more important points, data
for the period since 1949 have, however, been added in the
following notes on various countries.
Further material on the points covered in this report will
become available as the result of a questionnaire which the
Organization of American States has sent to all its Members
so as to co-operate with the I.L.O. in preparing a seminar on

APPENDIX I

109

vocational training. At the time of going to press, the results
of this enquiry had not yet been published, but the Pan
American Union had very kindly communicated the replies
it had received to the Office. It has therefore been possible
to include information so obtained in six of the notes in this
Appendix. 1

1
Those for Bolivia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru. Replies
had also been received from five Latin American countries which it was not
possible to cover in the I.L.O. enquiry in 1949, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador,
Haiti, Honduras and Paraguay.

ARGENTINA
A few of the technical institutions in Argentina were founded
in the last century, and the size of some of them (one, for instance,
has more than 3,500 students) shows that a lively interest has been
taken in vocational training for quite a long time. However, in
view of the economic changes that have been taking place during
the last decade and that have made for industrialisation and a
diversification of production, and in view of the Government's
intention to encourage that trend, measures have had to be taken
to increase training facilities so as to obtain the skilled labour
necessary for the economic development of the country.
The most important of these measures substantially increased
the revenue available for financing training facilities : namely, the
institution in 1944 of an Apprenticeship Tax, levied on industrial
undertakings in proportion to their total wage bill. The institutions
financed by means of this tax are concerned not only with the basic
training of young persons employed in industry, but also with the
supplementary training of adult personnel.
The administrative situation in Argentina is at the moment
rather complex, as responsibility for vocational training is shared
between various federal administrations as well as between the
federal and the provincial Governments. Municipal and private
action has also been taken in this field. However, in the last few
years many provincial, municipal and private ventures have been
incorporated into one or another of the federal systems.
TRAINING OP JUVENILES

Technical Training in Schools
Industrial Training.
Administrative organisation.
Administrative responsibility for industrial training is very much
divided. The various administrations which play an important part
in industrial training on a federal scale are the following :
1. The Ministry of Education x bears some responsibility for
vocational training at all stages of instruction. The organisation and
operation of industrial schools and technical courses, as well as of
commercial schools and courses, has for many years been its responsibility in the field of intermediate instruction (enseñanza
media). It also keeps a register of and subsidises private industrial
schools of approved standing. These matters are dealt with in the
Ministry by a general directorate of technical education. The
instruction afforded in the schools administered by the directorate
1
Formerly a " National Secretariat " ; it was raised to the rank of a Ministry
by Act No 13,529 of 1949 (Boletín Informativo, 29 July 1949).

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

111

is carried out on three levels, and is intended partly to train qualified
production workers, and partly to train ungraded technical staff.
In addition, the National Council of Education in this Ministry has
authority, under Decree No. 1,000 of 16 January 1948, to organise
pre-apprenticeship courses in the fifth and sixth grades of elementary
schooling.
The Ministry of Education is also responsible for six national
universities where technical courses in industrial processes are given
on two levels. First, technical courses of university standard are
included in the curricula of the various faculties in all six universities.
Secondly, in three of the universities, there are specialised technical
schools which afford instruction on an intermediate standard more
or less equivalent to that of the industrial schools run by the general
directorate of technical education.
2. The Ministry of Labour and Welfare has been concerned with
vocational training since 1944.1 In Decree No. 14,538 of 3 June 1944,
regulating apprenticeship and the employment
of young persons, a
special body was set up under this Ministry 2, the national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board, composed of the Minister
of Labour and Welfare (chairman) and the Minister of Industry
and Commerce (vice-chairman) ; the Minister of Education and
representatives of employers' and workers' organisations are
members.
The national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board
is responsible for organising training facilities so as to provide the
national economy with the necessary manpower, as well as for
approving and supervising the facilities set up by private undertakings or trade unions. Its activities must be co-ordinated with those
of the governmental, provincial, municipal or private organisations
which seek to organise, promote or stimulate apprenticeship or
vocational guidance.
The board is assisted in its work by the general directorate of
apprenticeship and vocational guidance (an executive body), and
by the four regional offices of the Ministry of Labour and Welfare.
Under the same Decree, the board and the general directorate
are also made responsible for supervising the entry of young persons
into employment and for ensuring that the obligations of employers
as to the vocational training of young persons and their conditions
of employment are fulfilled. These two duties are closely co-ordinated.
The national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board
has a special budget covered in part by the apprenticeship tax, in
part by the proceeds of fines for infringement of the legal provisions
concerning the employment of young persons and in part by donations. The tax is payable by all industrial establishments, except
State establishments, which employ at least five persons, at the rate
of 1 per cent, of the sum total of wages and salaries paid to staff.
The rate is reduced to 0.20 per cent, in cases where the establishment
itself runs apprentice courses approved by the board, or where it
co-operates in courses run by another establishment.
1
Formerly called " National Secretariat of Labour and Welfare " ; it was raised
to the rank of a Ministry in 1949.
2
It was provided by Decree No 1,477 of 26 Jan. 1949 that the National
Apprenticeship and Vocational Guidance Board should be transferred to the
Ministry of Education. However, the decision was not yet in force when this study
was sent to press.

112

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The manpower training system developed during the last five
years under the above-mentioned Decree and of Decrees amending
or supplementing it, has now been defined in Chapter LXXXVI and
LXXXVII of Act No. 12,921, and set out in detail in Decrees STo.
32,412 and No. 21,817 of 1945. The training provided for was first
given to manual workers, but is now being extended to cover all
levels. Technical courses of an intermediate standard are now given
as well as basic training, and advanced courses are being planned
together with a workers' university. Pre-apprenticeship courses are
also organised.
3. Several other Ministries maintain vocational schools which
are primarily intended to provide the personnel for the various
technical services under them. These schools can, on occasion,
provide specialists for industry. The establishments of this type
which most directly concern this report are the training schools of
the Ministry of Public Works.
Institutions of elementary and intermediate standard.
1. Institutions under the Ministry of Education are of various
kinds. Except at the universities the sexes are almost always
segregated for purposes of technical instruction in the schools and
courses of the Ministry.
(a) Training for boys. The general directorate of technical
education of the Ministry of Education maintains three types of
institutions—
(i) Industrial schools. These afford training for a variety of
occupations, the courses being held in the daytime and, frequently,
in the evening. The three successive stages of study are basic training,
intermediate training (called the advanced course) and specialist
training. Some schools provide all three types of training, others
only in the basic or intermediate training.
In 1948 \ the total number of students enrolled in the 124 establishments
of this type was 20,796 (20,691 boys, some courses being
mixed).2 This is an increase over 1944 when the number of students
was 16,439. In 1948, 3,343 teachers were employed. The geographical distribution of these establishments was as follows : 12 in
the federal Capital (of which nine were functioning), 35 (30 functioning) in the province of Buenos Aires, 12 (11 functioning) in the province of Santa Fé, 10 (seven functioning) in the province of Cordoba,
nine in the province of Entre-Bios and between one and five of the
remainder in each of 14 other provinces or territories.
Under the authority of the general directorate of technical
education there are also subsidised private schools registered "by
the directorate. The curricula of these private schools are similar
to those of the national industrial schools. There were 22 such
schools and courses in 1948 with a total enrolment of 2,682 students.
1
Boletín de la Secretaría de Educación de la Nación Argentina, Vol. I, [No. 12,
Dec. 1948, pp. 4713-4755 : Statistical data on numbers of students, divisions and
teachers in the official establishments and in affiliated institutions of intermediate
instruction under the National Secretariat of Education in the scholastic year 1948.
2
18,799 students were enrolled in day courses. Most evening courses were
specialist courses attended by young persons ; only four were courses for adult
workers, in which 425 were enrolled.

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

113

The curriculum in the industrial schools is as follows :
Children over 13 years of age who have passed the sixth grade
are admitted to the basic course, subject to a selective entrance
examination. The course of study lasts four years. During the first
year, all students follow the same programme and are given vocational guidance in the light of its results. One half of the day is
devoted to general education ; during the other half, the students
pass from one to another of the various workshops and laboratories
of the school in order to get an idea of the various trades between
which they will later have to choose ; e.g., mechanics (forging and
fitting), electricity, building (masonry, painting, sanitary installation, carpentry) and industrial chemistry. From the second year
onwards, they specialise in a trade.
The number of trades taught in each school varies : there may
be many or few. Those more frequently taught are industrial metallurgy (fitting, lathe-operating, smelting, and motor mechanics),
electricity (industrial electricity and electrical installation), industrial
chemistry (as applied to leather and food) and building (civil
engineering, hydraulic works, sanitary installation and heating). 1
At both the basic and intermediate stages, the printing trades are
usually taught in special schools. Other specialist schools deal with
refrigeration, leather and aero-mechanics.
During the three years of specialisation, the weekly schedule
usually includes 18 hours of theoretical courses and general education (including technology and drawing) and 20 hours of workshop
practice.
After four years of study the student receives a certificate as
a skilled worker in his trade and may enter employment. Or he may
be allowed to continue at the intermediate stage for three years,
finishing with the degree of " expert " in his chosen trade.
The advanced specialist courses last only one year, and are
sometimes given during the day, but more frequently in the
evening. These studies deal with particular trades such as textile
dyeing, analytical chemistry and industrial chemistry. Some
schools give advanced specialist courses as soon as there are at
least five applicants for a course. The degree conferred at the end
of such study is that of " technician ". Only young persons working
during the day in a given trade are eligible for advanced evening
courses in that trade. Students who have satisfactorily completed
work at the intermediate stage may also go to a university.
The curriculum of each school is approved by the general
directorate of technical education, but, until 1948, the curricula
were drawn up separately for each school. I n accordance with a
resolution dated 3 November 1948, committees, composed of teachers
chosen by the general directorate and specially selected for the
trades concerned, have been set up to study and draw up scientific
curricula for the country's industrial schools.
(ii) Monotechnical missions. This is the name given to elementary
courses organised by the general directorate of technical education
in areas far from urban centres where there are as yet no industrial
schools. They provide elementary vocational training in whatever
1
There is an irregular distribution of students among the trades both during
basic training and in the advanced courses. In all the schools visited, mechanics
was the favourite subject, followed by electricity and chemistry. This creates
problems by overcrowding the machine workshops while leaving gaps elsewhere.

114

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

activity is particularly important for the economy of the region.
In 1948 there were 50 monotechnical missions, of which 39 were
functioning, with a total enrolment of 766 students. They were
established in 21 provinces or territories, seven in La Pampa,
six in Chaco, four in Corrientes, Eio Negro and Santiago del
Estero respectively, and one or two each in the other provinces
or territories.
Monotechnical missions deal mainly with motor mechanics
(21 courses in 1948) and with the building trades (in 1948,18 courses
in carpentry and six in cabinet-making) ; four courses dealt with
rural or quasi-rural activities (two with agricultural mechanics, one
with fruit growing, one with cooperage) and the last with ceramics.
Adults are admitted to these courses as well as young persons and
children of school age. The length of the courses depends on the
circumstances.
(iii) Telecommunications courses. These courses were inaugurated in 1943 by the general directorate of technical education
in collaboration with the general directorate of post and telecommunications, which provides the necessary material. By 1948,
15 such courses had been organised, 14 of which were functioning
with an enrolment of 782 students, all male. These courses are
not run by separate institutions but are usually attached either to
technical schools or to general colleges. Since they are given in the
evening, both adults and young persons may attend them.
Under the regulations of 13 December 1943, dealing with these
courses, the minimum admission age is set at 15 years, subject
to the prospective entrant's having completed tue sixth grade of
elementary school. The full course lasts three years with 12 hours
study per week for radio-operators, or 15 hours per week for leading
radio-operators. In some schools there is a fourth optional year
for training electricians in telecommunications and chief radiooperators (radiooperadores mayores).
(iv) Courses for training ungraded technical staff. These courses,
which are attached to some of the national universities, are at about
the same level as those given in the industrial schools. There is,
for instance, a vocational school (with an enrolment of 322, in
1948) in the faculty of exact sciences of the university of Córdoba.
Admission to this school is subject to the successful completion
of two years of secondary schooling. Over a course of four years,
the school trains building technicians, mechanics technicians, electrical technicians and road construction technicians. There are two
specialist schools attached to the Faculty of Exact Sciences of the
national university of Tucumán. These are, first, a mining
school of intermediate standard open to young persons having
received a certificate of completion of the sixth grade of elementary
school (65 students in 1948) ; this school trains mining technicians
over a period of six years ; secondly, an industrial school with the
same entrance conditions training building technicians, also over
a six-year period (199 students in 1948).
(b) Training for girls. Apart from the few courses which are
open to girls in the boys' industrial schools (particularly in those
dealing with rural industries), the general directorate of technical
education maintains special schools for the vocational training of
girls. In 1948 there were 45 such schools of which 42 were functioning ; eight were in the federal Capital, 12 in the province of Buenos

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

115

Aires, three in the province of Santa Fé, the others being distributed
among 16 other provinces or territories. There were 9,021 students
enrolled and 981 teachers. All these schools taught sewing and
dressmaking, including cutting. The other subjects most frequently taught were linenwork, hand and machine embroidery, hand
weaving, shirt making, fashion designing and the making of artificial
flowers. Some schools offered a wider range of courses including
bookbinding, toy making, interior decoration and other artistic
occupations (two), radio and electricity (two), ceramics (one), furdressing (one) and glove making (one).
Girls' vocational schools also fairly frequently offer typewriting
and shorthand courses although most national commercial schools
with fuller curricula are open to students of both sexes or offer
special courses for girls. *
Courses in domestic science (cooking, ironing and mending)
and in general education complete the study programme of specialist
students.
The curricula in girls' vocational schools are shorter than those
in the boys' schools and allow of more variation between one school
and another. The total duration of courses is also shorter, varying
according to the trade chosen. For instance, in one school visited
by the Mission, the dressmaking course lasted four years, that in
linenwork three years and that in machine embroidery two years.
In addition to the official schools, there are also registered private
institutions subsidised by the general directorate ; in 1948 there
were 94 of these with an enrolment of 2,529.
2. The national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board
controlled 119 establishments in the spring of 1949. a Of these,
19 were in the federal Capital, 22 in the province of Buenos Aires,
27 in the province of Tucumán, 10 in the province of Santa Fé,
seven in the province of Entre Eios, five each in the provinces of
Córdoba, Corrientes and Mendoza ; the remaining 12 were distributed through seven other provinces or territories, including
one in Tierra del Fuego.
Both day and night courses of several types were given in
many of these establishments.
A distinction should be made among the vocational courses
offered by the board's establishments between those providing
basic training for future skilled or specialised workers, those intended
to serve as a basis for vocational guidance and those supplementing
basic training.
(a) Basic training. This training is given in schools of three
types, which had a total enrolment in April 1949 of 11,649 students.
(i) Factory schools, of which there were 18 in April 1949, are
intended for young persons who, having flnished elementary schools
are not immediately entering employment. They are schools
training skilled or specialised workers under a combined programme,
of scholastic and production work. Children of 14 years of age who
have completed the sixth grade, or who have passed an equivalent
examination, may be admitted. Studies last three years ; during
the first year, all metallurgical and electrical students follow the
1

See p. 124.
Data kindly provided by the general directorate of apprenticeship and
vocational guidance.
2

116

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

same curriculum. Specialised study is carried out during the second
and third years in industrial electricity, general mechanics, motor
mechanics, welding and any other trades which can be taught in
the schools. The graphic arts and textile processes are taught
separately, usually in special schools.
Work in all basic training courses is divided into periods of
20 hours of theory per week, including technology, drawing and
general education, and 24 hours per week of practical workshop
activity ; this workshop practice takes place under conditions
similar to those obtaining in commercial production. The products
of the school workshops are used by the public services, and
particularly by those concerned with social assistance.
(ii) Apprentice schools, of which there were 27 in April 1949,
are intended for children of the same age and follow the same general
programme, except that the workshop practice takes the form of
didactic exercises rather than production.
(iii) Half-time schools, of which there were 24 in April 1949,
are intended for young persons from 14 to 16 years of age who are
already employed in industry but receive no theoretical instruction
in addition to their practical apprenticeship from the undertakings
in which they work. In these schools, also, the course lasts three
years. The required attendance of 24 hours per week may be divided
into six daily periods of four hours each, alternating this instruction
with practical work in the undertaking ; or three complete days of
schoolwork may be alternated with three days of practical work, if
the employer finds such an arrangement more satisfactory.
Since practice is in any case acquired in the workshop, the
curriculum of schools of this type includes only technological theory
and drawing besides subjects of general education. As schoolwork
and practical apprenticeship must be combined in the vocational
training of every young person, he should attend courses in vocational schools which correspond to the trade in which he is employed.
(b) Supplementary vocational instruction. There are various
categories of such instruction. In the first place, according to the
legislation governing the employment of young persons, the general
directorate of apprenticeship and vocational guidance runs continuation courses for young persons of from 16 to 18 years of age
who are in employment but not under articles of apprenticeship.
Young workers in this category must attend such courses for at
least 10 hours per week during one, two or three years according
to the trade in which they are engaged. Courses of the same sort,
or the same courses, are also given as continuation courses for
adult workers, as will be explained below.
The total enrolment in continuation courses in April 1949 was
18,217 persons (13,091 male and 5,126 female). It is impossible to
distinguish in these figures between young persons and adults.
The national apprenticeship board has also organised some
84 courses to follow initial training in various establishments throughout the country. A total of 887 students were enrolled in courses
of this kind in April 1949.
(e) Special courses. To allow for special situations, the law
provides that the board may also maintain technical educational
institutions with complete responsibility for their own students.
There are, first, boarding schools, which are similar to factory
schools or apprentice schools from the point of view of the training

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

117

afforded, but which board homeless children or children from rural
areas who cannot attend industrial schools while living at home.
Secondly, there are homes for maladjusted or mentally defective
young persons requiring special schooling or reformative care as
well as vocational training. Precise statistical data have not been
obtainable, but it would seem that there is at present only a restricted
number of such institutions.
(a) Instruction for girls. Some apprentice or half-time schools,
particularly those dealing with the textile industry, are co-educational. The board maintains vocational schools for girls, training
them in such subjects of particular interest to women as dressmaking, linen work, shirt making, fashion designing, embroidery,
toy making and industrial secretarial work. There were 11 such
schools in 1949, of which three were in the federal Capital, and five
in the province of Buenos Aires. 1 These schools either run day
courses of three hours a day five times per week (five hours of theory
and 10 hours of workshop practice), or evening courses of two hours
a day five times per week (three hours of theory and seven hours
of practical work).
3. Establishments under the Ministry of Public Works. The
national directorate of ports and shipping in the Ministry of
Public Works has organised apprentice courses since 1943 for training
its own technical personnel in five separate establishments. These
establishments are situated in Buenos Aires (Central Arsenal),
Eosario, Parana, Concepción del Uruguay and Corrientes.
Training lasts four years, the first year curriculum being the
same for all sections. The principal trades taught are those of
fitter, turner, welder, mechanic, toolmaker, ironsmith, tinsmith,
joiner-carpenter, electrician, radio-telegraphist and instrument
operator. Navigation courses for deck crews and technical crews
are run by the port authority. Courses for storemen and draughtsmen are also envisaged. Those graduating in 1948 belonged to
20 different trades.
In 1945, 720 students were enrolled in the five schools, and 195
students finished their studies. In 1948 there were 1,633 students
enrolled, 700 new students and 127 graduates. In 1949 the enrolment was 1,581. Over the last three years, the statistics of students
finishing their studies show a very irregular distribution among the
trades. For instance, there was only one smelter in 1947 and two in
1948, as compared with 28, 29, and 22 fitters in 1946, 1947 and
1948 respectively.
When they have finished their studies, apprentices go straight
into the workshops and ships of the Ministry of Public Works in a
professional capacity corresponding to the trade they bave studied.
The teaching staff is drawn from the best technical and administrative personnel of the bodies concerned.2
4. Standardisation of industrial study. Standardisation within
each technical education system is now taking place ; but, so far,
no attempt seems to have been made to achieve a standard common
to all the different systems, although these systems usually train
1
Continuation courses for adult women are not included here, but will be
discussed later.
2
Information kindly provided by the apprenticeship division of the Ministry
of Public Works, 20 Apr. 1949.

118

VOCATIONAL TBAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

workers and technicians in similar trades, such as those of fitters,
casters, turners, mechanics, electricians, etc.
The national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board has
already drawn up and published an extensive list of curricula
and teaching manuals dealing mainly with the general education
programmes in the various categories of schools, the mathematics
curricula on the elementary level, the technology of tools and
machines, industrial and mechanical drawing, etc.
The public works schools also follow a fairly detailed programme
common to all five schools, which, however, has not yet been
published.
The general directorate of technical education is also trying
to standardise curricula, which were originally prepared separately
for each school. In accordance with a resolution of 3 November
1948, committees of teachers, appointed by the general directorate
with regard to the trades concerned, have been organised to study
and draw up composite curricula for the nation's industrial schools.
University

standard.

Entrance to institutions of this standard is open to all persons
with a matriculation certificate, regardless of sex but subjeet to
their passing an entrance examination.
However, students in
national industrial schools who follow an approved course of study
equivalent to the general secondary standard are usually exempted
from matriculation if seeking admission to university courses preparing them for industrial careers. The six national universities
offer many such courses. 1
In the national university of Buenos Aires, the faculty of exact
sciences (with 4,123 enrolled students in 1948) prepares students
in six years for the degrees of civil engineer, industrial engineer,
naval engineer and marine engineer ; in five years (with extra time
for the thesis) for doctorates in chemistry, physical sciences or
mathematics, and for degrees as telecommunications engineers or
electrical engineers ; and in three years as geologists or surveyors.
The same faculty also offers shorter specialist courses for those
who have already obtained one of the above degrees. I n one year,
these courses train petroleum engineers, doctors of chemistry specialising in extraction and industrial processing of petroleum, and
other specialised engineers.
The faculty of architecture and town planning in the same
university has a three-year course for architects. There was an
enrolment of 664 students in this faculty in 1948.
At the national university of La Plata, the faculty of exact
sciences (3,769 students in 1948) has a six-year course for civil
engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers, hydraulics engineers
and telecommunications engineers ; a five-year course for doctors
of physical sciences and of mathematics and a three-year course
for surveyors.
The faculty of pharmacology and chemistry
(1,377 students in 1948) bas a five-year course for chemists. The
advanced institute of the university observatory (which had 44
students in the same year) has a six-year course for geophysicists.
1
Cf. Boletín de la Secretaria de Educación de la Nación Argentina, Vol. I, No. 11,
Nov. 1948, pp. 4,289-4,311 ; and Ministry of Education, Vocational Guidance
Office : Gháa de Estvdios Universitarios, Buenos Aires, 1949.

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

119

At the national university of Litoral, the faculty of mathematics,
physics, chemistry and natural sciences in industry (1,224 students
in 1948) has a six-year course for civil engineers, a five-year course
for architects and a three-year one for geologists. The faculty of
industrial and agricultural chemistry has a six-year course for
chemical engineers.
The faculty of exact sciences (1,380 students in 1948) at the
national university of Córdoba bas a six-year course for civil engineers, electrical and mechanical engineers, aeronautical mechanics,
engineers and architects, a four-year course for geographical engineers
and a three-year one for surveyors.
At the national university of Tucumán, the faculty of exact
sciences and technology has a six-year course for civil engineers and
architects, a four-year course for bachelors of physics or chemistry
and a two-year post-graduate course for doctors of science following
one of the two latter degrees.
At the national university of Cuyo, the faculty of exact sciences
(San Juan) trains civil engineers, road and communications engineers,
hydraulics engineers and mining engineers in six years ; fuel engineers,
geographical and geological engineers in five years, and surveyors in
three years.
The southern technological institute, with similar entrance
regulations, trains industrial engineers in six years and industrial
chemists in five years, or six years for a doctorate.
Agricultural

Training.

There is also some division of administrative responsibility as
regards agricultural training, although it is less acute in this field
than in that of industrial training.
On the national scale the Ministry of Agriculture bears the main
responsibility for this training. Under the general directorate of
agricultural education and development there are two other
directorates. The first of these is the directorate of agricultural
schools, administering and controlling such schools, where skilled
workers and agricultural technical staff are trained. The second is
the directorate of extension services, responsible for disseminating
information on new methods of cultivation and breeding for
improving rural production.
The Ministry of Education is responsible for agricultural training
on the lowest and highest levels. On the lowest, it is responsible for
teaching basic agricultural principles in the fifth and sixth grades of
rural elementary schools. On the highest level, it is responsible
for the training of agronomists, veterinary surgeons and other
experts in rural science in the national universities.
In addition, the Governments of some provinces have organised
agricultural or stock-rearing schools ; there are two such schools in
each of the provinces of Buenos Aires and Entre Bios.
The training facilities administered by the federal authorities are
as follows :
Elementary

standard.

Elementary agricultural instruction is given in rural schools.
The Argentine authorities acknowledge t h a t this type of instruction
is not, at the moment, being given in an entirely satisfactory manner

120

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

throughout the country. The Government is striving to improve the
agricultural training of the staff of rural elementary schools. Temporary vacation courses of a month's duration are organised for
this purpose in certain agricultural schools for the teachers of the
area. In 1946, for instance, four agricultural schools had organised
such courses in which 177 rural teachers were enrolled. Since these
summer courses are not organised as boarding schools, attendance
depends on the means of communication between the schools and
the neighbouring villages.
I n order to increase the attainments of elementary school
mistresses in matters of rural domestic economy, the Argentine
Government hopes, in a few years, to have a body of instructressesdrawn from students who have completed their studies at t h e
Advanced Agricultural Home Institute, founded in 1948 in Bolivar,
province of Buenos Aires.
Intermediate

standard.

Instruction on this level is given in the schools administered by
the general directorate of agricultural education and development
under the Ministry of Agriculture, and in the private schools under
its control.
There are two categories of official schools : practical and
advanced.
The practical schools 1 are intended to train skilled farmers who
will later tend their own lands. There are four such schools with a
three-year syllabus, two with a two-year syllabus and one with a
one-year syllabus. The students, who are all boys, must be between
15 and 19 years of age, and must have completed their elementary
education or pass an entrance examination of equivalent standard.
Preference is given to farmers' sons in a ratio of 15 out of every 25
students. Most of the schools are boarding schools, but there are also
two day schools.
The curriculum is primarily practical, and theoretical instruction
should, according to the regulations, be restricted to scientific
explanations of the practical work while that work is being performed.
All instruction is given on the job.
The general instruction should cover the basic principles of
agriculture, nursery-gardening, horticulture, and stock-rearing a»
well as those of such rural industries as dairy-farming, poultryfarming, bee-keeping, raising rabbits for food and fur, the pigproducts industry, canning and marketing fruits and vegetables,.
etc. Some supplementary courses in general education are also
given.
I n addition, each school specialises in some particular subject.
The four schools with a three-year syllabus award the following
diplomas : the school at Bell-ville (Córdoba) awards a certificate
of practical competency in agriculture and stock-rearing ; the school
at Tandil, in dairy-farming, agriculture and stock-rearing ; the school
at Olavarria, in rural industries, and that at Colon, in poultryfarming. The practical schools giving two-year courses are a
1
Ministerio de Agricultura de la Nación. Dirección general de Enseñanza y
Fomento Agricola, Escuelas prácticas de agricultura, Publicación miscelánea
n° 294, Buenos Aires, 1948, and Reglamento general de Jas escuelas de agricultura.

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

121

gardening school at Zavalla (province of Buenos Aires) and a
school at Quines (province of Santa Fé) offering specialist courses
in fruit farming and horticulture or in rural industries.
There is yet another school of a special type which should be
included in this group of practical schools ; that is the school of
agricultural mechanics at Miramar (P.C.G.E.) which was inaugurated
in May 1948. By a decision of the Ministry of Agriculture of 30 April
1948, entrance to this school is open to boys of 16 years of age subject only to their having completed the fourth grade in elementary
school. The object of this decision is to allow a large number of
entrants. As before, preference is given to farmers' sons.
The aim of this school is to train boys to operate and maintain
agricultural machinery. The course lasts 12 months with 44 hours
per week, of which 20 hours are devoted to training in the use of
machinery, 10 hours to maintenance and workshops repair, nine
to the basic principles of agriculture and five to supplementary
courses or physical training. On completion
of the studies, a
certificate of " rural mechanic " is awarded.1
In 1948 there was a total enrolment of 123 students in practical
schools with a three-year syllabus, and 34 graduates ; a total of
794 boys had been trained in these schools from the time of their
inception up to 1948. In the two schools with a two-year syllabus,
there was an enrolment of 47 students in the same year ; while the
school of agricultural mechanics had 38 students, but no graduates
as yet. To the total of 794 graduates of the official schools actually
in operation at the moment, should be added the 684 and 569 graduates respectively of three agricultural schools and one school of
oenology which are now closed or put to another use, as well as
the 47 rural economy teachers who completed a course which is
now suppressed. The sum total of graduates of official agricultural
schools since their inception is thus 1,525.
Moreover, there are several private institutions subsidised by
the Ministry of Agriculture which have the same standard as the
practical schools or, in some cases, even a higher standard.
Four Salesian schools give three-year courses for estate stewards,
followed by one year of probation work. Another Salesian school
specialises in the training of vine and olive growing experts, and
gives a four-year course followed by six months of probation work.
The institute of Lujon awards a diploma of " agricultural technician " after four years of study and one year of probation work, and certificates of practical competency in fruit-farming and poultry-farming.
The Argentine bee-keepers' society awards a diploma of " beekeeping expert " after one year's study.
Lastly, the domestic science school at Moron awards diploma
of teacher in rural home economics after three years' study.
There are no figures dealing with the enrolment in these subsidised
schools during 1948 ; however, in 1946, there were 481 students
enrolled in subsidised agricultural schools, a slightly higher total
than the 450 students !in the official schools during the same year.2
1
Ministerio de Agricultura de la Nación. Dirección General de Enseñanza y
Fomento agricola, Fundación mecánico-agrícola " Irene Martinez de Hos de Campos"
Miramar, Finalidad-Régimen Sistema de Enseñanza — Plan de estudios —
Programas y condiciones de ingreso (Buenos-Aires, 1948).
2
ídem : Anales de la Dirección General de Enseñanza y Fomento agricola.
Dec.,,1946, p. 61.

122

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Some courses of elementary or secondary standard are given
at the national universities. The faculty of agronomy in the university of Buenos Aires offers a course in flower-growing and gardening for students aged between 14 and 17 years who have only
completed their elementary education. After three years of study
and six months of probation work, a certificate of " flower-grower
and gardener " is awarded. There is a general agricultural school
at Santa Catalina, in the University of Litoral, for young persons
over 16 years of age who have completed the sixth grade of elementary school, training them as " rural technicians " after four years'
study. This school had 71 students in 1948. There is also a school
of agriculture and sugar production in the national university
of Tucumán which trains ungraded technical staff (624 students
in 1948).
Advanced standard

(non-university).

The general directorate of agricultural education and development administers four boys' schools and one girls' school in this
category. Three of the boys' schools are more or less similar in that
the rather general agricultural education given embraces agriculture,
stock-rearing, dairy-farming, fruit-farming, poultry-farming, beekeeping, gardening, etc., and leads to an agricultural diploma.
The syllabus is divided into two courses : first, a basic course (ciclo
básico) lasting three years and having the same curriculum as the
practical schools ; and secondly, a " professional course ", also
lasting three years but with a more thorough and more technical
curriculum. One of these schools will from now on be restricted to
the advanced course only and will be open to students leaving the
various practical agricultural schools.
The so-called professional course is also open to students who
have finished the third grade in secondary schools. Preference is
given to farmers' sons as in the practical schools. These schools, too,
are primarily boarding schools but they also take in some day
students. As is the case with the practical schools, the board will
in future be free.
A certain number of vacancies in these schools are kept open for
students from other Latin American countries. In one of the schools
visited by the Mission, some 20 places were filled by students of
other Latin American countries, out of a total of approximately
140 students ; the majority held scholarships from their own
Governments.
There were 383 students in the advanced boys' agricultural
schools in 1948, and 49 students received their diplomas in the same
year ; 1,649 students have been trained since these schools were
founded.
The only school for girls in this group is the advanced agricultural home institute (Bolivar). After an interval of some thirty
years, this school has taken up the work done between 1915 and
1918 by the advanced agricultural home school at Tandil, which
had to close for lack of financial support. This Institute is open
to girls or young women who have already obtained their degree as
schoolteachers or who have matriculated. The purpose of the school
is to train teachers of rural home economics or of rural industries,
who will then give either temporary courses for rural housewives,
or short courses for rural schoolmistresses. Former students may

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

123

also qualify as rural social workers and teach principles of home
economics to farmers' families. The school programme, which lasts
one year, covers the principles of agriculture generally, milk processing, poultry-farming, bee-keeping, silkworm-breeding, rabbit and
pig breeding, methods of preserving and processing fruits, vegetables
and meat, cookery and dietetics, rural home economics and handicrafts. The diploma awarded on the completion of study is that of
" agricultural home teacher ". The school trained 29 students
during its first year, 1948. There are provisions for admitting
foreign students.
University

standard.1

Five national universities offer courses in the agricultural sciences.
The faculty of agronomy and veterinary science (1,000 students
in 1948) of the national university of Buenos Aires trains agronomists and veterinary surgeons in five years. Both matriculation
and an entrance examination are required for admission.
The faculty of agronomy (308 students in 1948) in the national
university of La Plata trains agronomists in four years. Although
matriculation is required as a rule for entrance, the requirement
may be waived for former students of the industrial schools and of
two of the agricultural schools. In the same university, the faculty
of veterinary surgery trains doctors of veterinary surgery in four
years. Matriculation is required of all entrants except those holding
diplomas from certain schools, not, however, from agricultural schools.
In the national university of Litoral, the faculty of agriculture,
stockbreeding and related industries, trains agricultural experts and
doctors of veterinary surgery. There were 174 students in this faculty
in 1948. I t is open to students holding diplomas from the national
agricultural schools, subject to their passing an entrance examination which, in this instance, takes the place of matriculation.
The faculty of biological sciences in the national university of
Tucumán trains bachelors of science (sugar) and bachelors of agronomy. For admission, the fact of being a former student of one of
the national industrial schools or of certain agricultural schools is
considered equivalent to matriculation.
The faculty of agrarian science in the national university of
Cuyo (Mendoza) trains agronomists in five years, with a threemonths preparatory course and a written examination. For admission purposes, " technicians " from industrial schools and former
students of the three advanced agricultural schools are exempted
from matriculation.
Commercial and Administrative

Training.

A large number of the schools and courses preparing students
for commercial or administrative work are private. However, the
public authorities have already set up a number of schools answering
the need for trained commercial and administrative personnel at
the various levels of technical work.
1
Ministerio de Educación, Dirección de informaciones, biblioteca y estadística,
Guía de Estudios Universitarios, Buenos Aires, 1949.
Boletín de la Secretaría de Educación de la Nación Argentina, Vol. I., No. 11,
Nov. 1948, pp. 4,289-4,311.

124

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Elementary and intermediate standard.
There is, under the Ministry of Education, a series of national
commercial schools of these standards attached to various types of
institutions, and particularly to the national colleges and teachers
training colleges. Altogether, 71 commercial training institutions
under the Secretariat were in operation in 1948, training a total of
21,884 students (13,433 boys and 8,451 girls) and 4,107 teachers.
Twelve of these were in the federal Capital, 17 in the province of
Buenos Aires, eight in the province of Santa Fé, six in the province
of Entre Bios, and the remaining 28 in 12 other provinces or
territories.
Three of the above-mentioned schools also give continuation
courses of a more advanced standard to 67 students (29 boys, 38 girls)
under 48 teachers. On completion of the full course, the trainee
is awarded a diploma of " commercial expert " (perito comercial) ;
after a shorter course, he receives the title of " commercial assistant "
(auxilio comercial).
In the cities of La Plata, Santa Fé and Tucumán, the Ministry
also runs advanced courses preparing students for careers as
" national accountants " (contador nacional).
Forty-four teachers
of these courses taught 353 students in 1948 (287 boys, 66 girls).
Most of the commercial courses under the Ministry of Education
are co-educational, however; 11 of these are restricted to male
students and six to girls. The Ministry also controls 136 approved
private commercial training institutions, which had, in 1948, 10,219
students (4,807 boys, 5,412 girls) and 2,102 teachers. Only 20 of
these private courses are co-educational, about half of the remainder
being for male and the other half for female students.
The national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board has
introduced commercial training courses into most of its vocational
training schools for girls.
University

standard.

The national universities give courses training students as
economists or for specific commercial or administrative careers.
The national university of Buenos Aires has a faculty of economics which prepares students in five years for a doctorate in
economics or for an actuary's degree, and in four years for the degree
of " national chartered accountant " (contador público nacional).
The diploma of " commercial expert " (perito mercantil) qualifies
students to attend these courses.
The faculty of law and social sciences in the national university
of La Plata trains chartered accountants in four years, the course
being open to graduates of commercial schools. The degree of doctor
of economics may be obtained by chartered accountants who take an
examination in six subjects and submit a thesis. The faculty of
humanities and education is also open to graduates of commercial
schools, preparing them in four years to teach economics at the
intermediate standard.
The faculty of economic, political and commercial sciences at
the national university of Litoral offers a five-year course preparing students for a doctorate in economics ; Only former students
of one of the commercial schools who have finished at least five
years of study are admitted. The faculty also offers a three-year

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

125

course training chartered accountants, qualified assessors and statisticians. An advanced commercial school attached to the same
faculty admits graduates of commercial schools of intermediate
level.
The faculty of economics in the national university of Córdoba
offers a five-year course preparing students for the degree of " national
chartered accountant " ; graduates of the national commercial
schools are admitted. The degree of doctor of economics may be
awarded to chartered accountants after one further year of study and
the presentation of a thesis.
In the national university of Tucumá.n, the faculty of culture and
arts offers four-year courses preparing students either for a bachelor
degree in economics or for a diploma of chartered accountant ; only
graduates of commercial schools are admitted.
The faculty of economic sciences in the national university of
Cuyo prepares students in four years for the degrees of " national
chartered accountant " and " qualified assessor ". Entrance is open
to graduates of national commercial schools and of other national
schools providing equivalent instruction. A doctorate in economics
may be obtained after one further year of study.
Aid for Technical

Study.

Elementary and intermediate

study.

Tuition is free in the vocational schools of the various official
educational bodies mentioned in this report. However, very moderate registration fees are imposed in the schools under the authority
of the Ministry of Education, and moderate examination fees are
payable in advanced technical courses.
Thus it will be seen that the main problem is that of supporting
young persons while they are actually studying. Several measures
have been taken in regard to this problem.
In both the advanced and the practical agricultural boarding
schools, aid is given in the form of a maintenance allowance. Up to
1949, approximately half the students received such assistance
because of their restricted means ; in 1946, for instance, 220 of the
456 students enrolled in these schools received grants. New regulations passed in 1949 provide for grants to be made to all students in
agricultural schools, and for free issues of all instruments and
working clothes. In addition, the students will receive a sum of
money for each day of practical work, the sum being determined in
proportion to the marks received ; a monthly bonus is also paid on
the same basis. Students with high marks may thus receive a daily
allowance of as much as 60 centavos during the first year, 80 centavos
in the second year and 1 peso in the third. Monthly bonuses may
attain 10 pesos in the first year, 15 pesos in the second year and 20
pesos in the third. Ten per cent, of the allowance must be paid into
a savings bank, and the student receives the accumulated deposit
on leaving school.
The aid scheme for industrial schools varies according to the
administrative body under which the schools fall.
In schools coming under the general directorate of technical
education of the Ministry of Education, 70 per cent, of the profits
derived from the sale of school products goes to the students, while
the remaining 30 per cent, is used for improving the school equip9

126

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

ment. This scheme was first applied in girls' schools under Decree
No. 37,471 of 28 November 1947, but a year later it was extended
to all institutions under the general directorate of technical education.1 Many of the industrial schools run by the Ministry have
school canteens providing meals free of charge or at moderate prices.
Financial aid for students in schools set up by the national
apprenticeship and vocational guidance board differs according
to the type of school. In factory schools and apprentice schools,
where the young person works full-time on a mixed programme of
instruction and production, students receive a small grant called a
" grant in aid for students ". In 1949 this grant amounted to
25 pesos per month for first-year students, 35 pesos for second-year
students and 45 pesos for third-year students. In addition, students
are given free meals in the school canteens.
Apprentice students in the half-time schools are paid as apprentices by their employers in accordance with the standards drawn
up in Decree No. 32,412 of 17 December 1945 ; that is to say that
they earn at least one-third of the normal salary of an unskilled
worker during the first year of apprenticeship, and 50 per cent.
of that salary during the second year. Nevertheless, grants in aid
are also allotted to pupils of the half-time schools, although these
grants are lower than those allotted to students in factory and
apprentice schools. In 1949, for instance, a uniform grant of 20 pesos
per month was made, regardless of what year the students might
be in.
In 1949 students in the schools of the Ministry of Public Works
received three pesos daily in the first year, four pesos in the second
year, five pesos in the third year and six pesos in the fourth, in order
to help cover the cost of their upkeep, and possibly their family
responsibilities. Two of the schools have canteens, and medical and
dental services are being installed.
Advanced study within the country, and study abroad.
Article 46 of Decree 14,538 of 3 June 1944, dealing with apprenticeship, provides that graduates of apprenticeship courses or technical schools who have shown exceptional abüity, may receive
scholarships to national or foreign technical schools. The purpose
of these scholarships is to introduce or develop trades or investigations which do not exist at all within the country or else have not
yet reached the necessary standard.
The Ministry of Education also grants some scholarships for
study abroad. The Ministry decided in 1949 to set up an Argentine
house in the university city of Paris university.
Officials authorised to acquire practical experience abroad in
order to improve their technical training receive substantial increases
in salary.
In-Plant Training
Argentine legislation regulates the in-plant training and training
related to employment in an undertaking for all employees under
18 years of age. But the obligation to provide training varies according to whether the young person is an apprentice or an assistant
worker.
1
Decree No. 34,278 of 4 November 1948. Boletín de la Secretaria de Educación
de la Nación Argentina, No. 10, Oct. 1948, p. 3,895, and No. 11, Nov. 1948, p. 4,349.

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

127

Apprenticeship.
Decree No. 14,538 of 3 June 1944, regulating apprenticeship and
the employment of young persons, as modified by Decree No. 6,648
of 24 March 1945, defines apprenticeship as any system of employment organised in such a manner as to guarantee the effective
instruction of the young person in a trade or occupation specified
in advance, the work being methodically arranged in accordance
with the development of the technical processes in that trade or
occupation, and the work performed being supplemented in the
apprenticeship courses by theoretical instruction.
The law leaves the employer free to choose any one of three ways
of providing theoretical instruction for his apprentices. First, he
may himself provide instruction on his own premises ; secondly, he
may organise courses in co-operation with other undertakings ;
and, thirdly, he may pay the full apprenticeship tax to the State,
and send his apprentices to the schools1 of the national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board. The curricula of schools
or courses organised by employers or employers' associations must
be submitted to the board for approval. The curricula1 of the schools
run by the board have already been outlined above.
Employers are forbidden to employ apprentices under 16 years
of age for more than four hours a day or 24 hours a week ; subject
to special permission being obtained, however, the duration of the
employment may be extended to six hours a day or 36 hours a week.
Thus, half the day or a quarter is available for theoretical instruction
or for training in workshop methods ; such training is compulsory
where the factory work performed by the young person is
fragmentary or highly specialised.
It should be noted that, under Argentine legislation, that type
of training known as " apprenticeship " may be understood to
apply either to complete or to partial instruction in a trade ; that
is, it may serve to train fully-skilled workers or specialised workers.
The work undertaken during apprenticeship may bear either on
industrial processes or on handicrafts. The certificate of competency
awarded at the end of the apprenticeship period should show the
subjects studied, the practical experience acquired and the trade
of each apprentice.
A special branch of the national apprenticeship and vocational
guidance board, known as the register of young persons, must
authorise and register the passing of every young worker into
apprenticeship or employment.
Before registration, thorough
physical and psychotechnical tests are made of every young person,
and the terms of his apprenticeship or employment are looked into
with care.2 After examination, every apprentice or young worker
receives an apprenticeship or employment work-book, which must
be countersigned yearly and on every change of employment.
The regulations on apprenticeship contain provisions for developing apprenticeship relatively to the needs of the general economy,
and for preventing the excessive use of young workers instead of
adult workers. For the first of these two purposes, the law requires
the national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board, after
consultation with a joint committee, to fix the number of apprentices
to be trained in the undertakings of each industry in proportion
l
a

See p. 115.
See pp. 132-133.

128

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

to their total personnel. In order to avoid the excessive employment
of young workers, the law fixes the maximum proportion of young
persons under 18 years of age that any undertaking may employ
at 30 per cent, of the first 20 workers, and at 10 per cent, of
the remaining personnel.
Education of Assistant

Workers.

Young assistant workers under 16 years of age, must, as apprentices do, devote half their normal working day to their education,
at the rate of either four hours a day or 24 hours a week. Such
education, however, may be general, entailing attendance at elementary school if they have not finished their elementary education, or
it may be vocational if they bave already obtained their sixth
grade certificate. Young persons over 16 years of age may work
eight hours a day or 24 hours a week, and the employer is no longer
obliged to allow them free time during working hours for instruction
in theory ; he must, however, ensure that his young workers do
receive such supplementary education outside their working time.
I n conformity with a syllabus laid down by law, courses providing
this supplementary education must be given in the factories, on the
premises of employers' or workers' associations, or in the schools
of the national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board.
Failure on the part of a young person to attend these courses regularly
may result in his work permit being withdrawn. Supplementary
education is compulsory until the age of 18, except in the case
of those young persons who have completed either a full apprenticeship course or a full course in a vocational school.
Practical Experience in Factories.
Two provisions in Argentine legislation make for a wider use
of the facilities for vocational training which are available in productive undertakings. The first, embodied in Article 54 of Decree
No. 14,538, provides that the general directorate of apprenticeship
and vocational guidance shall take steps to obtain the necessary
permission from persons carrying on industries and from official
institutions which have workshops, to enable former students of the
technical and practical schools of the Ministry of Education to
perform periods of practical work in their respective trades. Further,
a special Decree (No. 10,292 of 9 April 1948) has been promulgated
under the terms of which the national apprenticeship and vocational
guidance board and the national directorate of state industries
are to co-operate in the use of the latter's establishments for purposes
of apprenticeship.
TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Facilities for Training and Upgrading
Industry.
Several public bodies organise training facilities for adult workers.
Article 15 of Act No. 12,921, dealing with apprenticeship, provides
that the general directorate of apprenticeship and vocational
guidance shall organise courses for adult workers who wish to improve

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

129

their general education or their knowledge of technical matters
or handicrafts, according to the requests made to the directorate.
I n April 1949, there were evening courses, the so-called " workers'
training courses " (capacitación obrera), in 64 vocational training
institutions run by the general directorate. Six of these, dealing
largely with the textile and electrical industries, were co-educational.
The remaining 58 were for male workers only.
There were 10 workers' training courses in the federal Capital
and 20 in the province of Buenos Aires ; 13 other provinces or
territories also had such courses, the province of Tucuman having
no fewer than 27.
As with day classes for young persons, so evening classes for
adult workers may include a basic stage, on completion of which
the worker receives a certificate of ability in the trade he has studied,
and a so-called technical stage leading to a diploma as " factory
technician ". Under the terms of Act. ÏTo. 13,229 of 1948, admission to evening continuation classes is open to workers holding a
certificate of ability awarded at the end of the technical stage,
after taking a special course for adults, and also to those holding
the same certificate after completion of study at the basic stage
in one of the board's regular factory schools, apprentice schools
or half-time schools. Subject to the same conditions, persons may
be permitted who have completed similar courses in schools approved
by the board, in arts and crafts schools or in the technical schools
of other official bodies. Under the Act, these courses also admit
workers who have studied abroad provided they hold valid
certificates.
There are at present some courses of intermediate standard.
The Act mentioned above provides that the national apprenticeship
and vocational guidance board shall organise technical institutes
in sufficient number to allow workers throughout the country,
who have the necessary qualifications for admission, to benefit
by the instruction provided.
The Act further provides for a workers' university as an advanced
institute of the technical education establishments set up under
the Board. Priority for admission will be given to persons holding
the diploma of factory technician and to those holding diplomas
from State industrial schools. The duration and syllabuses of these
courses are to be fixed by special regulation. On completion of
this third stage of education, the trainee receives the degree of
factory engineer.
Evening classes are given in many of the technical schools under
the Ministry of Education. The majority of these are advanced
specialist courses attended by young adults who wish to continue
their studies although they are already working. In addition,
authorisation has been given to organise workers' continuation
courses in several arts and crafts schools on the basis of the legislation regulating the establishment of each school. The duration and
conditions of these courses are separately fixed in each case ; enrolment is free. 1 The minimum educational requirement is completion of the fourth grade of elementary schooling, or equivalent
1
The Ministry of National Education published a standard outline of the
training given in the night courses in Decrees No. 14,092 of 27 July 1950. That
training is to be given in a three-year stage with 15 hours of classes per week.
(Boletín Oficial No. 16,705 of 3 Aug. 1950.)

130

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

preparation as verified by examination. In 1948 four schools held
courses of this kind, with a total enrolment of 425 students, and
dealt with such trades as metallurgy (fitting and motor mechanics),
electricity and building. Classes generally last from two to two
and one quarter hours, five times a week.
As has been seen in the section on the training of juveniles
above, telecommunications courses are held in the evening and
can therefore be attended by employed persons. " Monotechnical
missions " organised in slightly populated areas to deal with local
needs must provide training appropriate to the economy of the region,
for the adult population as well as for schoolchildren.
Both the women's vocational training courses of the national
apprenticeship board and the women's vocational schools of the
Ministry of Education give classes, generally in the evening, for
adult female workers in the processes of women's industries, such
as dressmaking, and others. Courses generally last two hours in
the evening, five times a week.
Commerce.
The commercial schools of the Ministry of Education and private
commercial schools approved by it often include evening courses
in their programmes. At least 10 private schools have
evening
courses, according to the statistical data quoted above.1
Agriculture.
Article 21 of the General Regulations on agricultural schools 2
provides that the governing body of each school may organise
temporary short-term courses every year for farmers and agricultural workers in their area, according to the requests received.
The governing body of the school determines the length and curricula of these courses, as well as the qualifications required for admission. It seems that few such courses have as yet been set up. On
the other hand, all schools give free advice to farmers and stockbreeders in their area, in accordance with Article 2, paragraph (a)
of the Regulations defining the scope and purpose of agricultural
schools. Some schools also occasionally lend their agricultural
machinery to farmers, or, more frequently, the students operate
the schools' machines for the local farmers. The schools also sell
certain selected products such as seeds and breeding animals, at
preferential prices.
One of the main aims of the mechanical agriculture school
recently started at Miramar is to disseminate information on methods
of mechanical agriculture and to study problems arising from agricultural mechanisation. 3 The school must therefore maintain close
contact with rural life.
It should also be mentioned that basic courses in rural sciences,
attached to the faculty of agronomy at Buenos Aires, were inaugurated in February 1949. These courses are intended primarily for
1

See p. 124.
Roneoed document communicated by the General Directorate of Agricultural
Education and Development in the Ministry of Agriculture.
3
Ministerio de Agricultura de la Nación. Fundación mecánico-agrícola "Irene.
Martínez de Hos de. Campos " Miramar, op. cit., p. 3.
a

131

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

schoolteachers, but other persons who are interested because of
the nature of their occupations, may also enrol. Horticulture,
flower-growing, agriculture, dairy-farming and fruit and vegetable
canning are taught. An attendance certificate is granted to all
persons who have attended at least 75 per cent, of the classes.
The directorate of extension services under the Ministry of
Agriculture has organised various kinds of extension services given
by regional agronomists 1 and official veterinary surgeons. The
agricultural home division of the directorate organises temporary
rural domestic economy courses each summer in various provinces.
From their inception in 1917, to 1947, a total of 90 such courses, or
an average of three per summer, had been given for rural housewives.
This type of education, and the more direct services of rural social
workers to agricultural homes have both been intensified in the past
few years. 8
Training of Instructors and Supervisory

Personnel

Act ÎTo. 13,229 of 1948 provides that evening continuation courses
may also be used to train the administrative and teaching staff of the
schools under the national apprenticeship board.
The current
lack of teaching staff is recognised by the members of the board to
be a major obstacle in the way of the growth of its vocational training
institutions.
The advanced technical courses in the technical schools of the
Ministry of Education are used in part to train teaching staff,
technical teachers frequently being drawn from among former
students of these schools, or in the case of teachers of theory, from
among those holding diplomas from technical faculties in the universities. General education is usually taught by graduates of the
teachers training colleges. The Minister of National Education
directed, in a Decree dated 5 February 1950, that îfo. 1. industrial
school, the Otto Krauss School, should henceforward be an advanced
national institute. The main change is that of adding to the education given in that school an advanced course training the teaching
staff for technical schools.
In addition, the university of La Plata offers courses for the
training of teachers of technical subjects in industrial schools.3
There seems to be no official course at the moment for training
supervisory personnel in undertakings. The new Argentine institute
of personnel officers has begun to give some attention to this matter. 4
Through the system of the different grades of agricultural education (practical schools, advanced practical schools and faculties of
agronomy and veterinary science), the teaching staff of schools on
the elementary and intermediate levels may be trained in institutions
of a higher level. Under the regulations concerning agricultural
1
A network of experimental stations is also being set u p under the five-year
p l a n . The number of these stations should increase from two in 1947 t o 23 in 1951.
Cf. : Ministerio de Agricultura : Investigaciones agrícolas (Buenos Aires, 1948), p . 16.
2
Cf. : Ministerio de Agricultura — Dirección general de Enseñanza y Fomento
Agrícola : Enseñanza del Hogar Agricola : Cursos Temporarios (1947) ; and Id.
Instituto Superior del Hogar Agrícola — Buenos Aires, 1948.
3
See p . 118.
4
Cf. Boletín del Instituto argentino de Dirigentes de personal, Vol. I, No. 3 ,
Aug. 1948, p . 9.

132

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

schools, departmental heads or teachers in such schools must have
the requisite university degree and no less than two years' experience.
At the present time, teachers in advanced schools must be qualified
agronomists or veterinary surgeons, according to the branch in which
they teach.
As has been shown above, in the section on the training of
juveniles, some agricultural schools run temporary courses for
increasing the technical knowledge of rural teachers who give basic
agricultural instruction in rural elementary schools. As has also
been stated, a special training college was recently started to train
women teachers in rural domestic economy.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT

Vocational Guidance
Previous

Measures.

Vocational guidance has now been studied for many years in
Argentina. For the last 25 years a psychotechnical and vocational
guidance institute has been working under the Ministries of Justice
and Education. The functions of the institute are : (a) to give
individual consultations (more than 2,000 have been given yearly
since 1930) ; (b) to give either short or full psychotechnical examinations to schoolchildren in a certain number of elementary schools
(200 schools in 1930) ; (c) to set psychotechnical examinations for
selecting the personnel of certain public undertakings (for instance,
selecting apprentices for the workshops of the general directorate
of ports and shipping) ; and (d) to train vocational guidance officers
(in 1930, 38 students of which 11 received their final diplomas).
The Argentine social museum, a private scientific institution,
has, also for many years, run a vocational guidance service whose
principal purpose is to study methods of guidance, but which does
perform such practical functions as training vocational guidance
officers, giving consultations in vocational guidance in its laboratories in answer to private requests and undertaking selective
personnel tests for some large private establishments.
These preliminary experiments were carried out on a restricted
scale. Their outcome has been, however, to provide new institutions, which are planned to operate on a large scale, with a nucleus
of trained vocational guidance officers and a fairly thorough knowledge
of selection methods.
Compulsory Guidance

Examination.

The basis for a new system of apprenticeship and of supervising the employment of young persons was laid in Decree ~No. 14,538
of 3 June 1944. Article 38 of that Decree provides for the setting
up of an institute of psychotechnics and vocational guidance in
the general directorate of apprenticeship and vocational guidance,
with branches in cities in the interior. In order to ensure the prompt
organisation of examinations, the directorate may collaborate with
other public or private bodies, or even undertakings, which have
already organised psychotechnical or guidance services.
The central institute, known as the medico-psychotechnical
institute, is responsible for examining young persons between 14 and

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

133

18 years of age in the federal Capital and its immediate vicinity
who apply to the directorate of apprenticeship and vocational
guidance for an apprenticeship or employment permit. There are
various examinations to be passed. First, a medical examination
determining the applicant's fitness for work ; secondly, psychotechnical examinations testing his manual dexterity and his practical,
technical and abstract intelligence by means of a series of tests
modelled on the methods of Bonn but adapted to local needs and
conditions ; and thirdly, a personal interview. In addition, an
enquiry is made into the family background of the applicant. The
results of these tests and enquiries are carefully noted and guidance
is given on that basis as to what employment or type of vocational
study would best be suited to the applicant. The employment or
apprenticeship work-book, given by the register of young persons
to every young person authorised to work, carries information on
the results of these examinations, on the vocational guidance
officers' opinion, and on the general and technical work done by
the bearer.
When possible, the institute also gives free advice to schoolchildren seeking vocational guidance, even when they have not
applied for an apprenticeship or employment permit, for in that
case they would have to undergo a compulsory examination.
The directorate of apprenticeship and vocational guidance is
seeking to extend vocational guidance services to other parts of
the country.
Other Vocational Guidance Measures.
Some vocational guidance facilities for children of school age
are provided by pre-apprenticeship courses. Article 16 of Decree
No.14,538 provides that such courses may be held in the half-time
schools of the national apprenticeship and vocational guidance
board for pupils of elementary schools from the fourth grade upwards.
The Article specifies that such courses should rather tend to afford
pupils vocational guidance than to teach them processes. An
amendment was made to this Article in Decree No. 6,648 of 1945
providing that such courses may likewise be organised on the
premises of national, provincial or private elementary schools and
of establishments for the assistance of children and young persons.
The national apprenticeship and vocational guidance board
has begun to organise pre-apprenticeship courses in some of its
schools. Besides giving the elements of theoretical instruction,
these courses provide a means of carrying out practical work in handicrafts or industrial processes designed to develop the manual ability
of the young persons and to awaken in them an interest for work
in such materials as wood, leather and metals. In Decree No. 1,000
of 16 January 1948, the National Education Council was likewise
authorised to organise pre-apprenticeship courses in the fifth and
sixth grades of elementary schooling.
By providing that the first year of technical education at the
basic stage shall be the same for all students, guidance facilities are
provided for young persons undergoing such instruction, although
these facilities are restricted to the trades taught in each vocational
school. This applies equally to the vocational schools of the Ministry
of Education and to those of the Ministry of Public Works as well
as to those of the national apprenticeship and vocational guidance

134

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

board. The curriculum of this first year enables each student to
acquire a general idea and experience of the various trades between
which he will have to choose when deciding what further studies
to pursue.
Placement
Placement of Young Persons.
The supervision of the placement of young persons is the responsibility of the register of young persons service. In addition,
Articles 48 and 49 of Decree No. 14,538 provide for the setting up
of an employment exchange for apprentices and former pupils of
technical and practical schools. In accordance with these Articles,
the governing bodies of technical and practical schools, whether
national, provincial, municipal or private, which have been approved
or incorporated, shall, between 1 and 10 January and 1 and 10 April
in each year, forward to the general directorate of apprenticeship
and vocational guidance a list of the pupils leaving the said schools,
stating the courses taken and giving personal particulars for each
pupil. The technical departments of the various Ministries and other
official bodies, and also undertakings holding concessions for public
services, are to apply to this employment exchange for the skilled
and technical workers they require. Article 58 specifies t h a t the
said Ministries and official bodies shall be bound, other things being
equal, to give preference for all appointments which require knowledge of a trade or manual skill to former pupils of official technical
and practical schools and to persons in possession of certificates of
competency issued by an apprenticeship course or school and
countersigned by the Ministry of Labour and Welfare.
On the basis of these provisions, an employment exchange for
young persons was recently attached to the register of young
persons service at Buenos Aires to deal with offers of and applications
for employment. This exchange deals with the placement of all
male and female workers under 18 years of age, including unskilled
workers and office employees. So far, the results obtained by this
exchange have not been published.
Placement of Adults.
A public employment service was first organised under Act
No. 9,148 of 25 September 1913, concerning public placement
offices. This Act was supplemented by Act No. 12,101 of 15 October
1934, setting up a national placement register under the direct
control of the Ministry of Labour and Welfare. The jurisdiction of
the service was confined to the federal Capital and neighbouring
localities. In the provinces, regional placement offices operate under
the four regional offices of the Ministry, there being no administrative
links between these various offices. A new Act, dated 11 October
1949, provides for the reorganisation of the employment service
by setting it up on a national scale under a national employment
service directorate in the Ministry of Labour and Welfare.
The national placement register in the federal Capital deals
with offers of and applications for employment on a voluntary
basis, except in the case of labour for the public services which are
obliged to apply to the national placement register for workers.

APPENDIX I : ARGENTINA

135

The register is divided into six main sections, dealing with the
placement of workers in public services, the hotel industry, bakeries
and domestic services, there being a special registration system
applying to these four branches. The remaining two branches deal
respectively with male and female workers in industry, business
and the building trades.
In 1948 the national placement register dealt with 47,618 applications for and 39,680 offers of employment ; 33,521 placements
were actually made, 24,304 of which were in the federal Capital
and 9,217 outside it ; 5,189 placements were in the building trades,
4,054 in land transport, 3,556 in the hygiene and cleansing sanitation
services, 2,495 in businesses and offices, 1,889 in the metal industry,
1,884 in the hotel industry and 1,430 in river transport.1 Fewer
than 1,000 placements were made in the other categories.
The results obtained in the regional offices were not centrally
recorded until the establishment of a national employment service
by Act No. 13,591 of 1949. Only when this reorganisation has produced its full effect will it be possible to obtain a broad picture of
the state and trends of the employment market through employment statistics.

1
According to information communicated to the International Labour Office
by the Ministry of Labour and Welfare.

BOLIVIA
Vocational training institutions in Bolivia are in their initial
phase. The Magruder Mission*—a j oint mission composed of American
and Bolivian experts and of a representative of the International
Labour Organisation—which had been invited by the Bolivian
Government in 1942 to study the conditions of living and employment of the workers, more particularly of miners, had directed some
of the remarks in its report to educational problems. I t had drawn
attention to the fact that over 75 per cent, of the population was
illiterate and that in most regions barely one-sixth of children of
school age were attending school. I t had referred to the inadequate
training of schoolmasters, to the lack of equipment in State schools,
and to the low standard of teaching in the schools maintained by
certain establishments in discharge of a legal obligation but without
there being any supervision by the State. The mission felt that the
efforts that were already being made at that time, by the National
Education Council, to promote technical education, for instance by
sending a party of 10 students to Chile to become acquainted
with the methods of training for industry, could not yield good
results so long as large sections of the population were thus without
basic education. The mission had advised the Bolivian Government
to invite that of the United States to send out a suitable group of
experts to assist the National Education Council in planning the
educational reforms required both for improving primary education
and for developing vocational training facilities. The mission had
also suggested that qualified Bolivians should be invited to visit
educational establishments in the United States in order to study
the methods used there.
In the following years, with the assistance of American educationists of the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service
(Servicio Cooperativo Interamericano de Educación) who had been
made available on loan, in accordance with the recommendations
of the Magruder Mission, under an agreement between the two
Governments concluded on 7 September 1944 and twice renewed,
the Bolivian Ministry of Education worked out an educational programme and carried out a large number of reforms both in the sphere
of general education and in that of vocational instruction proper.
I t is certain that the improvements in the urban primary education system will have good results, which will facilitate technical
training in the future. However, two items on the joint programme
of the Bolivian and American Governments are more relevant to the
present study : they are the reorganisation of training for industry
and the reorganisation of primary education in rural areas as a
medium of agricultural training.
In order to draw up the new plan of training for industry, a
committee called the Committee on Industrial Education was set up
1
Cf. Consejo Nacional de Educación, El Estado Actual de h, Educación en
Bolivia, Informe a la Misión Magruder, La Paz, March 1943, pp. IV-V.

APPENDIX I : BOLIVIA

137

within the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service (Ministerial Order of 25 September 1947) ; it consisted of the inspectorgeneral of secondary and technical education, two teachers of the
national industrial school (Escuela Industrial de la Nación) and two
representatives of the co-operative educational programme (Programa Cooperativo de Educación).
In order to work out a plan for the improvement of education
in rural areas, the co-operative educational programme appealed
for assistance to country schoolteachers, who were asked to work
out schemes on the basis of their experience. Prizes were offered for
the best schemes.
The imposition, in 1949, of a tax levied on industry for the
purpose of financing technical education, and the establishment
in the same year of a body to manage the funds and direct national
policy in this field seems likely to lead to considerable development
of such education. These measures are closely linked to the country's
economic development programme.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
Industry.
The reforms in industrial education which have been brought
about during the last few years with the assistance of the InterAmerican Co-operative Educational Service, began with measures for
the further training of teaching staff in industrial schools. A summer
course, attended by 25 teachers of technical subjects from the
country's main district schools, was held in November and December
1946. The purpose of the course was to achieve uniformity in the
curriculum and to enable the teachers to increase their knowledge
of their subjects. Instruction was given in mechanical drawing
(theory and practice), work in the machine shop and teaching
methods in industrial education.
A second summer course, with a similar but more extensive
programme, was held at the end of 1947 for the staff of three provincial schools and of the national industrial school at La Paz ; this
course was followed by a third in the summer of 1948.
Another series of measures taken dealt with the improvement
of technical training methods and with the achievement of uniformity
in the curricula of the various schools. For this purpose a large
range of teaching guides, manuals and syllabuses for practical workshop
exercises has been prepared with the help of the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service. The Ministry of Education has
had these reproduced for distribution to schools.
The equipment of the schools has also been improved. Between
1944 and October 1948 the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service distributed more than 1.7 million bolivianos' worth
of various items of equipment, including machine-tools, work"benches, tools and instruments, protective apparatus, etc.
At the end of 1949 there was an extremely important reorganisation. An ad hoc body, the Council of Industrial Education, was set
up under a Decree dated 15 May 1949. This body is under the patronage and supervision of the Ministry of Education, and works in

138

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

conjunction with the Ministry of Economic Affairs : it has technical,.
financial and administrative autonomy. The Council consists of
representatives of the Minister of Education, the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service, the National Chamber of Industrial
Employers, the principal of the national industrial school and a
representative of the association of former students of that school.
Its duties are many and varied : it is to work out plans that will
further the development of technical education in the country and
draw up regulations relating thereto, as well as compile the necessary
statistics concerning the requirements of industry in respect of
technicians and foremen, and to adapt training to those requirements.
I t is also to allocate the technical education funds, which are placed
in a single special account with the central bank, to the order of t h e
Council.
The technical education funds consist of the grants to the various
technical schools in the annual budget, the assets of these schools
including their scholarship funds, and new revenue derived from a
Decree dated 7 January 1948, which has now become law and
which provides that a special tax shall be paid by industrial undertakings for the development of technical education. This tax,
amounting to 2 % per cent, of their liquid assets, is collected by the
National Chamber of Industrial Employers, which pays the receipts
into the account mentioned.
This last measure has not yet yielded any results, but a substantial
improvement in technical instruction facilities may be expected in
the course of the next few years.
At present technical education facilities in Bolivia are the
following :
Elementary

and intermediate

standards.

At this level, industrial schools are subordinated to the general
directorate of education and are under the direct control of the
inspector-general of industrial education.
In 1949 the State was maintaining an industrial school for boys
in the capital, as well as five other institutions at Sucre, Potosi,
Oruro, Cochabamba and Tarijo. According to statistics supplied
to the I.L.O. Mission by the Ministry of Education, there was a
total of 983 pupils enrolled at these schools in 1948. At present
there are 880 pupils in industrial schools, whereas in 1943 there
were only 230. x
The Pedro Domingo Murillo school in La Paz (also known as
the national industrial school or as the model school) opened in
1942. As evidence of Latin American co-operation it is of interest
to note that in 1937, before the school was founded, about a dozen
students were sent to Chile to spend five years there studying tobecome instructors in the new school after specialising in varioussubjects : mechanics, electricity, industrial chemistry, foundry and
construction work.
The five provincial institutions providing
training for industry are industrial sections attached to high schools,
1
Cf. El Estado Actual de la Educación en Bolivia, op. cit., appended table ;
Ministerio de Educación, Estadística Escolar 1948 (mimeographed). Two newindustrial sections were opened in 1950 and 1951 in the high schools of Vallegrandfr
and Trinidad respectively. The total number of students studying industrial
subjects was 1,750 in 1951.

APPENDIX I : BOLIVIA

139

They were established with the idea of preventing the exodus of
secondary school pupils, 85 per cent, of whom abandoned their
studies before they were over, by providing an opportunity to learn
a trade for pupils who do not intend to go on to a university.
Another guiding principle has been that technical education should
not be in a separate category with a low standing in public esteem,
but should be on the same level as secondary education in general.
In high schools which have an industrial section, all first-year pupils
must attend those classes. 1
The curriculum of industrial schools is divided into two phases.
The first phase, at the trade level (grado de oficios), is open to Bolivians between 12 and 16 years of age who have finished their six
years of primary education and passed an entrance examination.
I t is for the training of craftmen (maestros de taller), and takes three
or four years, depending on the nature of the trade chosen : three
years for foundry and smith's work, four years for electricity, mechanical engineering and cabinet-making. The first-year programme
is the same for all pupils, who work in the various workshops in order
to have an opportunity of choosing the trade they wish to learn.
The work of the course is essentially practical. Theoretical instruction is of four kinds : general education in conformity with the
school's purposes ; additional subjects such as social legislation and
the rudiments of administration ; the basic elements of such sciences
as mathematics, physics and chemistry ; and technology, including
mechanical drawing. Systematic basic exercises, practical work, and
in the final year really productive work, are carried out in the
workshops. When his training is over, and after having worked for
six months at his trade, the trainee receives a certificate of proficiency in the chosen trade. If he then takes a teaching course, he
may also qualify as " teacher in trades and crafts schools ".2
The second phase, at the technical level (grado de técnicos) is
open as a rule to young persons under 17 years of age, and exceptionally to those under 19, who pass an entrance examination. They
must either have had four years of secondary schooling or have
completed the first phase of the industrial schools curriculum. The
second phase is intended to train shop foremen and works managers.
The course comprises three years' study and one year's practical
training in an industrial establishment, after which the trainee
receives the diploma of " technician " or " industrial instructor ".
Bolivian nationality is a prerequisite for admission to either
phase ; foreigners require a permit from the Minister of Education.
Only the first phase of the course may be taken in the industrial
sections of provincial high schools. The national industrial school
has to provide instruction for all trainees who have successfully
completed the first phase and wish to continue their studies ; but it
also provides instruction in the first phase.
For girls there were in 1948 nine official vocational training
schools, with 1,067 pupils, and two private schools with 162 pupils.
Three of the schools for girls were in La Paz, and the others in the
1
According to information supplied by the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service, the total number of students enrolled in the industrial sections in
1949 was 877, but, of these, 680 were attending the compulsory first-year course
and might not be attending subsequent courses.
2
Cf. Ministerio de Educación, Escuela Industrial de la Nación : Prospectus de
admisión para los cursos regulares diurnos (La Paz, 1945), pp. 6-9.

140

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

provincial capitals. They provide instruction in feminine crafts—
dressmaking, embroidery, linenware, millinery, weaving, decorative
design—and in domestic arts.
Vocational training for girls is divided into three courses of which
the first, lasting three years, is for the training of workers, and the
second, lasting two years, is for the training of forewomen. Both
are taken in the nine official vocational training schools. A third
course, lasting two years, is for the training of teachers of manual
and domestic arts for the primary and high schools of the country ;
instruction is available only at the teachers' training college.
University

standard.

There is a faculty of engineering in
and there is an institute of technology
Simón (Cochabamba) and another at the
also has a school of mines. Holders of
admitted to these institutions.

the university of Potosi,
at the university of San
university of Oruro, which
the technical diploma are

Commerce.
In 1948 there were five public commercial schools, with 759
pupils in attendance (394 boys and 365 girls), and six private schools,
with 609 pupils (181 boys and 428 girls). These schools are located
in seven towns.
I t seems, however, that non-registered private schools would
bring the total number of institutions providing training of this
type up to about 30.
The curriculum for commercial studies covers two phases. The
elementary course is for the training of commercial and office
employees. The intermediate course leads up to a certificate of commercial secondary studies or a diploma in commerce (held by peritos
mercantiles).
At the higher level the universities provide instruction enabling
Students to qualify as accountants (contadores generales). San
Andres university, in La Paz, has a faculty of economics and
finance ; the university of Oruro has a faculty of economics and the
university of Potosi a higher commercial college.
Agriculture.
At the elementary level, training for agriculture is provided by
rural primary schools.
Bolivia has a dual system of country schools, under the control
of the rural education department of the Ministry of Education.
I n those of the first type, instruction is in Spanish. Until 1945 there
was no essential difference between this instruction and that given
in urban primary schools, but some agricultural instruction was also
given. In 1948 there were 675 schools of this type, with 31,379
pupils (20,484 boys ; 10,895 girls). The second category consists
of the satellite schools (núcleos escolares campesinos). This is an
arrangement which is adopted in zones where most of the population
is Indian, and the local vernacular is the usual medium of instruction.
Teaching is functional and of a practical character, centred on the
interests of a population which is primarily agricultural, and is

APPENDIX I : BOLIVIA

141

intended to provide this population with the fundamental knowledge
required for more efficient production and better living. 1
In 1946 it was decided that education in all rural schools should
be made uniform, by applying the functional methods which were
already in use in the country school groups. A new plan of rural
education has been adopted, to apply to all the schools, and other
zones have been converted to the group system. I n this system
a central school is at the head of a group of subsidiary schools ; and
this enables the capacity of teachers in general to be gradually
improved, by taking the fullest advantage of the thorough training
first given to the staff of the central schools, from where this training
is widely disseminated.
In 1928 there were 1,026 schools of the second type, forming 59
school groups, with 39,454 pupils (31,093 boys and 8,361 girls),
whereas in June 1945 there had been only 18 of these school groups. 2
In order to supplement the training of the teaching staff and
to assist it in putting the plan into operation the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service, which helped the Ministry of
Education to carry out this major reform, prepared a series of six
instructor's guides for teachers in country schools. These guides were
printed in 1948 and distributed through the Ministry of Education. 3
At the same time the Service improved the equipment of the
schools by distributing a large quantity of such equipment, particularly for agricultural training (agricultural implements, trucks, tools,
etc.) and for domestic science.
The new curriculum, which is intended to provide complete
education for the countryman—as an individual, as a member of a
family and of the community and as a worker—includes an important
section relating to agriculture and the rearing of livestock. The basic
projects for the practical training of schoolchildren cover the growing
of vegetables, pulse, potatoes, and cereals ; methods of soil-conservation and crop rotation ; and the keeping of poultry, sheep, pigs and
rabbits. In all, about 400 hours a year are devoted to these projects.
Work on each project is systematically planned for each month of
the year. Instruction in the rudiments of general education— reading,
writing and arithmetic—is related to real life, so that it does not consist
of abstract ideas that cannot be absorbed, but will rather help the
young countryman to extend his knowledge when he grows up.
1
There was a precedent in Bolivia for this functional training : the Warizata
School, founded in 1931 for the education of Indians. Its teaching programme
consisted mainly of instruction in various handicrafts (those of carpenter, hatmaker, weaver of cloth and matting, garment-maker, mason, mechanic, locksmith,
potter, stone and woodcarver, etc.)
2
According to a memorandum on programmes of vocational training for indigenous workers, prepared for the International Labour Organisation by Dr. Elizardo
Perez, the number of country school groups had risen to 70 by the beginning of
1950. Some of them had been entrusted to the care of the Order which administers
the so-called " schools of Christ ". Vocational training had not developed as
quickly as general education : out of a teaching staff of 70 principals and 1,500
teachers, there were only 38 trade instructors in these schools ; 20 more instructors
were to be added in 1950.
3
Ministerio de Educación. Departamento de Educación Rural, Programa
Cooperativo de Educación : Ouia de Instrucción para Maestros Rurales : 1. Ouia
Didáctica. (La Paz, 1948) — ídem, 2. Agricultura {Primera Parte) — ídem, 3. Ouia
de Sanidad Sural — ídem, 4. OanadeHa, Avicultura y Cunicultura {Primera
Parte) — ídem, 5. La Comunidad Rural y Organizaciones Escolares Campesinas —
ídem, 6. Economía Doméstica.

142

VOCATIONAL TBAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Aid for Technical Study
Scholarships are awarded at technical schools to pupils who are
unable to meet the cost of their studies. The award of State scholarships is decided by a committee consisting of the Director-General
of Education and the principal of the school concerned.1
The federal Governments' Decree of 15 May 1949 setting up the
Council of Industrial Education authorised the latter to devote
a certain percentage of the funds at its disposal to scholarships. It is
stipulated that these are to be fairly distributed throughout the
country ; it seems from the context that they are tenable at technical
schools at the elementary and intermediate levels. This Decree
also provides for the award of scholarships to students who have
qualified at the national industrial school to continue their studies
at a university. Moreover, the Council is empowered to award
scholarships for further study of particular technical subjects in
other countries.
In-Plant Training
The 1939 Labour Act defines a contract of apprenticeship as one
under which an employer undertakes to teach the apprentice, or to
have him taught, a trade or a job, in exchange for which the employer
makes use of the apprentice's services, whether paid or not. The
maximum term of articles of apprenticeship is two years. The Act
allows the parties to fix the wage and other conditions of work in
the contract, but the employer is legally bound to leave the apprentice time to go to school. From the context, this must apply to
primary education, since Article 57 of the Act sanctions the employment as apprentices of children under the age of fourteen, which is
the minimum age at which a wage earner may enter employment.
^Regulations under the Act entrust the supervision of the execution
of contracts of apprenticeship to the inspectorate of labour; but
there is no provision for an expert test of the results of the training
given to the apprentice.
TRAINING OP ADULT WOKKEES

Training and Upgrading Courses
Industry.
The syllabus of the national industrial school of La Paz provides
for the organisation of two-year continuation courses of evening
classes for adult workers, in the trades of printer, mechanic, blacksmith, tinsmith, carpenter and mason. It also provides for the
1
Preference is given on the following grounds : a candidate's good record at
his previous school ; the financial position of the candidate and his family (war
orphans, and orphans generally, have preference) ; education over and above the
required minimum ; and the family's interests in the trade which the candidate
wishes to learn. At the intermediate level, pupils leaving the provincial schools of
arts and crafts to continue their studies in the national school at La Paz have
preference also. In 1945 scholarships held at the school of La Paz amounted to
500 bolivianos a month. According to information supplied by the Government of
Bolivia in their reply to the Pan American Union's enquiry on vocational education, about 10 per cent, of the students in industrial schools hold scholarships.

APPENDIX I : BOLIVIA

143

organisation of accelerated training courses for such special subjects
as industrial draughtsmanship, electrical equipment, radio and
automobile engineering. Evening courses for adults are also organised
in some of the industrial sections in the high schools.
A small fee is payable for attendance at courses for adults. The
first 56 diplomas were delivered in 1949 for the automobile engineering and electrical equipment trades. Certificates were issued in
April 1949 to 112 students who had taken the five-month
course
in the same trades and in industrial draughtsmanship.1
Further technical training of another kind is provided under the
Decree of 15 May 1949, through the establishment, at the national
industrial school, of a technical research laboratory where persons
wishing to do research in the industrial utilisation of the country's
natural resources may work.
Agriculture.
The rural schools are required to promote education throughout
their respective districts. Experimental stations with extension
services are now being set up with the help of experts from the
United States under the agreement on co-operation in agricultural
development concluded in April 1948 between Bolivia and the
United States.
Training of Instructors
Information has been given above concerning the arrangements
made to train the teachers of technical industrial schools and of
rural schools.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Vocational Guidance
There is no official service responsible for vocational guidance,
nor is there any institution for training vocational guidance officers.
However, some attention is being paid to the necessity of guiding
youth in its choice of an occupation in relation to the essential
requirements of the country. An interesting step has been taken to
awaken industrial aptitudes among the pupils at secondary schools :
as has already been explained, there are industrial sections in five
of the country's high schools, and all pupils at these high schools
must work in workshops of these sections during at least one year.
Placement
Employment offices have been set up under a Decree of the
federal Government dated 4 April 1945. They are under the direct
control of the Inspectorate-General of Labour (Ministry of Labour
and Social Welfare). At the end of 1949 employment offices were
functioning at La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro, Santa Cruz and in the
provinces of Uncia and Villamonte.
1
Revista ele la Escuela Industrial de la Nación " Pedro Domingo MuriUo ",
4 Aug. 1949. According to the Bolivian Government's reply to the Pan American
Union's enquiry on vocational education, there were 600 persons attending adult
courses in 1951.

144

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

These offices keep a register of applications for employment,
classified according to the trade of the applicants ; they receive offers
of employment from employers and try to bring the parties together
in order that a contract of employment may be signed under their
auspices. They compile monthly returns of their registration and
placement activities. Total figures are given, and broken down by
occupations with a summary of the position in the preceding twelve
months. These statistics give some indication of the trend of the
labour market, but they are confined to the towns where there is an
office. From the small number of applications that were registered
(a total of 420 for the first four months of 1949 at the La Paz office)
it may be inferred that only a small proportion of employment
operations is effected through these offices.
In the towns, especially in towns near mining centres, there are
a large number of private recruiting agencies. According to a communication received by the International Labour Office from the
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare of Bolivia, the proportion of
miners recruited by private agencies may be estimated at 60 to 70
per cent, of the total. Consequently no really accurate picture of
manpower needs and surpluses can be drawn from an analysis of the
employment office statistics.

BRAZIL
Vocational training institutions have been in existence in Brazil
for many years. The charter of the national school of engineering,
in Eio de Janeiro, was granted in 1810. Many of the older institutions, however, were established by the States, particularly by
Sào Paulo ; others, such as the Sao Paulo School of Arts and Crafts
founded over 75 years ago, were private institutions. The organisation of a federal technical school system for industry began about
30 years ago (Act No. 1,711 of 1919), and for commerce in 1926
(Decree No. 17,329).
However, it was shortly before 1930 that the work of co-ordinating
the activities of all the institutions previously established on various
occasions was undertaken. The trend towards co-ordination became
more marked after Act No. 174 of 1936 set up the Education Council, the main task of which was to draw up a national education
programme to be submitted to the legislative authority ; an important aspect of the Council's work was the co-ordination of its own
activities with those of the Education Councils of the States. In
accordance with the Council's suggestions, the Ministry of Education and Health was reorganised in 1937 (Act No. 378). Among
the many divisions in the Ministry are one for industrial and one
for commercial education ; these sections are respectively the central
authorities for the two types of technical education involved. Legislative Decrees Nos. 4,073 of 1942 on industrial education, and 6,141
of 1943 on commercial education give these sections broad powers
of control and supervision to ensure the application of the programme of study laid down in these two Decrees to all institutions
in their respective spheres. Similar co-ordination of agricultural
education was achieved through Legislative Decree No. 9,613
of 1946, whereby the system is to be subject to control and
supervision by the office of the superintendent of agricultural
education of the Ministry of Agriculture.
A particularly vigorous impulse was given to vocational training
in 1942 by the introduction of a special tax on industry and commerce with a view to the establishment and maintenance of parttime training centres for the compulsory technical education of
children and young persons under 18 who are apprenticed in a skilled
trade in the employment of a firm, and to provide juvenile wage
earners and adult workers with opportunities for more or less comprehensive training. The tax (1 per cent, of the total wage bill
of industrial and commercial firms) produces considerable sums
for the development of such training facilities. The part-time nature
of the training allows many children to overcome the difficulty
of securing full-time training while having to earn a living. In
1942 the National Confederation of Industry, and in 1946 the
National Confederation of Commerce, were authorised to organise
and administer these new training schemes, and to report back
to the Minister of Education and Health.

146

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

The Brazilian Government has endeavoured to profit by foreign
experience in order to improve the methods of its public vocational
training system : in 1942 it secured, by personal contracts signed
at the Brazilian Embassy in Berne, the services of 32 Swiss technicians,
technical teachers, engineers and practical instructors, either to
put their experience at the disposal of the industrial education
division of the Ministry of Education and Health in order to assist
it in the general organisation of its vocational training system,
or to teach in the various federal schools of the Capital and provinces.
On 3 January 1946 the Brazilian Government signed an agreement with the Inter-American Educational Foundation (now the
Education Division of the Institute of In ter-American Affairs)
whereby the United States Government undertook, for a period
of three years, which has been extended, to provide technical assistance for the Ministry of Education and Health, mainly for the purpose of training, or improving the qualifications of instructors and
technicians in charge of industrial training, organising the exchange
of experts and undertaking research and carrying out investigations in the sphere of technical education. A co-operative body
known as the American-Brazilian Commission of Industrial Education (Cbai), attached to the Ministry of Education and Health,
was appointed. The activities of this body are financed from a
budget one third of which is supplied by the Government of the
United States and two thirds by the Government of Brazil.
The Saite Plan (health, food, transport, electricity), proposed
in 1948 by an ad hoc committee and now submitted to Parliament
for examination, has emphasised the necessity of improving vocational training facilities as a fundamental measure for economic
development.
TRAINING OP JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
Industry.
Elementary and intermediate

standards.

There are two distinct methods of vocational training for
industry : the corresponding establishments are under different
administrations and are financed from different funds, but they
interlock to form something like a national system under the Minister
of Education and Health of the Union.
(1) Pull-time training for children and young persons not in
employment is in two phases. The establishments providing such
full-time training arc administered or supervised by the directorate
of industrial education of the Ministry of Education and Health
of the Union, and are subject to the legislation governing industrial
education (Legislative Decree No. 4,073 of 30 January 1942) and
regulations thereunder. There are three types of establishment—
(a) Federal establishments administered directly by the directorate of industrial education, and financed from the federal budget.
(b) Establishments which are registered with the Ministry
of Education and Health of the Union. They are either in the
Federal District, being run by the technical vocational education department of the Government of that District, or in a State,

APPENDIX I : BBAZIL

147

being run by the office of the superintendent of vocational education or of the Secretary for Education in the State. These establishments are said to be " equivalent " (equiparados).
(c) Becognised private establishments. Their recognition by
the Ministry of Education and Health of the Union depends on
the fulfilment of certain conditions, including that of conforming
to the curricula laid down in federal regulations.
At the beginning of 1949 the position with regard to such training
was as follows :
The Union Directorate of Industrial Education administered
23 federal schools, one in each State and one in the Federal District, as well as two special schools, also in that District, namely
a school of industrial chemistry and a school of mines and metallurgy.
There were 31 " equivalent " schools, nine of them in the Federal
District x, 16 in the State of Säo Paulo, three in the State of Eio de
Janeiro and one in each of the States of Parana, Pernambuco and
Eio Grande do Sul. There were 13 recognised private schools.
There is no information available with respect to the number of
schools, either private or founded by a State, which have not been
incorporated in the national system because the training they provide
does not conform to the legal standards.
The curriculum is laid down by law (Legislative Decree No. 4,073
of 30 January 1942) and the syllabus for each course is published
in the form of regulations. The curriculum is in two phases, subdivided into different courses—
(a) The basic phase, called the " industrial course ", is open
by examination to children of between 12 and 18 who have
finished their primary schooling and can produce a medical certificate.
In 1948 there were 13,711 pupils taking this course, as against
10,732 in 1943. 2
I t is a four-year course, leading to a skilled worker's certificate.
During the first six months all pupils take the same introductory
course ; during that period groups of pupils pass successively through
the various special workshops of the school, in order to acquire an
elementary knowledge of the various processes, and to be in a position to choose the special subject which they will study from the
second term onwards. The curriculum covers eight special sections—
electronics, metal trades, printing, textile manufacture, fishing
industry, metalwork, building and the so-called industrial arts
(making of garments, ceramics, jewellery, decoration, etc.). Other
sections can also be subdivided into various courses, normally
18 in all. I n 1949 there were 14 specialised courses for elementary
training at the national technical school in Eio.
(b) The second phase of the curriculum consists of technical
courses which are open to pupils who have qualified in the first
part of the programme, as well as to pupils coming straight from
1
One of these industrial schools was to become in 1950 a college for ordinary
secondary education.
2
The small increase in the number of pupils should be noted. It is due to
the difficulty, emphasised by the Brazilian-United States Technical Commission
in 1949, of attracting a large number of children and young persons to full-time
schools owing to the fact that the poverty of their families obliges them to earn
their living. The full-time vocational schools rarely have full classes.

148

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

high school. 1 In 1948 there were 1,410 pupils taking these courses,
compared with 623 in 1943. Only a portion of the industrial schools
run technical courses, but generally establishments which run
technical courses run elementary courses also.
The technical courses generally last three years and lead up
to a technical diploma in the particular field chosen : mechanical
engineering, electricity, building, draughtsmanship (architectural or
mechanical drawing), aeronautical engineering, interior decoration, etc.
Besides technical education, these courses comprise general
secondary education very similar to that given in the high schools
except that the literary syllabus is simplified. After finishing their
course, holders of the diploma may enter the university, even though
they do not hold the school leaving certificate, on the same terms
as students graduating from high school. There is also legislative
provision for passing from class to class between high schools and
technical schools.
(c) There are also courses for training master-craftsmen. The
regulations include these in the basic phase, but they are nevertheless
a continuation of the basic industrial courses : they take pupils
who have finished an industrial course and wish to specialise as
master-craftsmen or instructors. The course lasts two years. I n
1948 it was taken by 284 pupils, compared with 250 in 1943.
The statistics made available to the I.L.O. Mission by the Ministry
of Education do not mention separately the number of pupils taking
each course and subject in each type of school (federal, regional
or private), but they provide information on the number of certificates granted by schools of each type ; from these figures an idea
may be had of the role of each type of school in technical education
at the various levels. The figures for 1947 are given below—
NUMBER OP CERTIFICATES GRANTED IN 1947
Type of school

Basic
course

MasterTechnical craftsmen's
course
course

Totals

604

577

Federal District and State schools

884

100

1,007

Recognised private schools . . .

124

1,512

155

192
109

1,776

The certificates are awarded directly by the schools, and registered with the directorate of technical education in the federal
Ministry.
1
An Order of the Minister of Education, No. 15 of 1950, establishes the right
of admission to the technical courses of persons holding a Senai certificate for
a three-year apprenticeship course, thus putting on the same footing part-time
studies in a Senai industrial school and full-time studies in a school administered
or controlled by the Ministry of Education (see Revista Senai, No. 63-64, Oct.Dec. 1950, p. 43).

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

149

All the above particulars apply to co-educational schools (there
are a few federal ones) and to girls' schools (administered separately
by the Federal District and State authorities), as well as to schools
for boys. The subjects taught in girls' schools vary, but the general
lines of the curriculum are everywhere the same. Although in
co-educational schools the majority of girls attend "industrial art
classes"—which are provided especially for them—they also take
the same technical courses as boys, particularly courses in printing
and allied trades (typography, linotype printing, bookbinding, etc.)
which are not normally included in the curriculum of girls' schools.
I n schools for girls vocational training covers lingerie making,
dressmaking, including children's clothes, the manufacture of
artificial flowers and fruit, embroidery, lace and tapestry making.
In addition to these subjects and domestic science classes, the
curricula also include secondary education similar to that provided
in ordinary high schools. Pupils may qualify as teachers in the
same type of school.
(2) Part-time training for children and young persons in the
employment of, or seeking' employment in, an undertaking. Establishments providing this training are those of the national industrial
apprenticeship service (Senai) which was set up by Legislative
Decree lío. 4,048 of 22 January 1942, and which works under regulations approved by Decree No. 10,009 of 16 July 1942. This service
is financed by a tax of 1 per cent, on the total wage bill of undertakings in industry and transport (in accordance with Legislative
Decree No. 4,048 as amended by Legislative Decree No. 6,246 of
5 February 1944) ; it is administered by the National Confederation
of Industry, which is required to submit annual reports to the
Minister of Education and Health of the Union.
Decree No. 4,048, establishing the national industrial apprenticeship service (Senai) requires the service to organise and maintain
throughout the country instruction in trades for which previous
apprentice training is needed, to select apprentices and to organise
further supplementary training or specialised courses for industrial
workers who are not apprenticed.
On the national plane, Senai works through two bodies : a
national council for planning and decision and a national executive
department. On the regional plane provision has been made for the
appointment of a regional council and a regional department in each
State where there is a federation of industries. The national council,
of which the President of the National Confederation of Industry is
chairman, comprises representatives of the regional councils as well
as of the Ministry of Education and Health and the Ministry of
Labour, Industry and Commerce. Besides the representatives of the
Government agencies concerned, the regional councils comprise three
representatives of organisations of industrial employers, presided
over by the representative of the Federation of Industries.
In the performance of its chief task—the organisation of training
schools for skilled trades—Senai has made a survey of Brazilian
industry. This revealed that there were a little over one and a
half million industrial workers, of whom it was estimated that
292,560 belonged to skilled trades. For the purpose of putting into
execution the legal provisions whereby undertakings were obliged
to take on as apprentices and enrol in Senai schools not less than
five nor more than 15 per cent, of their skilled labour force, according

150

VOCATIONAL TBAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

to the degree of skill required *, calculations were made to determine
how much time was needed to train apprentices for the various
industrial operations carried out in the country. These occupations
were classified into four groups which required the training of a
number of apprentices corresponding to the following percentages
of the labour force : 15, 10, 7.5, 5.
Sen ai has estimated that if the schools are to run part-time
supplementary training courses for all the juvenile workers who are
to become apprenticed to skilled trades in accordance with this
principle, they should have room for 38,286 apprentices. The
fundamental task of building schools in the Federal District and the
States in accordance with their needs has been carried out in the
light of this estimate. The first construction plan was for 67 schools ;
24 of these, with room for 11,072 pupils, had been completed by
1947. Building is still going on.2 At the beginning
of 1949 there
were 72 Senai establishments in operation.3 The plan for 1950
contemplated 100 establishments which were either to be specially
built or to be set up by agreement with a factory or school.4
Although the courses organised by Senai are all part-time ones,
there is nevertheless considerable variety. The following are the
courses for children and young persons :
(a) Compulsory courses for all those within the age limits of
14 and 18 years who are apprenticed to skilled trades. In the second8
half of 1947 there were 9,042 apprentices taking these courses.
In 1943 courses were begun in seven trades ; by 1947 there were
courses for 43, in the fields of machine-tool operation, electricity,
wireless, metallurgy, mining, foundry work, printing, carpentry
and joinery, upholstery and saddlery, plumbing, ceramics, the manufacture of clothes and footwear, the textile industry ', and chemical
laboratory work (particularly for girls). The field7is being extended,
with reference to job analyses of each industry.
(b) Courses for job-seekers, that is for young persons, within
the same age limits, who wish to8 work but have not yet found
employment (443 pupils in 1947).
1
Legislative Decree No. 4,481 of 16 July 1942, as amended by Legislative
Decree No. 9,576 of 12 August 1946.
3
Senai, Departemente Nacional : Relatorio de 1947 (Rio de Janeiro, 1948).
3
U.S. Department of State : Report of the Joint Brazilian- United States Technical Commission (Rio de Janeiro, 10 Mar. 1949).
4
Cf. Escolas e Cursos do Senai, published by Revista Senai, 1950.
6
In the second half of 1949, the total enrolment for apprentice training courses
and6 job-seeker courses was 12,491 (Revista Senai, Dec. 1949, p. 64).
The curriculum of training for the textile industry was considerably extended
in 1949. This industry is of great economic importance in Brazil, where it
employs about 900,000 people and provides a living for more than 1,500,000
according to figures published at the time of the Second National Congress
of the Brazilian Textile Industry. During the first half of 1949 there were
12 Senai schools in 12 different States, providing training for this industry ;
they had 1,076 pupils. The basic courses are an introductory course of six months,
with instruction on alternate days, followed by a training course of the same
length for the most able pupils, who are selected for further training for jobs
requiring the most skill ; at the end of the latter course, trainees receive a " trade
card " or skilled worker's certificate. (Revista Senai, Oct. 1949 and Jan. 1950.
See also below under " Vocational Training of Adult Workers ".)
7
According to Escolas e Cursos do Senai, op. cit., apprenticeship courses were
organised for 56 trades.
8
Revista Senai, Dec. 1949, p. 64.

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

151

According to the skill required and the difficulties to be overcome,
the courses described under (a) and (b) last either 20 months with
16 hours' work a week, or 30 months with 24 hours' work a week.
They are frequently preceded by a preliminary course, usually lasting
five months, with between 18 and 20 hours' work a week ; this
course is intended to complete the general education of the
apprentice before his technical education begins (2,153 pupils in 1947). *
(o) Pre-vocational courses for workers' sons between 12 and
14 years of age who have finished their primary schooling, but are
below the age of entry to employment. 2 These courses combine
supplementary primary education with manual work for developing
the dexterity of the pupils : handloom weaving, embroidery, pottery,
leatherwork, etc. They are to be developed to the greatest possible
extent, so as to facilitate the selection of apprentices for skilled trades.
(a) Accelerated training courses for juveniles over 16 who have
had no vocational traming. The classes are generally held in the
evening ; the courses last five months, with classes three or four
times a week.
(3) Training of teaching staff. I t is said t h a t the lack of teachers
and instructors is a serious problem, and is impeding the development
of training facilities both in the Ministry of Education's full-time
schools and in Senai's part-time ones. Various measures have been
taken to overcome this difficulty ; an account of them is given below
with reference to the vocational training of adult workers.
(4) Provision of educational materials. One of the AmericanBrazilian Industrial Education Commission's fields of activity lies
in the provision of educational materials. For this purpose the
Commission's experts choose educational handbooks used in the
United States and which seem to be especially suited to Brazilian
needs, and take the necessary steps to obtain from the authors the
right of translation or of adaptation as the case may be. The Commission's programme provides for the preparation of handbooks
for the 18 trades of the industrial course and the seven subjects of
the technical course. Only a few volumes had been published in
1949 ; but the programme is proceeding. The manuals already
published are those dealing with training in bookbinding and
mechanical engineering through job analysis.
The Commission also distributes visual aid equipment and material
to schools, and co-operates in the organisation of school libraries.
Senai has drawn up and already introduced in its schools
some 20 textbooks on the theoretical aspects of training : they
include, for instance, the mathematical exercises for each grade and
graduated practical exercises in blacksmiths', locksmiths' and turners'
work. I t also prepares series of technological tests for entrance and
qualifying examinations.
University level.
The main establishment is the national school of engineering,
founded in 1810 3 and now part of the university of Brazil. Entry
1

Enrolment for this course in the second half of 1949 was 1,873 (ibid).
Enrolment for this course in the second half of 1949 was 1,173 (ibid).
Universidade do Brasil, Escola Nacional de Engenharia : Programa e Documentaçào exigida para o Concurso de Habilitaçâo, 1949.
2
3

152

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

to the school is by competitive examination for youths over 17 years
of age who can produce a health certificate and who have received a
general secondary education in a recognised establishment, or have
completed a technical course in surveying or metallurgy in one
of the technical schools under the supervision of the directorate of
industrial education.
The subjects taught have varied from time to time. At first,
topographic and geographical engineers were trained at the school.
The programme now comprises five-year courses in civil, electrical
and industrial engineering, the latter being subdivided into metallurgical, chemical and mechanical engineering. I n 1949 there were
1,443 students ; in 1948, 212 degrees had been conferred, 156 of
them in civil engineering, 54 in electrical engineering and two in
industrial engineering. Five years earlier the distribution was as
follows : 140 in civil, 42 in industrial, and 15 in electrical engineering.
During the last few years the electrical section has gained considerably on the others, and the distribution of students among the
different courses in 1949 showed that the increase in the number of
students taking this course was continuing.
There is another school of engineering in the State of Sao Paulo.
Early in 1949 the Union Minister for Air announced that he
had decided to establish a school of aeronautical engineering to
train engineers and technicians for civil aviation.
Agriculture.
V re-vocational standard.
The Government of the Federal District has set up country
schools which provide agricultural training simultaneously with
primary education for the first four grades. In 1948 five of these
schools were open, 10 more were about to be opened, three were
being built and it was planned to build eight more. In Order No. 18
of 8 May 1948, under which they operate, the Government also
published its decision to run special training courses at the teachers'
college, of from one month to a year, for the staff of these schools. x
Elementary and intermediate standards.2
The office of the superintendent of agricultural training,
Federal Ministry of Education, runs three grades of schools for
agricultural training proper. The curricula were laid down in the
enactment governing agricultural education (Legislative Decree
ÏTo. 9,613 of 20 August 1946), and the syllabuses were laid down
in Decree îTo. 21,667 of 20 August 1946. A description of the
three types of school is given below.
There are " initial. training schools " open to children of from
12 to 16 years of age who have passed an entrance examination,
even if they have not completed their primary education. The
curriculum comprises practical training in agriculture as well as
1
Prefettura do Distrito Federal, Secretaria General de Educaçào e Cultura,
A Educaçào Rural No Distrito Federal, Série Divulgaçào No. 1, Ediçào da Revista
de Educaçào Pública.
2
The information contained in this paragraph was kindly supplied by the
office of the superintendent of agricultural training.

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

153

the general subjects of the first two secondary grades. These schools
are specially for farmers' sons who will apply their knowledge on
the family farm, but skilled' agricultural workers are trained there
also. There are six schools of this type (1949, 704 pupils), in the
States of Amazonas, Para, Sergipe, Minas Gérais, Bahia, and Matto
Grosso.
The schools for master-craftsmen also run practical courses,
of four years, the first two years of which correspond to those of
the " initial training schools ". A " master agriculturist's " diploma
is awarded. There are four schools of this type (1949, 693 pupils),
located in the States of Bio de Janeiro (2), Pernambuco and Alagoas.
The syllabus covers a large number of general subjects, as well as
technical classes in agriculture, zoology, horticulture, veterinary
practice, soil mechanics, agricultural industry and rural economy.
Classes in teaching are added in the second part of the course.
Agrotechnical schools give the above introductory and mastercraftsmen's courses followed by an advanced course of three years,
making nine years in all. Training for agriculture is still essentially
practical, but a smattering of theory is added. General education
similar to that given in secondary school completes the course,
which leads up to the diploma of " agricultural technician ", required
for admission to the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture. There are
four schools of this type (798 pupils in 1949) ; they are located in
the States of Matto Grosso, Eio Grande do Sul, Parahyba and
Espirito Santo.
Under the law on agricultural education (1946), agricultural
schools that are not administered by the federal Government are
required to obtain permission from that Government to award
official diplomas. These schools are of two kinds : " equivalent "
schools, run by the States or the Federal District, and recognised
schools belonging to the municipalities or private citizens. For
educational purposes, the Ministry of Agriculture is required to
co-operate with the Ministry of Education in inspecting these
schools.
The total number of the schools was not obtainable. There are
11 in the State of Säo Paulo : eight of them are administered
by the Ministry of Agriculture and three by the office of the
superintendent of vocational training.
ÎTear Santos, in the State of Säo Paulo, there is also a fishery
school which has recently been converted into an institute of oceanography. I t is not an official school but a private institution subsidised
by the federal Government. I t grants " fishery technicians' "
certificates at the secondary level. 1
University

standard.

The federal Government maintains a school of agricultural
science and a school of veterinary medicine, both of which are
attached to the university of Eio de Janeiro. They are located
within Rio de Janeiro State on very extensive grounds ; besides
the students, some of the teachers and their families, as well as a
large staff, i.e., some 4,000 persons in all, live on the estate. The
school of agricultural science, which is well-equipped, consisting
of a series of buildings, was designed to cope with an intake of
The Saite Plan recommended that two more fishery schools be established.

154

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

50 students a year, making a total of 200 ; but up to 1949
there were only about 20 a year. The school of veterinary
medicine was designed to hold 100 students. I t is open to pupils
who have obtained the leaving diploma of the agrotechnical schools.
The course lasts four years and those who have completed it
successfully receive a degree of agronomist or of veterinary surgeon.
There is another federal school of agriculture at Pelotas (Bio
Grande do Sul). A number of States have their own schools of
agriculture, which also award degrees in agricultural science. There
are seven of these schools, located in the States of Ceara, Parahyba,
Pernambuco, Bahia, Säo Paulo, .Minas Gerais and Eio Grande do
Sul. There is a private school, also at the advanced level, in the
State of Minas Gérais.
The federal Government runs postgraduate courses at the
national centre for agricultural studies and research, which is
located on the same estate as the school of agricultural science
or rural university. These courses, of from two to four months,
train those taking them for careers as specialists in the Ministry
of Agriculture. 1 In 1948 there were 24 different courses in the
programme.
Commerce.
Elementary and intermediate standards.
Under Legislative Decree ufo. 6,141 of 28 December 1943, which
organised commercial education, the directorate of commercial
education of the Ministry of Education is empowered to direct and
supervise the instruction provided in all commercial schools run by
a State or municipality, or in private schools. This directorate
prepares the curricula, and only schools that conform to them may
award the diplomas specified in the Decree.
Commercial education is divided into two phases. The first
is taken in " commercial " schools. Children of 11 years and over
who have received some elementary education are admitted to these
schools by examination. The course lasts four years, and combines
basic commercial training with general primary education. The
second phase is given in " commercial technical schools ", open to
pupils who have completed the first phase of commercial education,
and to those who have finished the first part of their secondary
education or of a teacher training course. The course lasts three
years, and combines general secondary education with technical
education in the following subjects, among which the pupil may
choose : (1) commerce and advertising ; (2) administration ; (3) accountancy ; (4) statistics ; (5) secretarial work. The diploma awarded
on conclusion of the course grants access to the university.
The directorate of commercial education has published a
detailed syllabus for each subject taught in the basic and technical
commercial courses, supplemented with instructions concerning
methods of applying the syllabus.
The commercial schools under the supervision of the directorate
of commercial education have expanded greatly during the last
1
Ministerio de Agricultura, Centro Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisas Agronómicas, Regulamento dos Cursos de Aperfeigoamento e Especializaçao, Serviço de
Informaçâo Agrícola, Rio de Janeiro, 1942.

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

155

few years : in 1930 there were 145 schools with 15,500 pupils ; by
1940 there were 280 with 49,800 ; and by 1948 there were 497,
with about 80.000. 1
There is also a large number of schools which are not recognised
because the training they provide is only of a sketchy or limited
character, and does not cover all the official curricula. I t was
estimated in 1948 that there were over 1,000 commercial schools
in Brazil. 2
Legislative Decree No. 8,261 of 10 January 1946 set up, besides
the scheme administered by the Ministry of Education, a national
commercial apprenticeship service similar to the national industrial
apprenticeship service in that the schools of this service were
established to teach young employees. The scheme, known as
Senac, was to be administered by the National Confederation of
Commerce, under the supervision of the Ministry of Education.
Senac is financed by a tax on commercial establishments amounting to 1 per cent, of their total wage-bill. Children between the ages
of 14 and 18 working in these establishments have to attend classes
in Senac schools for half their working hours.
Besides classes for young employees between the ages of 14 and
18, for whom education is compulsory, Senac also runs classes for
pupils who wish to be trained although they are under no compulsion
to attend such classes. The classes for young persons are as follows :
(a) " basic courses ", giving the minimum instruction necessary
for access to other classes ;
(b) qualifying courses for certain commercial occupations ;
(c) short intensive courses providing youths over 16 years of
age with the general knowledge required for specific commercial
activities.
Senac has made a detailed analysis of commercial operations,
and it has thus been able to define as many as 700 distinct activities.
The organisation of commercial education is to be based on this study.
At the end of 1948 there were 286 Senac schools or courses to
be found in 124 towns located in 19 States and in the Federal
District. In the State of Rio Grande do Sul alone, there were
81 schools in 25 towns. I n 1948 there were 19,239 trainees on the
books ; this comprises adults and young apprentices. Separate
figures for these two classes of trainee were not available. The
States or districts in which there were more than 1,000 trainees
were the Federal District (5,512), and the States of Sâo Paulo
(3,903), Eio Grande do Sul (2,842) and Santa Catharina (1,233).
Aid for Technical

Training

Within the Country.
The three Legislative Decrees which govern training for industry
(No. 4,073 of 1942), commerce (No. 6,141 of 1943) and agriculture
(No. 9,613 of 1946) provide that education in the official schools
which are subject to these Decrees shall be free, and require the
authorities to make arrangements for assistance to students, so that
1
2

Information kindly provided by the directorate of commercial education.
Cf. Economic Conference of Chicago, IV Plenary of the Inter-American
Council of Commerce and Production, p. 3.

156

VOCATIONAL TEAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

gifted would-be trainees who lack the necessary means may nevertheless be in a position to benefit by such training. Boarding
facilities are to be provided in agricultural schools.
As a matter of fact it is now a fairly general practice to offer
a midday meal to technical school pupils.
Higher education is not free, but the fees are moderate. For
example, the enrolment fee at the rural university is 150 cruzeiros
a year. Lodging is free, but board must as a rule be paid for at the
rate of 12 cruzeiros a day. A few scholarships are awarded on the
basis of need and merit.
On the other hand, since 1950, Senai grants maintenance and
transportation allowances to young persons residing in localities
where this organisation has not yet opened an industrial school or
suitable courses. 1
There seem to be no general rules governing the allocation to
students of a share of the profits earned on outside orders t h a t are
carried out in technical school workshops : there is no reference to
this in the legislation. The I.L.O. Mission visited schools in the State
of Säo Paulo where a small daily wage was paid to students who
worked on such orders, and other schools in the Federal District
where outside orders were accepted but where the trainees had no
share in the profits.
Training

Abroad.

In the realm of agricultural science, Legislative Decree £To. 4,083
of 4 February 1942 authorised the Minister of Agriculture (Article 7),
to bestow five travelling scholarships a year on students with an
outstanding record in postgraduate studies at the agricultural study
and research institute. The scholarships consist of the cost of a
return passage and a maintenance allowance calculated according
to the cost of living in the country of residence. As a prerequisite
for obtaining such a scholarship, candidates must have an adequate
command of the language of the country where they wish to reside,
so that they may profit by their visit, which must not exceed
18 months. The regulation is, of course, applied within the limits
set by the funds available.
Brazilians who wish to acquire practical training abroad may take
advantage of a number of facilities afforded by Governments of
foreign countries, including United States In-Service Training
Grants. I n 1948 there were 22 Brazilians who had worked in
various American departments while in receipt of these grants.
There are also university scholarships, of which from 24 to 30 may
be made available in any one year in American universities alone ;
these scholarships are granted for all sorts of studies, not necessarily
for technical ones.
The most important programmes of technical training proper are
those for the training of the staff of industrial schools. For two
years now there have been two programmes for this purpose. One
is administered by the American-Brazilian Commission of Industrial
Education which in 1948 sent 40 Brazilians to the United States
at its own expense to train as instructors. I t was planned that
25 .persons, of whom five would be school principals, 10 members
1

See Escolas e Cursos do Senai, op. cit. and Revista Senai, No. 63-64, Oct.Deo. 1950, p. 42.

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

157

of school administrative staffs and 10 workshop instructors, would
be sent to the United States for a year in 1949. Before leaving,
the scholars have to sign a three-year contract as a guarantee that
they will not abandon their posts ; otherwise they must refund
the cost of training.
The other programme is run by Senai, which sends youths to
Europe at its own expense to train as instructors for its schools.
This programme is described below with reference to the training
of adult workers. Pending the time when it can organise its
own postgraduate courses, Senai has in some cases also granted
scholarships to engineers for postgraduate study abroad. A total
of 10 scholarships of this type were awarded between 1945 and
1949, two for textile engineers and eight for dyestuff chemists
employed in the textile industry. 1
In-Plant

Training

Apprentice training is being greatly extended in Brazil. The
new system is a combination of part-time practical training in an
industrial or commercial undertaking and part-time theoretical
instruction in vocational schools set up specially for the purpose
by Senai or Senac.
TRAINING OP ADULT WORKERS

Training and Improvement Courses
The enactments which govern, respectively, vocational education
for industry (1942), commerce (1943) and agriculture (1946) in
Brazil all provide for the organisation by vocational schools, within
their own financial and technical resources, of " further training "
and improvement courses for young persons and adults.
The further training courses are accelerated training courses of
evening classes for young persons over 16 years of age or for adults
who wish to learn a trade quickly. The improvement courses are
open to those already occupied in a certain trade, who have obtained
a technical education certificate and wish to extend their knowledge
of their own trade. The length of these courses is left to be determined, according to the particular trade, by the authorities which
organise them.
The I.L.O. Mission visited a number of State schools where such
courses had been organised, but was unable to obtain comprehensive
information with regard to the number of federal, State or private
schools which had actually organised such courses, or the total number
of students taking them. At the national technical school, where
classes of this type were held in the evening three times a week,
the number of students enrolled had appreciably diminished since
1943, when there were a total of 139 for four courses—electric
welding, printing and kindred trades, ceramics and carpentry.
This change is perhaps to be explained by the development of
courses for adults run by Senai.
Senai began to organise classes for adults, i.e., persons over
18 years of age, in 1946. These classes, held in the evenings on the
1

Revista Senai, Oct. 1949, p . 86.
11

158

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

premises used for apprenticeship training during the daytime,
are of three types í —
(a) Five-month rapid introductory training courses—there
were 1,411 trainees taking these courses in the first half of 1947,
and 1,088 taking them in the second half.2 These courses generally
consist of three or four 2 %-hour classes per week, and deal with
simple processes, mechanics and metallurgy (turning, fitting, welding,
filing, milling, etc.), electricity (coiling, electric welding, etc.), carpentry or building, or printing (typesetting, linotyping, etc.).
There were no fewer than 12 skills taught in the sixth Senai region.
Fifteen accelerated courses had been arranged in the transport
industry.
(b) Training courses for untrained adult workers (workers over
18) who have already found employment in industry.
The curriculum is the same as t h a t of apprentice training courses
for young persons, although there is less time available since the
classes are held in the evenings. Those who complete the course
receive the same " trades card " as those who have had an ordinary
apprenticeship. There were 1,213 students enrolled for these courses
in the second half of 1947. 3
As is the case with courses for young persons, adults who wish
to take one of these courses and do not have a general education
sufficient to profit by it begin by taking a preparatory course.
There were 350 adults taking such courses in the second half of
1947. 4
(c) Improvement courses, generally of five months also, and
held in the evenings under the same conditions. To enter for one
of these courses workers must prove t h a t they are already employed
in the type of work with which the course deals. In the second
half of 1947 the number of those who had enrolled for these courses
was 1,381.6 In the fourth Senai region there were 12 courses, which
provide examples of the subjects taught : fitting, electrical technology, electrical fitting, joinery, radio-engineering, electrical engineering, electric welding, turning-lathe work, finishing, geometrical and
projection drawing, weaving processes for foremen 6 and warp
winding. In the same year no fewer than 44 improvement courses
had been organised in the field of transport.
Some of the courses for adults—such as those in textile manufacture, certain electrical techniques like coiling, and in printing
and bookbinding—are open to workers of either sex.
1
Cf. Senai, Departamento Nacional, Relatorio de 1947, Rio de Janeiro, 1948,
pp. 48 et seq.
2
Enrolment during the second half of 1949 was 902 {Revista Senai, Dec. 1949,
p. 64).
3
Enrolment during the second half of 1949 was 751 (op. cit.).
4
Enrolment in the second half of 1949 was 117 (ibid.).
6
Enrolment in the second half of 1949 was 877 (ibid.).
6
There is a large variety of SENAI adult training courses for the textile industry.
Apart from basic training courses, there are others for technicians, and leading
hands, and improvement courses for foremen. At the end of 1949 there was some
talk of adding postgraduate courses for engineers in the techniques of the textile
industry and in the dyeing of yarn and cloth : SENAI had awarded scholarships—
10 of them up to that time—to engineers, so that they might go abroad to gain
this type of expert knowledge (Revista Senai, Oct. 1949, pp. 68-70, 86).

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

159

Senac has also developed accelerated training and improvement
courses for commerce which are open to adults, but the sources of
information available do not distinguish between young persons in
apprenticeship and adults attending evening classes.
I t seems that agricultural schools at the elementary and intermediate levels have not had an opportunity of developing the adult
training courses provided for in the Legislative Decree governing
agricultural training. Training facilities for farmers and stockbreeders are provided by the various extension services organised
by departments of the Ministry of Agriculture other than the department in charge of agricultural education in schools. For agriculture
proper a central department organised in seven special sections
—for coffee, cereals, cotton, agricultural machinery, etc.—controls
the country's extension services through its 24 centres, each of
which is responsible for a certain area. These services both teach
and lend assistance ; they keep in touch with farmers by carrying
out technical inspection. The extension services are organising
young farmers' clubs in schools. Government departments also
help stockbreeders and provide veterinary assistance ; they operate
through 113 field stations, each of which has an agricultural scientist,
a veterinary surgeon and various subordinates on its staff.
The fishery and game division of the Ministry has a fishery
inspection service, and the experts of this service give advice to
fishermen.
The Ministry of Agriculture, in co-operation with the Secretariat
for Agriculture in the States concerned, has organised intensive
specialisation courses in a number of subjects : in mechanised
agriculture, drainage, irrigation and soil-conservation on the federal
farm at Ipanema (Säo Paulo) ; in stockbreeding on four farms in
the State of Pernambuco ; and in dairy farming and milk testing
on a school farm in the State of Minas Gerais. The Salte Plan
recommends that these experiments be continued on a greater
scale, and that 10 scholarships be provided for study of mechanised
farming abroad.
At the higher level of agricultural training, the federal Government has organised improvement courses especially for officials of
the Ministry of Agriculture, that is for adults. These courses have
already been mentioned in connection with the vocational training
of young persons for agriculture ; they form the apex of that scheme,
too.
Courses for Instructors and Foremen
The plan of work in technical schools includes courses for the
foreman's certificate. They are full-time courses for youths
who have just completed their elementary training in the first
course and who are not yet bound by contracts of employment.
For this reason they were mentioned above in the section on the
training of young persons.
On the other hand, Senai selects a certain number of outstanding adult workers who are sent to an appropriate school to
be trained as foremen. In 1947, 137 had already been trained,
and 182 had been selected for the same training in 1948. This is
full-time training, and trainees receive either an allowance or board
and lodging in specially equipped premises.
I t is admitted that the provision of teaching staff for technical
schools, particularly workshop instructors, is a very difficult problem.

160

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Of the measures that have been taken to cope with it, besides engaging foreign technicians, a number are aimed at training Brazilian
staff either within the country or abroad.
As has been pointed out above, an essential feature of the programme of technical assistance by the American-Brazilian Industrial
Education Commission for the improvement of teaching in schools
run by the Ministry of Education is the organisation of facilities
for training both administrative and teaching staff.
Courses have been organised within the country. During the
1946-1947 summer vacation the principals of all the technical
schools under the control of the Ministry of Education were brought
together in Rio de Janeiro for a six-week course. Summer courses
for teachers and instructors were held in the 1947-1948 and 19481949 vacations ; in order to facilitate enrolment in these courses,
they were held in centres in different parts of the country, three
in the first year and four in the second.1 Attendance is voluntary,
but the arrangements have been given extensive publicity. The
courses are open to teachers from recognised private schools and
from Senai schools, as well as from federal or State schools. The
Commission meets all expenses.
The Commission also organises training periods in the United
States, under a system described above.2
Senai is making arrangements to train its teaching staff as a
first step in the development of its programme. Summer courses
of three or four months are considered to be inadequate ; early in
1949 building started on a college for the training of industrial
instructors, and three-year courses are to be run there. The first
of these courses, for instructors in textile manufacture, has already
been started in another building.
Moreover, the instructors who have already received appointments under Senai are encouraged to make use of correspondence
courses.
Study facilities abroad have been organised, most of them
with the help of the French Ministry of Education and the United
States Government ; they generally last one year. In 1949 there
were about 20 Brazilian instructors who had finished their training
abroad, at the Lowell Textile Institute in the United States, the
Ecole normale d'apprentissage in Paris, or special technical schools
like those of La Martiniere in Lyons, the Boulle School of CabinetMaking in Paris, the Eoubaix School of Weaving, etc. Early in
1949 there were still nine instructors being trained in France. Plans
for 1950 provided for sending 18 more instructors to Europe, 10
of them to France, two of them to Switzerland to study the
manufacture of scientific instruments, and six to Italy to study
electronics.

1
The programme of summer courses of January-February 1949 comprised the
following special subjects : job analysis in mechanical trades, and in bookbinding ;
methodology of vocational training ; machine-shop layout and management ;
applied psychology in industrial training ; vocational guidance. Each of those
taking part could choose three subjects.
2
See p. 156.

APPENDIX I : BRAZIL

161

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Vocational Guidance
The three Decrees which govern vocational training for industry,
commerce and agriculture lay down that the staff of the schools
subject to these Decrees shall include guidance officers.
I t appears to the I.L.O. Mission, from the visits it made to
various schools, that until then the development of their guidance
programme had been irregular. However, one of the provisions had
been applied in all the schools : they had adopted the system of an
introductory course of six months, during which pupils may test
their skill and ascertain their preferences with regard to the various
skills taught in the school by working in each workshop in turn.
Guidance methods in some schools were more advanced. For
instance at the Sâo Paulo technical school, guidance was carried
out as follows. There was a psychotechnical examination on entry,
followed during the first six months by systematic psycho-technical
and mental tests and by interviews with the guidance officer. The
remarks of the various teachers were marked on a " probation
sheet ", and the results achieved were summarised by an objective
system of marking. The guidance officer relied on this when assessing
the vocational aptitude of each student. If his assessment were to
be challenged by the child or its parents, the doctor and the
guidance officer would talk it over and try to settle the matter.
The American-Brazilian Industrial Education Commission has
applied itself to the task of training persons to help all the schools
under the control of the Ministry of Education to improve their
guidance methods. Summer courses organised by the Commission
include vocational guidance classes.
Accurate vocational guidance methods have been worked out
in the Senai schools, so that they may be in a position to carry
out their legal duty of selecting apprentices. I t is thought that
the best way of doing this is to run pre-vocational courses. The
Sâo Paulo regional department of Senai has made a very careful
study of the method applied in these courses. 1
The preparatory courses are so arranged that the basic training
given covers various types of work adapted to the interests and
aptitudes of those doing it and related to the resources of the region.
Trades are classified according to the amount of manual work or
physical and muscular effort required, their fixed or variable nature,
and the type of intelligence exercised.
In the course of training the pupil's personality, bents and
aptitudes are subjected to systematic observation. The results
are noted on personal cards recording occupational aptitude, attainments, and observations giving objective proofs of suitability or
unsuitability for the trade chosen. Intelligence and aptitude tests,
and an enquiry into the trainee's economic and social background,
are carried out also. The results are summarised on the pupil's
guidance card. Finally, the card gives the opinion of the guidance
officer, countersigned by the school principal.
1
Sao Paulo—Serviço Nacional de Aprendizagem Industrial, Departamento
Kegional : Cursos Vocacionais e Orientando Profissionai no Senai—¿fonografías
Senai, No. 6, 1947.

162

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

The juvenile labour registration and statistics section of
Senai, which is in touch with undertakings requiring apprentices,
relies on these observations in making arrangements for apprenticing
pupils. It is intended that the various branches of Senai which
will subsequently have dealings with the apprentice should carry
out a follow-up study.
The aim is to develop pre-vocational courses sufficiently for this
to become the normal means of entry to apprenticeship, instead of
direct recruitment of apprentices by the firm.
Employment Services
It should be noted that young persons under the age of 18 years
cannot enter employment without the authorisation, in every case,
of the special department of the Ministry of Labour which issues
the young person's work book. This department supervises placement, but does not arrange it. As pointed out above there is a
special department in Senai for the registration of juvenile labour ;
this department deals with placement.
The Ministry of Labour, Industry and Commerce has a labour
identity service which issues work permits and keeps a special
register of qualified technicians, and thus collects a considerable
amount of information relating to the manpower situation. However,
no abstracts are prepared and the information is not published.
The Ministry also has a section for the placement of workers.
This has a single employment office, open twice a week, in Eio de
Janeiro. It is more an office for placing people who are in difficulties,
or helping them to obtain relief, than an office for the supervision
and organisation of the labour market.
In the various full-time technical schools visited by the Mission, pupils who have completed their studies are often placed by
the school itself.

CHILE
The history of Chilean technical education is over a century
old. The arts and crafts school at Santiago, still the most important
industrial school in the country, was founded in 1845. A few years
previously, in 1842, a practical agricultural school was founded,
which was converted in 1874 into an advanced agricultural establishment. Since then, there has been a large increase in the number
of vocational training establishments ; and since many administrative bodies are interested in the development of industrial training, the skeleton plan of the various training establishments is
extremely complex. This is, indeed, a very striking characteristic
of the structure of the national system. The analysis which follows
will also show that methods of training vary under the different
bodies, although they are all within the same economic field.
Private initiative has played a noteworthy part in the development of technical instruction in Chile. Santa Maria technical
university at Valparaiso, an institution teaching industrial technique which is held in the highest repute throughout the Americas,
is due to such initiative.
I t is largely since 1927 that a marked development in vocational education has taken place, with the educational reform of
that year which provided that technical education should be a
branch of secondary education, thus, as it were, putting technical
education on the same footing as the humanities. Prom that moment
on, the accent, in matters of vocational study, fell on the training
of technicians and ungraded technical personnel, and there was a
particularly great increase in training facilities for such personnel.
The setting up, some 12 years later, of the Chilean Development
Corporation (Corporación de Fomento de Producción) opened a new
era in Chile, as it made at once for rapid evolution towards industrialisation in fairly varied fields as well as for increased vocational
training. While encouraging further development of the mining
industry, Chile's oldest industry, the Corporation also broke fresh
ground by introducing, or stimulating the introduction of, various
other primary or manufacturing industries into the country. Some
of these industries are of a very technical character—to give only
a few examples in various fields, the pharmaceutico-chemical industry, tyre manufacturing, metal construction, the construction of
radios and electrical apparatus, the fishing industry and by-products,
the wood industry and its by-products, petroleum mining and,
more recently, the steel industry. New needs and a new demand
for personnel were thus created, and these were perhaps particularly keenly felt at the two extreme levels of industry. At the
highest level—that of the management of undertakings and of their
services of industrial research—the training of technical staff was
stimulated by the setting up of scholarships or grants provided for
either directly by the funds of the Corporation or by the funds of
a special foundation attached to it, known as the Pedro Aguirre
Cerda foundation. Scholarships were granted for study either within

164

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

the country, when the necessary facilities exist, or abroad. At the
manual labour level, a need was felt for skilled manpower in the
newly introduced industries, manpower which, obviously, could not
be trained, as it usually is, by experience in the undertakings themselves. Consequently, the number of manual apprenticeship schools
was considerably increased, without, however, any lessening of
current efforts to diversify the technical courses. Nevertheless,
both the public authorities and the employers concerned frankly
admitted to the I.L.O. Mission that the available technical staff and
specialist workers were still inadequate, and that further efforts would
have to be made in the next few years to increase their numbers
in order to be able to put into practice the plans drawn up for the
industrialisation of the country.
Chile having applied in 1951, under the expanded technical
assistance programme, for assistance in education and technical
training, a joint I.L.O./U.N.E.S.C.O. project is under consideration.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
Industry.
The directorate general of elementary education and the directorate general of vocational training, both of which come under the
Ministry of Education, administer vocational training institutions
which, although on different levels, do not differ very much, in
purpose.
Pre-vocational education.
We include under this head the institutions administered or
controlled by the directorate general of elementary education. 1
That directorate has organised courses bearing three different
titles :
(a) Pre-vocational classes (grados prevocacionales), in the fifth
and sixth grades of elementary schooling or in child assistance
homes.
(b) Vocational classes (grados vocacionales) which follow on the
pre-vocational classes.
The general aim of both these types of instruction is the same,
namely, to awaken a vocational interest in children, or even to provide a rudimentary knowledge of a trade for those who will not have
the opportunity to acquire a more complete education. There are
courses of this sort in six official schools for boys and in 100 official
schools for girls, as well as in many private schools.
For boys, the main trades taught are carpentry, printing, bookbinding, shoemaking, tailoring, mechamos and draughtsmanship.
Several schools concentrate on teaching a single trade.
For girls, lingerie-making, sewing, hand weaving, embroidery and
domestic science are the main features of the curriculum.
1
Dirección General de Educación Primaria, Sección Técnico-Pedagógica y
Sección de Enseñanza Vocacional : Guía de Establecimientos de Continuación para
Escolares Primarios (Santiago de Chile, 1947), pp. 74-78 and 129-160.

165

APPENDIX I : CHILE

(c) The so-called vocational schools (escuelas vocacionales), of
which there are nine for boys and 38 for girls, have the same general
aims but provide a more complete education. On completion of the
course a specialised worker's certificate is given. Most schools offer
a choice between four or five different trades including the ones
mentioned above and such others as ceramics, tapestry-weaving,
furniture making and electricity.
Elementary, intermediate and advanced practical standards.
The establishments in this group come under the directorate
general of vocational training.
The number of schools and pupils concerned in May 1948 is shown
in the following table 1 :
VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN MAT 1 9 4 8
Boys
Standard

Numbers
of schools

Type of school

Number of students
Enrolled

Average
attendance

4,013

3,644

Handicrafts schools—general .
Handicrafts schools—specialised
Industrial schools—general . .
Industrial schools—specialised .
Arts & crafts school 1 . . . .

24 1

2,978

2,693

787

732

Technical industrial courses . .

8
3

:
1,186

a
1,141

Engineering Industrial engineers schools * .

119

57 *

9,083

8,290

12 )
2 \
1 1

5,810

4,689

5,810

4,689

Trades

Technical

Total

Girls

Women's advanced school. . .
Total
1

Since the arts and crafts school gives courses for all three standards, there are
really 55 centres with 57 schools. * The relevant figures are included in the totals for
handicrafts and industrial schools of the trades standard.

1. Trades standard. In a Decree of 1938, so-called handicrafts
schools were created in order to improve the technical skills of
manual labour in industry, which had previously been trained in the
undertakings themselves. It is intended to increase the capacity
and number of these schools until they are able to admit approximately 10,000 persons.
After an examination, young persons between 13 and 17 years
of age who have completed at least the fourth grade of elementary
Information supplied b y the directorate general of vocational training.

166

VOCATIONAL TBATNING IN LATIN AMEBICA

schooling are admitted to the preparatory course ; and young persons between 14 and 17 years of age who have completed the sixth
grade of elementary schooling or the second grade of secondary
schooling are admitted to the first grade of the regular course.
A medical certificate of fitness is also required. On completion of
the regular three-year course (or four-year course including the preparatory year) a certificate of " craftsman " (artesano) is granted.
Students may then take a supplementary course of one year in order
to complete their studies.
There are 24 handicrafts schools, each one of which offers courses
in at least four, and sometimes in six or eight, different trades.
Altogether, those courses deal with the following trades :
electricity and mechanics : motor mechanics, agricultural mechanics, mechanical turning, electrical installation, electrical motors
and oxy-acetylene and arc welding ;
iron-forging and locksmithery : boiler-making, body-building,
farriery, art metal work, nickel-plating, coppersmithery and metal
work and snarling ;
plumbing : sanitary installation, pipe-laying, draining and
heating ;
carpentry and cabinet-making : building carpentry, ship carpentry, wood-turning, wood sculpture, upholstery, cooperage and
wooden eoachwork ;
masonry, painting and stucco work ;
leather work : furriery, harness-making, saddle-making, shoemaking and fancy leather work.
The 24 general handicrafts schools are regional in the sense
that they take in students resident in the area covered by each
school. The specialised handicrafts schools, on the other hand, are
national, that is to say that they take in students from no matter
what region. Three of these schools are in Santiago (dealing with
tailoring, the hotel industry and sanitary plumbing, including
heating and refrigeration), one, dealing with textiles (including
dyeing and finishing) is at Tomé and another, dealing with ceramics,
is at Lota. The sixth, which deals with clock-making, jewellery
and precision instruments, is more particularly intended for adults.
The so-called industrial schools admit in the initial stage those
students between 13 and 16 years of age who have completed the
sixth grade of elementary schooling. I n all the schools visited, since
the number of prospective entrants was generally three to five
times greater than the capacity of the schools, competitive examinations were held in order to select the students. A certificate of skilled
worker (práctico) in his chosen trade is awarded to a student on
completion of his studies. The course lasts an average of four years,
but it may be shorter or longer according to the trade chosen. The
trades taught are more definitely industrial than those taught
in the handicrafts schools. I n 1949 the following trades were taught
in all the schools taken as a whole : industrial, agricultural, textile,
forestry and mining mechanics ; electricity (electrical installation
and switchboards) ; iron smelting and founding ; building carpentry
and ship's carpentry ; mine-timbering and -tubbing ; cabinetmaking ; iron-forging and metal-work ; sanitary installation, tin
and lead work ; arc and oxy-acetylene welding ; spinning and weaving of textiles and saddlery and harness-making. The specialised
school at San Vicente (to which reference will be made later) deals

APPENDIX I : CHILE

167

with fishing, and that at Santiago with the printing trades (typography, linotyping, lithography, printing and binding) ; the arts
and crafts school, the central and oldest school, teaches at least
15 trades, including machine construction.
So far as the I.L.O. Mission could gather from its visits to various
industrial and technical schools, the students' choice of trade is
very uneven. All the schools complain of the excessive popularity
of such subjects as mechanics and electricity and of the neglect
in which certain other workshops are left by the students' choice
of trade. Particularly neglected are smelting and the wood industries.
I n newly set up schools with limited equipment, the overtaxing
of mechanics workshops created serious problems, while the equipment of other workshops remained unused. I n order to avoid
disorganising the workshops, some schools had decided to take certain neglected trades off the list of subjects to be chosen and to
teach them compulsorily as basic subjects.
An increase in the number of trades taught is expected,
especially in connection with the petroleum industry, the mechanics
of agricultural tractors, and steel work, the timber industry and
industrial chemistry.
2. Technical standard. Industrial courses of this standard
are taught in the same schools, and admission is open either to
students who have finished the four-year initial course, or to those
leaving secondary schools. The technical course lasts two years, and
is supplemented by periods of practical work done either during the
vacations or at the end of the period of study. The degree of " technician " is awarded on completion of study and after one year's
practice and submission of a thesis concerning that year's work.
The trades taught in these schools deal with mechanics, electricity, smelting, cabinet-making, textiles, the forestry industry, shipbuilding, the graphic arts, and water, heating and drain installation.
I t is planned to open a technical course at the fisheries school.
3. Engineering standard. Courses of this standard are given
at a higher, quasi-university, level and lead to the degree of " industrial engineer ". These are new courses (1941), and are, at the present
moment, only given at the national arts and crafts school. The
course given at that school was started as a continuation of technical
studies, when the engineering school at the university did not admit
students who had not matriculated. The studies carried out there are
considered to be equivalent to the university standard. The course
lasts three years, following on the technical stage ; this represents
a total of ten years of vocational study (including the preparatory
course), starting from elementary school and going from stage to
stage to the highest technical study.
A choice between five specialisations is offered at the industrial
engineers school, namely : mechanical, electrical, metallurgical,
chemical and mining engineering. The last of these is intended for
students holding diplomas for the technical courses in mining schools.
I t is planned to start a similar advanced school dealing with civil
engineering and surveying.
4. Girls. On principle, no boys' school is open to women,
not even schools specialising in industries which employ a high
percentage of women, such as the textiles school at Concepción.
However, in order to get around the inflexibility of this regulation,
that school has unofficially organised courses in one or two specialised

168

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

operations of the textile industry, such as the fine darning of textiles,
for the students of a neighbouring women's vocational school. The
school also exceptionally trains women as weaving instructors for
women's schools.
Normally, the instruction of girls is the responsibility of vocational schools. For admission to second class courses, completion
of the sixth grade of elementary schooling or of the first grade of
secondary schooling is required. The regular courses last two to
three years and successful students receive a certificate of competency as worker in the chosen trade. After the second stage, which
generally lasts three years, a diploma of shop-forewoman is awarded.
This is given only after a period of practical work lasting six months.
There are generally five or six trades taught in each school, chosen
from among the following : dressmaking, children's clothes, men's
clothes, fashion designing, toy-making, lingerie-making, hand
weaving, mechanical weaving, commercial drawing, the decorative
arts and domestic science.
Teachers are trained at the advanced stage.
University standard.
There is a school of engineering in the university of Chile which
trains students for careers such as civil engineering, mining engineering, industrial mechanics engineering and electrical mechanics
engineering. 1 Instruction in the last two branches is still in a
transitional stage. Studies last six years, the first-year curriculum
being the same for all branches.
The capacity of this school is limited, and admission is therefore
based on a competitive system, involving general knowledge tests
and physiological and psychological tests of ability to analyse and
synthesise. The competition is normally open to young persons
who have completed six years of study in the humanities and have
matriculated ; since 1948, however, the school has admitted those
holding diplomas from technical courses after they have first been
through a three-months preparatory course with special classes
in mathematics, vector analysis and mechanical computation common to all students, and other more specialised classes relating to
the branch which the applicant wishes to take up. Students from
foreign countries are admitted, and there are exchange agreements
in force with Bolivia and Colombia.
Private education.
No statistical data are available on the private industrial schools,
but the better known ones should be mentioned. These are the
Salesian school, giving basic education, and Santa Maria technical
university at Valparaiso. The latter is particularly intended to
help poor children in their studies. The school can admit about
400 students. Admission is based on competitive examinations,
approximately 11 to 12 per cent, of applicants being admitted. The
full course of study entails an apprenticeship stage for children
leaving elementary school, with courses in carpentry, iron-forging,
metal work, mechanics, electricity, building and electroplating ; a
1
Reglamentos y Plan de Estudios de la Escuela de Ingeniería
Ciencias físicas y matemáticas, Universidad de Chile, 1948).

(Facultad de

APPENDIX I : CHILE

169

technical stage, and an engineering stage. Students who have a
classical secondary training may compete directly for the technical
stage, where the course of study lasts four years, and then go on to
the engineering stage lasting two years. Students who begin at the
first stage may go through the entire course. The school is run as a
boarding-school with scholarships for the best students ; however,
tuition is free for all. Studies at the technical stage are divided into four
sections dealing with mechanics, electricity, chemistry and buil ding,
and at the engineering stage into three sections dealing with mechanics,
electricity and chemistry. Both the technical and engineering stages
are completed by probationary periods of practical work lasting six
months each. The teaching staff is in general drawn from abroad.
Agriculture.
Pre-vocational and elementary standards.
There are three types of school in this category. Two come under
the general directorate of elementary education in the Ministry
of Education, and one under the Ministry of Agriculture.
1. The Quintas schools are rural elementary schools, provided
with farming land, whose curricula have been revised to combine
rural elementary education with the teaching of the fundamentals
of practical agricultural education. The aim of these schools is to
induce the children of peasants to become attached to the land.
Some of the schools are run on a boarding or semi-boarding basis,
in order to facilitate the attendance of children whose homes are
distant. Enrolment is based on the same system as applies to
ordinary elementary schools.
2. Farm schools (escuelas granjas) are solely for boys. These
free boarding-schools admit, after selective examination, children
of from 12 to 18 years of age who have completed at least the third
grade of elementary schooling and who can produce a certificate of
physical fitness. Sons of peasants are given preference. Here, a
rather more complete elementary education is combined with slightly
more specialised agricultural instruction. Studies last three years,
successful students receiving a certificate of competency. The best
students may afterwards be admitted to an agricultural school or to
a rural teachers' training school.
There were 11 farm schools in 11 different provinces in 1947.
For several years there has also been a girls' farm school at San
Vicente. There, elementary education is combined with instruction
in rural domestic economy and with courses in weaving, lingeriemaking, dressmaking and needlework. After a three-year course
of study, a certificate is awarded in one of the above-mentioned
skills. Students who receive the certificate may then enter a women's
technical school or a rural teachers' training school.
3. The elementary agricultural schools are also intended for
children of school age but are run by the Ministry of Agriculture.
After examination, children between nine and 14 years of age are
admitted who have completed at least the second grade of elementary
schooling and have a certificate of good health. Children may be
admitted as boarders or day students according to their parents'
place of residence. These schools are intended to teach peasant
children to work their own lands. Girls are eligible for admission to

170

VOCATIONAL TRAININO IN LATIN AMEBICA

these schools, since the original plan was that peasant women should
be trained to play their part in running farms so that the maximum
profit might be earned on farming ; but the material arrangements
for admitting them have never been made. Studies last six years
and a certificate of competency is awarded in whatever branch the
student has completed the full course.
There were three such schools in 1949, in the provinces of Duao,
Los Angeles and Eomeral respectively ; and a total enrolment of
468 students. The plan of the Ministry of Agriculture was to raise
the schools to the status of agricultural technical schools.
Intermediate

standard.

The agricultural technical schools, previously called agricultural
practical schools, are also run by the Ministry of Agriculture. They
are intended to train professional agriculturists who have had the
necessary preparation to become good managers of agricultural
undertakings, but they also train assistants for the managers of
large estates. Young persons between 15 and 20 years of age are
admitted after examination, provided they have completed six years
in elementary school or in an agricultural elementary school. A
certificate of fitness for farm work is required. Sons of peasants in
the area are given preference for admission to these schools where
board is free only to a certain number of scholarship holders ; tuition
is, however, free to all.
The basic course lasts three years which may, if necessary, be
preceded by a preparatory course for new students whose general
education is inadequate. Students completing the course are
certified as skilled agricultural workers (prácticos agrícolas). Subsequently, students may take a specialised course lasting one year,
to obtain a diploma as agricultural experts in the chosen branch
(peritos agrícolas).
There were five agricultural schools of this kind in 1949 with a
total enrolment of 373 students. 1
These schools are becoming increasingly specialised. The school
at Ancud specialises in stockbreeding and potato growing ; that at
Chilian in general agriculture, stock-rearing and vine-growing ; that
at Molina in vine-growing, wine-making and fruit-growing; the
school at San Felipe in fruit-growing, industrial farming and stockrearing and related industries ; and that at Temuco in stock-rearing,
dairy-farming and cereal growing.
University

standard.

The faculty of agronomy and veterinary surgery in the university
of Chile admits, after competitive examinations, both male and
female students who have completed secondary studies in some
branch of science, and who have matriculated. 2
1
2

There are also five or six private schools for boys of about the same standard.
At the moment it is impossible to go straight from the intermediate standard
to the advanced agricultural standard, since only students who have matriculated
are admitted to the latter. The Chilean Association of Agricultural Experts put
forward a claim for direct admission to the faculty of agronomy to the Ministry
of Agriculture, in 1948, along with other suggestions for the reform of studies at
the intermediate standard, and for better use of those obtaining diplomas at that
standard. According to the Association, 70 per cent, of these people are forced to
give up the career for which they have been trained f©r lack of employment facilities.

APPENDIX I : CHILE

171

The study programme was revised in 1943 and now lasts five
years. During the vacations between the second and third years
and between the third and fourth years, students must spend at
least six weeks doing research and practical farming work along
lines laid down by the school ; during the vacation between the
fourth and fifth years they must make a study trip organised by the
school through various regions of the country. The entire fifth year
is devoted to practical agricultural work on lands belonging to the
school. The degree awarded is that of agronomist. To obtain the
degree, students must maintain an average standard of proficiency
throughout the course, pass an examination, and submit two theses,
one dealing with some subject in agronomy, and the other with some
aspect of rural administration. 1
Fisheries.
The fisheries school at San Vincente, founded in 1936, is the
responsibility of the general directorate of technical education in
the Ministry of Education. I t can take up to 150 students, and
admits young persons between 12 and 15 years of age to its preparatory course and between 13 and 16 years of age to its regular
course, provided they have completed the fourth or sixth grades
of elementary schooling respectively. Out of the 75 or 80 candidates
who apply yearly for admission some 40 or 50 are accepted, a preference being given to fishermen's sons. Most students are boarded,
holding grants or scholarships from the State, the Pedro Aguirre
Cerda foundation of the Chilean Development Corporation.
So far tuition is only given at the basic stage. This lasts four
years, but since many of the elementary schools in the area only give
four-year courses, most students also take a preparatory year. Specialisation only begins after the second year of the regular course,
and may take place in one of three different branches. The first is
fishing, including marine biology and navigational instruction, leading to the certificate of master fisherman ; the second is 'shipbuilding
leading to the certificate of ship's carpenter, and the third is the
fish products industry leading to the certificate of qualified worker
in the fishing industry. An intermediate certificate may be awarded
at the end of the third year for those who do not wish to pursue
their studies further.
The area in which the school is situated is particularly favourable for sardine, tuna, salmon and whale fishing. I t is planned to
extend the instruction given in this school to include a technical
course at the second standard lasting three years, but the school
can only be developed as it becomes possible to obtain the necessary
staff. The present director of the school was educated in the United
States and Canada, and the school trains its own teachers for the
initial course.
I t is also planned to start other fisheries schools under the plan
of development drawn up for this field by the Chilean Development
Corporation.

1
Universidad de Chile, Facultad de Agronomia : Reglamentos de las Escuelas
Universitarias dependientes de la Facultad de Agronomía (1943).

172

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Commerce.
Pre-vocational and elementary standards.
Some commercial courses are given in certain of the so-called
vocational schools, and particularly in the girls' schools, run by the
general directorate of elementary education.
Intermediate

standard.

The administration of commercial education on a rather technical
level is the responsibility of the commercial education section of the
general directorate of vocational education. Twenty commercial
institutes were running in 1949 in 17 different towns, Santiago
having four, one of which was an advanced institute. Almost
without exception, these are either co-educational establishments,
or they have boys' and girls' sections side by side. In April 1949
there was a total of 11,804 students, including full-time students
following daytime classes and adult or child students attending
evening classes.
Young persons from 13 to 15 years of age who have completed
an education equivalent to six years of elementary schooling are
admitted to the daytime courses. A medical certificate is also
required. Some schools have also organised preparatory courses to
which children who have only completed the fourth grade of
elementary schooling may be admitted.
The full syllabus, which lasts six years, is divided into two
stages. A certificate of commercial competency is awarded after the
first three years. The second stage, also of three years, leads to the
following degrees according to the branch of commercial activity
chosen : accountant, sales agent and accountant, and secretarial
accountant. On taking one of these degrees, students may pass to
the advanced course of study at the technical teachers' institute,
to train as State teachers of commercial education, or a t the faculty
of commerce and industrial economy.
No information is available on the number of students attending
non-approved private commercial courses.
University standard.
Three universities give commercial accountancy courses recognised
by the State, which entitle graduates to enrolment in the national
register of accountants. These are the university of Chile, at its
branch known as the Valentin Letellier popular university, the
Catholic university of Santiago and the Catholic university of
Valparaiso.
Aid for Technical Studies
Within the Country.
Tuition is free in all the schools run by the directorate general
of elementary education and by the directorate general of technical
education ; however, in the schools run by the latter body, a slight
matriculation fee is charged, and students are required to make a
deposit against any possible damage that they may cause to the
school equipment. Many vocational schools are run as boarding-

APPENDIX I : CHILE

173

schools, board generally being free. Maintenance allowances are the
most usual form of aid given by the Minister of Education to students
of slight financial means. Assistance may also be afforded in the form
of cash scholarships to gifted students of slight means. These scholarships may be given either directly by the Chilean Development
Corporation or by the Pedro Aguirre Cerda foundation, which is
attached to it. A hundred such scholarships have been awarded
yearly for study in Chile since the fund was started in 1942.
The directorate general of technical education estimated, in
1949, that approximately 40 per cent, of the students in the schools
under its control received either free board or scholarships. In addition, most schools have their own canteens where some 30 to 40 per
cent, of students are given a free mid-day meal.
In the agricultural schools of the lower standard, that is to say
both in the farm schools of the Ministry of Education and in the
so-called elementary agricultural schools of the Ministry of Agriculture, all students receive free board. In the technical agricultural
schools, tuition is generally free, and most of the boarding accommodation is reserved for scholarship holders. However, these schools
also take in a limited number of supernumerary students as paying
boarders (pensionistas).
Tuition is also free in the faculty of
agronomy.
The number of grants awarded is all the higher since it is the
aim of the Government to encourage a particular branch of technical
study ; almost all students at the fisheries school receive grants
either from the Ministry of Education or from the Chilean Development Corporation.
In certain schools, and especially in specialised schools, the
Fomento Fabril (association of industrial employers) also awards
grants ; 30 such grants were awarded to students in the textile
school at Concepción in 1949.
The university of Chile exempts poor students from the matriculation fee, which is the sole expense of university study, and also
awards maintenance allowances which may vary from between
600 to 1,500 pesos per month. There is a special students' welfare
department in the university which strives to procure material
advantages for students in matters of lodging, employment opportunities, etc.
Abroad.
The Chilean Development Corporation had awarded a hundred
grants for technical study or practical work abroad from July 1942
to 1949. x The money for these grants was drawn from the funds of
the Aguirre Cerda foundation. The grants were awarded for a
large number of technical subjects ; in 1943, for instance, the 21
grants awarded covered work in the fields of soil mechanics, hydrography, geophysics, electro-technics, mass production and préfabrication of houses, architectural building, the treatment of wood,
the steel industry, rural administration, the dairy industry, stockrearing, oenology, meteorology, mining, coal grading, plastics,
distribution services, and public transport.*
1
Chilean Development Corporation : Esquema de Diez Años de Labor, 19391949, Santiago de Chile, 1949.
2
Quia de establecimientos de continuación, op cit., p. 41.
12

174

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The Corporation, through its New York office, also helps Chilean
nationals to take advantage of university scholarships or opportunities for practical work that are available to them in the United
States. I t makes a careful selection of persons sent to the United
States, ensures that the experience acquired there is put to good
use on their return, and, in cases where the scholarships offered by
American universities or foundations are insufficient for the needs
of the students, may even allow them extra money.
In addition to scholarships to the United States, there are two
other scholarships open yearly to Chilean nationals under the Latin
American Cultural Agreement, signed by various members of the
Pan American Union at the Buenos Aires conference of 1936. The
Governments of Argentina, Brazil, Prance, Italy, Mexico, Portugal,
Spain, the United Kingdom and Venezuela also offer scholarships.
These are generally given on the advice of the Chilean Committee
for Intellectual Co-operation, which also ensures that experience
acquired abroad will be put to the best use. This is frequently done
by nominating for the scholarships young persons belonging to some
public body or State undertaking. Several ministerial departments
make it easier for their members to take these scholarships by
allowing them paid leave. The Ministry of Education, for instance,
allows teachers in its schools who have won scholarships one year's
leave with full pay, while other departments may only allow part
pay. In all cases, however, the holder is assured of his former post
on his return.
I n 1948 a total of 126 Chilean nationals, in all fields of education,
had received scholarships for study or practical work abroad. The
competent university department estimated that one fifth of these
had received scholarships for technical study in agricultural or
industrial matters. The following scholarships normally cover
technical studies :
(a) Those granted under an agreement between Brazil and
Chile for the yearly exchange of up to 10 scholars ; so far, however,
only four persons have been exchanged every year. The scholarship
is for 10 months, and Chilean nationals in Brazil receive 2,000 pesos
per month for technical, industrial and particularly chemical studies.
(b) An agreement reached between the university of Chile and
McGill University in Canada provides for the exchange of one
advanced student each year for specialist study in some branch of
agronomy ; the scholarship covers the cost of tuition, lodging and
maintenance.
Facilities for Foreign

Students.

As a general principle, technical schools are reserved for Chilean
nationals, unless special authorisation is granted. However, as the
capacity of these schools increases, frequent exceptions are being
made. Some foreign students are even admitted as scholars ; in
1949, for instance, several students from Ecuador and Bolivia held
scholarships in the technical schools of the Ministry of Education.
Various facilities are available to foreign students in the university of Chile. In addition to agreements whereby degrees received
in other lands are recognised, thus facilitating matriculation for
nationals of some dozen other Latin American countries, Colombian
and Bolivian students are exempted from the matriculation fee.

APPENDIX I : CHILE

175

The regulations also provide that maintenance grants may be made
to foreign students 1in accordance with separate decisions reached
in individual eases.
TRAINING AND RETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Industry
Over the last few years, the directorate general of technical
education has organised vocational training or continuation courses
in the evening in a large number both of its so-called handicrafts
and industrial schools and of its mining schools. Regulations were
passed in 1948 setting up a general system of organisation and fixing
common standards for the various courses.
These regulations took the form of a Decree, No. 7,153 of 22 July
1948, which refers to four different types of adult courses.
(a) Supplementary courses (cursos de complementation) are
intended to provide a rapid form of training for adult workers who
lack sufficient training in the trade in which they are employed.
The duration of these courses was set at one year, which includes
intensive practical work and supplementary theoretical instruction
bearing directly on the methods of the trade. There is a weekly
schedule of 15 hours, divided into 12 hours of workshops practice,
two hours of theoretical instruction and one hour of drawing. A
certificate of competency is awarded on completion of the course.
(b) Apprenticeship courses are intended to provide training in
a trade for persons who have completed their elementary schooling.
The course lasts two years, following a programme of intensive
practical work supplemented by theoretical instruction and some
general education. Here again there is a 15 hour weekly schedule,
divided into eight hours of workshops practice, two hours of theory,
two hours of drawing, two hours of mathematics and one hour of
Spanish. A certificate as " apprentice " is awarded.
(e) So-called trade courses (cursos de oficios) are intended to
train persons up to the degree of " master " of a trade in some
specific branch of industry. These courses last three years, the
syllabus during the first two being similar to that of the apprenticeship courses with the same weekly schedule. The third year is
intended to give students an increased knowledge of their subject.
The weekly schedule of 15 hours that is followed during this year is
divided into nine hours of workshops practice, one hour of theory,
two hours of drawing, two hours of mathematics and one hour of
Spanish and citizenship training.
(d) Technical extension courses are intended to provide specialist
training. The curricula and weekly schedules of these courses are
not determined beforehand but depend on the trade in question and
on the wish of those concerned. A sufficient payment is made to
cover the running costs. Such courses may be organised when there
are at least 15 applicants for a course, and may be terminated when
the enrolment drops by 50 per cent.
While the other courses are not absolutely free, the cost of
enrolment is never very high.
1

Information supplied by the university of Chile.

176

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

The Decree of 1948 provides that courses for adults may be run
in the evening (escuelas vespertinas), at night (escuelas nocturnas)
or on Sundays (escuelas dominicales). Classes in the evening or night
courses are generally given five times a week and last three hours
each. The scholastic year is made up of 225 classes.
To give an idea of the trades that are taught in the adult
schools, in 1949 the arts and crafts school at Santiago gave courses
in motor mechanics, bench work and turning, carpentry, iron
forging, electricity and radio. In the same year, the industrial school
at Concepción offered courses in six trades rather than the 12
that it had taught the previous year ; those six were electrical installation, smelting, mechnical turning, welding, motor mechanics and
cabinet-making.
Courses for adults usually have many more applicants than they
have room. For financial reasons, the reorganisation that took place
in 1948 cut down, in 1949, some of the courses t h a t had previously
been given.
In May 1948 a total of 3,279 students were enrolled in night
courses, with an average attendance of 2,550. These courses were
given in 15 out of 29 handicrafts schools (total enrolment : 925 ;
average attendance : 758) and in 12 out of 16 industrial schools (total
enrolment : 1,950 ; average attendance : 1,563). All three mining
schools also gave such courses with an enrolment of 403 and an
average attendance of 227. 1
Night courses were also run in girls' vocational schools. The
information given to the I.L.O. Mission did not specify the number
of persons enrolled in these courses.
Agriculture
One of the aims of the technical agricultural school is to give
assistance to farmers and stockbreeders in order to encourage
production by popularising scientific methods of farming and stockbreeding in their respective areas. The schools particularly try to
achieve a wide adoption of fertilisers, selected seeds and pedigree
breeding animals, to disseminate information on popular methods
of disinfecting plants and fruit trees and generally on ways of fighting
epidemics among animals and plants.
The main work in educating rural producers, however, is performed by special services of the Ministry of Agriculture, organised
by provinces, and by the 13 experimental stations set up by the
Ministry. These stations perform specialised tasks according to the
region in which they are. The provincial services have the twofold
duty of keeping the Ministry informed on the results of production
in their area, and of advising farmers as they visit them to obtain
the information. 2
I t was the Chilean Development Corporation which first took
steps to intensify the use of agricultural machinery. The Corporation
is studying the relative fitness of different kinds of machinery for
various types of farming in each area and the problems of clearing
land for farming. I t has started an import system for agricultural
machinery and organised a sales service ; it also runs a lending service
for farmers. The specialist labour required for the running and
Information supplied by the directorate general of vocational training.
Information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture.

APPENDIX I : CHILE

177

maintenance of agricultural machinery having been lacking hitherto,
the Corporation has come to an agreement with the military authorities under which a certain number of recruits are trained during their
periods of compulsory military service in the running, mamtenance
and repair of such agricultural machines as harvesters, tractors
and bulldozers. Each year, some 250 young men are given this
type of training, and the Corporation chooses from among them
the personnel it requires for servicing its agricultural machinery. 1
Commerce
Under the terms of Decree No. 616 of 4 October 1940, evening
courses have been organised by the commercial institutes of the
Ministry of Education. Studies last four years and lead to an accountant's degree (contador general). Specialist training for sales agents
and commercial secretaries was also given until 1948, but these
courses were then suppressed.
In 1949, 10 State commercial institutes (including the three
institutes at Santiago) out of 20 gave courses of this type.
Valentin Letellier popular university, a branch of the university
of Chile, organised night accountancy courses in 1947, leading to an
accountant's degree in three years. This was made possible by laying
down stricter entrance conditions and by having a fuller syllabus.
Two hundred students were enrolled in these courses in October 1948.
The same university has also organised correspondence courses in
accountancy for persons residing in areas where there are no night
courses attached to State commercial institutes, for persons professionally occupied during the hours when the courses are held, and for
persons who cannot be admitted to State night courses for lack of
space. Three years of commercial practice are required for admission
to the correspondence courses. In accordance with Decision No. 154
of 29 January 1947 of the Ministry of Education, holders of the
accountant's degree awarded at the end of these courses have the
right to enrolment in the national register of accountants. 2

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT

Vocational Guidance
For several years two departments of the Ministry of Education have been concerned with vocational guidance. The first, set
up by Decree ÎTo. 6,661 of 8 August 1945, comes directly under the
Under-Secretary of Education, and is known as the department
of educational and vocational guidance (Departamento de orientación educacional y vocacional). The second, set up by Decree No. 587
of 15 January 1946, comes under the directorate general of elementary education, and is called the vocational guidance institute,
(Instituto de guía y orientación profesional).
The function of the department of educational and vocational
guidance is to organise guidance services in secondary schools so
x
Diez
2

Años de Labor, 1939-1949, op. cit.
Ministerio de Educación Pública de Chile, Revista de Educación, No. 50,
Oct. 1948, p. 250.

178

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

as to advise students on the type of study best suited to their
personal abilities and to the vocational needs of the country.
So far, the department has largely been occupied in doing the
initial work of preparing and arranging the material to be used by
vocational officers in each institution. This includes the preparation of the following : questionnaires with a view to analysing the
personality of the students, listing their vocational interests and
acquiring information on their economic and social conditions ;
tests measuring their general ability to carry out instructions, to use
words correctly and precisely, to appreciate analogies and numerical
relationships, to select logically, etc. ; as well as tests for the measurement of technical ability and forms on which the results of these
tests and enquiries are to be noted.
Guidance services were operating in 17 secondary schools in 1949
with a total of some 10,500 students. One such service was set up
at Santiago de Chile, two at Valparaiso, two at Antofagasta, and one
each at Chillan, Concepción, Quilpué and Temuco ; five were coeducational, employing one vocational guidance officer for boys and
one for girls, thus giving a total of 22 guidance officers in secondary
schools.
The department of vocational guidance has also undertaken
several collective enquiries in the Chilean scholastic field, such as
an enquiry into the reasons for students leaving secondary school
before they have finished the full course. It should be noted that
44 per cent, of the replies indicated that the chief reason for giving
up classical study was the wish to begin technical study. Some1
vocational lectures by experts have been given in certain schools.
The duty of the vocational guidance institute is to undertake
guidance work in elementary schools. Its work includes 2—
(1) a scientific study of the facts concerning vocations and of
the opportunities for employment which exist ;
(2) the technical training of the teaching staff giving vocational
guidance ;
(3) the guidance of elementary schoolchildren in four different
ways :

(a) the investigation of vocations and abilities ;
(b) cultivating those vocations and abilities ;
(c) advice to each student on the field of study for which he is
best suited and
on the establishments giving the training which
he requires 3 ;
(d) vocational guidance towards the types of employment that
will serve the interests of industry and of the community ;
(4) a follow-up of the results obtained from the guidance given ;
(5) helping persons who have received vocational guidance to
take up their trade.
1
Publicaciones del Departamento del Ministerio de Educación : la Orientación,
vocational en la Enseñanza secundaria (Santiago de Chile, 1948) ; and information
provided by that department.
2
Cf. Dirección General de Educación Primaria, Instituto de Guia y Orientación
profesional : Boletín, No. 1, Nov. 1946.
3
One publication of the Institute, already quoted, provides a list of the vocational education establishments, together with information on their purposes and
entrance conditions.

APPENDIX I : CHILE

179

The institute is divided into departments each dealing with one
of the particular points of its programme outlined above ; each
department works according to a yearly programme intended to
achieve a progressively wider application of its guidance methods.
In order to have available the personnel necessary for the effective
working of the vocational guidance programme, it is provided in
Decree No. 4,005 of 15 May 1946 that a training course for elementary
school teachers specialising in vocational guidance shall be added
to the syllabus of the teachers' training college. The curriculum
of this course was fixed in Decree No. 5,825 of 1 July 1946, and the
course itself opened on 23 December of the same year with 36 students. The curriculum includes a weekly schedule of 26 hours of
classes dealing with anthropometry and the study of biotypes from
the vocational point of view (2 hours), the principles and methods
of teaching (2 hours), study of trades and professions and vocational
policy (2 hours), principles of political economy (2 hours), differential
and vocational psychology (4 hours), general and educational psychology (2 hours), statistics (2 hours), the objective determination
of personal indices (4 hours), general theory of vocational guidance
(2 hours), and practical vocational guidance (6 hours).
In 1949, 19 schools had specialist guidance staffs who dealt with
a total of 15,835 students. Individual examinations were not given.
No psychotechnical examinations have been introduced so far
into the State technical schools, but Santa Maria technical university at Valparaiso, which has a particularly strict system of selecting
applicants, has introduced general intelligence tests as part of its
entrance examination. The university of Chile has also introduced
psychological tests as part of the entrance examination for the
faculty of engineering.
Placement
The national employment department of the directorate general
of labour runs a public employment service on a national basis.
There is a central employment service at Santiago which is the
responsibility of this department as well as 81 regional employment
exchanges under regional labour inspectors' offices. The entire
staff of these services consists of labour inspectors who are transferable to and from the labour inspectorate.
The employment service is linked with the unemployment
assistance system. Employers are legally bound to inform the
employment exchange of any proposed laying-off of workers eight
days in advance ; trade unions also send the employment exchanges
monthly returns of the number of their members who are unemployed.
The regional exchanges report monthly to the national department on the movement of labour recorded by each office ; and
annual reports are drawn up by the national employment department. The latest available report, that for 1948, shows that approximately the same monthly average of persons sought employment
in 1946 (4,399) as in 1948 (4,336), but that there was a substantial
increase in the monthly average for whom employment was found :
795 in 1946 as opposed to 1,131 in 1948.
Data on wage earners and salaried employees listed by categories
shows a considerable preponderance during the three years 1946,
1947 and 1948 of salaried employees among those seeking jobs, and

180

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

a yet greater proportion of these persons among the ranks of the
unemployed, that is, among those remaining on the lists of those
registered as seeking employment at the end of the month. While
35 per cent, of all placements in 1947 and 34 per cent, in 1948, dealt
with wage earners, only 18, 21 and 22 per cent, respectively dealt
with salaried employees over the same years.
I t appears from these figures and from the estimates of the
directorate of employment services that the employment situation
is less favourable for salaried employees than for manual labour, for
whom full employment is practically assured.
According to the comments made by the employment service
on the situation in 1948 1, it would appear t h a t unemployment
or loss of employment was keenly felt in that category known as
"other trades", which includes office employees, stewards, nightwatchmen, sales brokers, estate managers, etc. The highest percentage of unemployment among women was found among office
employees.
The employment service found in the skilled grades of both
salaried employees and manual workers the main shortage of manpower. Among salaried employees, there was a shortage of technical
staff in marble work, ceramics, glass work, cardboard manufacturing,
steel furniture making, soap making, clock making and hairdressing ;
the main shortages of manual labour and industrial technical staff
was among fitters, automobile mechanics, electricians, textile technicians, retread workers on automobile tyres, arc and oxy-acetylene
welders, winder electricians, Duco painters, smelters, sanitary installation workers, carpenters and cabinet-workers, mould makers,
tinsmiths, heating installation workers, tile layers, leather cutters,
bakélite workers, varnishers, weavers and journeyman tailors.
Among women salaried employees there was a shortage of translators
and of saleswomen in stockings and toys ; among female manual
workers, there was a shortage of warpers in silk weaving, machine
minders for Scott and Williams hosiery looms, weavers for American
looms and Overlock sock machines, steam laundresses, winder
operatives, and leather workers in glove, belt and handbag
making.
Since June 1948, the directorate general of labour has given
fuller statistical data on unemployment, by using indirect means of
obtaining information, so as to publish an estimate of unregistered
unemployed persons. Working from these data, the directorate
general of statistics has been able to make an approximate estimate
of the percentage of unemployed persons, using the latest census
figures as a basis for measuring employment. The general picture
of the state of the employment market that is obtained from this
study confirms t h a t given above. The percentage of unemployment
among manual labourers is only 4.1, a trivial figure when one considers all the opportunities for unemployment of technical staff that
arise when an industrial economy like that of Chile is in a state of
rapid transition. Among salaried employees, unemployment amounts
to 11.6 per cent.
The employment service advises unemployed salaried workers to
follow vocational retraining courses ; so far, however, no allowances
have been granted for such courses.
1
Ministerio de Trabajo : Memoria del Departamento
correspondiente a 1948 (mimeograph).

Nacional de Colocaciones

APPENDIX I : CHILE

181

It is interesting to note from the point of view of the internal
running of the organisation that the central employment service at
Santiago includes a social section whose special concern is to supervise
the placement of young persons. The central employment service
receives yearly information on the students who are due to leave.
Those students, however, are rarely found employment by the
employment service, since technical personnel are so scarce that
employers recruit young persons trained in the schools directly from
those schools.

COLOMBIA
I n a general study of vocational training problems in Colombia,
the Ministry of National Education stated in 1948 that technical
education was one of the most important points on the Government's
educational programme. 1 Giving the reasons for the Government's
interest in this question, the Ministry stressed that the problem was
partly to attract a section of the urban population away from its
too narrow attachment to literary education and to guide the younger
generation towards those practical branches of study which might
provide new industrial undertakings with the skilled personnel that
they lacked, and to train engineers and skilled mechanical workers
instead of lawyers and unemployed persons with a secondary school
education. Partly too, the problem was to break down that wall
of hostility towards new technical methods which tradition had
built up throughout the countryside ; the farmer was obeying a
routine which made him " imitate automatically and blindly the
deeds of his great-grandfather, and that, in our age of the combustion
engine and artificial insemination ", but the Ministry admitted that
" the spirit of passive resistance to modern systems has its origin
in the lack of a sufficiently well-organised technical education ".
Accordingly, far-reaching plans for the reform of that system were
set-out in Act No. 143 of December 1948.
One of the first structural measures was the organisation, within
the Ministry of Education, of a department of vocational education,
known today as the department of technical education, which is
almost entirely responsible for all technical training in Colombia.
I n addition to its directorate, the department includes an industrial
education section, a section for training in agriculture and stockbreeding, a curriculum and syllabus section (pensums y programas),
and an inspection section. Under Act No. 143, commercial education, which had so far come under the department of secondary
education, now also comes under the department of technical
education.
In spite of the wide responsibilities of that department in all
major fields of technical education, a certain number of institutions
at a higher level are still outside its administrative scope : the
university institutions and those administered by regional or local
authorities. For example, in the departments of Antioguia and
Valle, which are economically well developed, there are a number
of provincial schools for technical education in addition to the
federal ones.
Under the Ministry of Education's plan of work, one of the
duties of the director of the department of technical education is
to study the plans which departments, municipalities and other
official administrative bodies have drawn up for the creation of
new technical education institutions, as well as to t r y to obtain the
1
República de Colombia, Ministerio de Educación nacional : Panorama de la
Educación vocational en Colombia (Bogotá, 1948).

183

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

co-operation of other ministries or bodies which might contribute
to the development of vocational education, for example, the Association of Colombian Farmers, the National Federation of Coffee
Planters and the National Manufacturers' Association.
Act No. 143 of 1948 lays down the system of financial co-operation
between the federal, provincial and local administrative bodies for
the development of technical schools. Fifty per cent, of the cost of
setting-up and maintaining schools founded by departments or
municipalities is to be found from the national budget ; the national
Ministry is bound to set up a national technical school on the request
of a department, provided that the department promises to find
25 per cent, of the cost.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
Industrial

Education.

According to figures provided by the national bureau of statistics, the following were the industrial institutions for vocational
training in 1946 :
N u m b e r ol
schools

N u m b e r ol
students

N u m b e r of
teachers

Type of school
Total Boys' Girls' Mixed

Official

. . . . 45

Private

. . . .

Total. . . .

Total

Boys

Girls

Total

Men

Women

3,775

2,115

1,660

357

265

478

378

100

4,253

2,493

1,760

412

310

102

I n comparison with the figures for 1942, there is a substantial
increase in the number of official schools, from 31 to 45 in four years,
while the number of private schools remained very much the same,
16 and 17 in 1942 and 1946 respectively. But there was a contrary
movement in the enrolment of students, falling from 5,139 in 1942
(2,720 boys, 2,419 girls) to the 4,253 shown in the table. That
decrease was largely among students in private schools and in girls'
schools, both public and private. There was, on the other hand, an
increase in the number of boys in official schools, from 1,832 in 1942
to 2,115 in 1946. Thus attendance at technical school proper
improved between those two dates.
However, the schools shown in the table include various levels of
education, and a more detailed analysis is necessary to understand
the present organisation of technical education in Colombia.
Elementary

standard.

Under this heading are included handicrafts schools for boys and
the polytechnic continuation schools for girls which are, in fact,
schools providing education in women's arts and domestic trades.

184

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Act No. 56 of 23 December 1947 was published with a view to
developing both these types of schools.
There is no accurate information as to the present number of
handicrafts schools for boys, which are intended to train production
workers and craftsmen. The Act mentioned stipulates that at least
one handicrafts school should be set up in each of the 15 departments,
the three intendencies and the seven commissariats. The trades
taught in those schools must correspond to the economic requirements of the area in which they are, and the Government reserves the
right to change the character of some of the existing handicrafts
schools in order better to meet those requirements. The Act also
provides that one existing municipal school shall be incorporated
in the new system. I t also fixes the trades to be taught in schools
in 19 different territorial divisions. Those trades are very varied,
including building, mining, metallurgy (metal forging, tinsmithing,
etc.), the wood, sük and other fibres industries, the processing industries for agricultural products (soya beans and other on-yielding
plants, fruit, milk), the upkeep of agricultural machinery, fishing,
fishing tackle manufacturing and the conservation of fish products,
clothes making, the printing trades, the food industry (baking,
pastry-making, the hotel industry), glass-making and many others.
All the girls' schools shown in the above table are at the elementary level. Their syllabuses include cutting, fashion designing,
embroidery, artificial flower and toy making, fabrics and carpet
weaving, decorating, and repoussé leather-work.
The boys' handicrafts schools and the girls' schools admit children
who have finished four years of primary education ; having a bent
for the trade to be taught is also taken into consideration as well as
the family background. Preference is given to children of craftsmen
or workers in the trade to be taught.
Studies both in the girls' and boys' schools last from two to three
years according to the degree of difficulty of the trade. Tuition,
school equipment and working clothes are all provided free. As a rule,
the students are given their mid-day meals. I t is provided that
facilities for boarding may be arranged in some schools, and that
maintenance allowances shall be granted, preference being given
to children whose homes are far from the school.
The education given should be essentially practical, 70 per cent.
of the curriculum being devoted to workshop practice. Students
who have successfully completed the course are graded as mastercraftsmen or skilled workers.
Act No. 56 also provides for organising continuation courses in
both these types of schools for students who have finished the basic
course, but wish to undertake further study in their trade. The
duration of those courses is not specified, but on termination of the
course a diploma as artisan is awarded to the student in his particular
trade.
Under the terms of that Act, the Government shall start a handicrafts school in a department if that department provides an appropriation of at least 600,000 pesos in its budget for the upkeep of the
school. The Act states that the Government should also take into
account any financial contribution offered by private undertakings.
I n 1949, despite the lack of funds, the scheme was beginning
to come into force. A skilled joinery school had just been opened
in an area populated by Indians, who show special ability for that
type of work.

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

185

Intermediate standard.
The principal establishments at this level are those run by the
industrial education section of the department of vocational education. In 1948, there were 14, variously described, in 12 different
departments : seven industrial schools, five arts and crafts schools,
one finishing school and one school of ceramics. 1 Six departments
also maintained other industrial education institutes, thus making
a total of 22 institutions providing training for technical workers
in industry. As the Ministry of Education remarks in its memorandum for 1948 2 , most of these schools have the same aims although
they operate under different names, and their scope is fairly narrow.
While a great many trades could be taught on similar lines, these
schools are solely concerned with five branches of technical activity:
machine tools, electricity, smelting, metal forging and welding, and
carpentry and cabinet-making. Out of a total of 1,879 students
following trade courses in 1947 in national, departmental and private
industrial schools, 1,416 were in those five main trades while the
remaining 463 were divided among 15 others. Looking at the
tables published in the Ministry's report 3 , one cannot but be struck
by the small number of students studying for the printing trades ;
for instance, there were 41 learning typography of whom only five
were in official schools while all 10 photogravure students were in
the Salesian college at Bogotá.
One of the aims of the reform introduced by Act ÏTo. 143 of 1948
is to ensure that all institutions teaching the same subjects shall
do so on the same lines, and that the grading of training establishments shall be such as to make for a better organisation of industrial training, to suit the requirements of the national economy.
The reform consists particularly in grading schools according
to the degree of difficulty of their curriculum. Henceforward, there
will be two advanced technical institutes (the former industrial
schools of Bogota and Medellin) with full technical curricula and
elementary technical institutes including all the other schools known
at the present moment as industrial schools ; the syllabus of those
schools will consist of a preparatory course of one year and an elementary "phase lasting four years. The preparatory course of one year is
the same for all students whatever subject they intend to specialise
in later. The purpose of the elementary phase of four years is to
train skilled workers (expertos). Students may go on to the advanced
institutes which give a two-year course training technicians, i.e.,
persons capable of holding supervisory posts. Advanced courses
were just beginning to be organised in March 1949.
The plan of reform also provides that both elementary and
advanced institutes may, in addition to their regular programme,
organise shorter three-year courses for training in the " lesser trades "
(artes menores). These are to train specialised workers, for instance
welders.
Students between 14 and 18 years of age are admitted to the
preparatory course in the technical institutes provided they have
successfully completed four years of elementary schooling. There
is also an entrance examination. Students are not admitted directly
1
In Act No. 143 of 1948 they are called " technical institutes " and " arts
and crafts schools ".
2
Panorama de la Educación vocational en Colombia, op. cit.
3
Ibid., pp. 32-34.

186

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

to the advanced stage, but are required to have completed the
elementary stage either in an elementary technical institute or in
the advanced institute itself.
In 1949 girls were only admitted to the technical institute for
drawing classes. However Act ïfo. 143 of December 1948 provides
that the subjects open to both sexes in the technical institutes will
be fixed by special regulations in order to allow women to take
advantage as much as possible of the training facilities provided
for in the Act.
Curricula.
One of the aims of the reform is to reduce the length of academic
studies whose usefulness is questionable so as to allow more time
for technical study and workshop practice. The scheme is still largely
provisional. At the moment it provides for 39 hours of work per
week, in all years of study, divided in the main as follows :
(a)\ in the preparatory course, 26 hours of class work in nine
different subjects, two hours of physical training and 11 hours of
practical work which the student must do in the various workshops
in turn.
(b) in the first year of the elementary stage, 20 hours of theory
in six subjects, one hour of physical training and 18 hours of technical
study and workshop practice ; in the second year, 19 hours of workshop practice and technical study ; in the third year, 16 hours of
general education common to all sections, the remainder of the
curriculum varying for each branch ; for the electricity branch,
three hours of study in electro-technics, one hour dealing with
explosion and combustion engines and 19 hours of workshop practice,
while in the carpentry section, for instance, the specialised part
of the curriculum includes three hours of perspective drawing,
four hours of decorative designing and 22 hours of workshop
practice.
(c) at the advanced stage, the curriculum for technicians
includes only two subjects, general mechanics and electricity.
In the fifth year of study 12 hours are common to both sections,
dealing with mathematics, chemistry, physics and languages ;
27 hours are devoted to the subject in which the student is specialising and include, for mechanics, three hours of applied mechanics,
four hours of mechanical drawing, two hours of projects work,
14 hours of workshop practice and four hours of laboratory and
metallography. In the sixth year, the subjects common to both
sections take only 11 hours and include advanced mathematics,
English, industrial economy and administration, and the strength
of materials, while the specialised portion of the curriculum takes
27 hours with rather less time in the workshops and more time for
projects.
Teaching staff.
The shortage of technical staff capable of teaching in the technical
schools, and particularly of instructors to direct practical work, is
a difficult problem. The development plans provide for two teachers'
training institutes, one at Bogota for teachers of industrial subjects
and the other at Medellin for teachers of handicrafts. At the time

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

187

of the I.L.O. Mission's visit, it was hoped that those two schools
could be opened on the 1950 budget.
In spite of the present difficulty in obtaining technical teachers,
up to 1946, there was little recourse to foreign teachers ; the tables
mentioned above show only five foreign teachers out of a total
of 265 teachers in official technical schools and six foreign teachers
out of 45 in private schools. Fewer foreign teachers were employed
in this branch of education than in commercial education where,
according to the same tables, there were 11 foreign teachers out
of a total of 265 in official schools and 37 out of 551 in private schools.
University

standard.

The universities of Bogotá and Antioguia offer some courses
leading to industrial careers. The university of Bogotá includes a
faculty of chemistry and a faculty of architecture as well as courses
training civil engineers.
The university of Antioguia has—
(a) a school of chemical engineering, with 85 students in 1949 ;
the curriculum covers six semesters. A. change has been made in
that curriculum by substituting for part of the general chemistry
programme new courses in chemistry and manufacturing operations ;
(b) a mining and engineering school ;
(c) a geology and petroleum engineering school ;
(d) an architecture school.
The admission of women to all university faculties is governed
by the same conditions as that of men ; a large number of women
take advantage of those facilities particularly for study in chemistry,
pharmaceutics and architecture. Intermediate technical study does
not automatically lead to university study. Graduates of industrial
schools are not even admitted to the technical faculties in universities if they have not matriculated, even though they may have a
technician's diploma from an advanced institute ; matriculation
is considered indispensable for admission to the university.
However, a unified system of technical education covering all
levels is being planned. The need for making the curricula in technical schools more practical and for making the education they
provide conform more closely to the needs of an industry, which
has developed more rapidly than has the training of skilled labour
and technicians, has led the national manufacturers' association to
take an active interest in training problems and to offer to co-operate
with the Government, even to the extent of financial contributions,
in setting up an advanced institute called the industrial university
of Bogotá. That institution would combine all stages of technical
study from the most elementary up to university level in one
establishment. I t would include—
(a) an apprenticeship school providing further courses for
young persons undergoing practical apprenticeship in undertakings ;
(b) day courses lasting two or three years in the lesser trades ;
(c) evening or irregular continuation courses for adult workers ;
(d) the courses given at the moment by elementary technical
institutes ;

188

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

(e) the courses given at the moment by advanced technical
institutes ;
(f) a technical faculty training managerial engineering staff.
At the moment, however, this is only a plan which still requires
preliminary study.
Relations with

industry.

As has been stated above, preparations are being made for
technical co-operation between the Ministry of Education and the
main employers' association in order to increase technical training
facilities in conformity with the requirements of industry.
In
December 1948, when the proposed reform was under consideration,
the department of technical education sent out a questionnaire to
some 50 large industrial undertakings in the textiles, clothing, iron
and steel industries and to mechanical engineering and electrical
workshops asking for information about their quantitative and
qualitative requirements in technical personnel. At the time of the
I.L.O. Mission's visit the answers had not yet come in. When they
have been studied, they will be used in drawing up programmes of
study, in deciding where new schools are to be located and in developing the existing institutions, in organising new courses, and in
making any other adjustments to technical education facilities
which may prove necessary. The department was planning to send
a similar questionnaire to the trade unions and to the staff of certain
large undertakings.
Commercial

Education.

According to the figures provided by the national bureau of
statistics, the following were the commercial training institutions
in 1946 :
Number of
students

Number of
schools

Type of school

Total
Total Boys' Girls' Mixed

Number of
teachers

Boys

Girls

Total

Men

Women

Official

. . . .

1,995

716

1,279

265

153

112

Private

. . . .

162

100

4,532

1,233

3,299

551

252

299

188

115

6,527

1,949

4,578

816

405

411

Total....

The table shows that commercial education is largely in the hands
of private undertakings, not an unusual situation. However, there
is a movement towards the official schools : while the number of
official commercial schools had exactly doubled between 1942 and
1946, and the number of their students had appreciably increased
(1,538 students in 1942 and 1,995 in 1946), there had been a much
slighter increase in the number of private schools, and the number of
students attending them had decreased considerably, falling from
8,408 to 4,532. That decrease included both men and women students.

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

189

I t should be remarked that, in spite of this decrease, commercial
education still attracts a larger number of students than industrial
technical education. I n 1946, the commercial schools had over
50 per cent, more students than the industrial schools. This confirms
the tendency of the urban population to prefer office work to manual
labour that was commented on by the Ministry of Education.
There were official schools in nine different departments and
private schools in 13. The department of Cundinamarca, where
the Capital is situated, included altogether 50 commercial schools
of which 46 were private. The majority of official schools, 19 out of
26, were run by the departmental authorities ; four were national and
one was municipal.
Commercial study may last as long as five years, but not all
schools give such complete courses. Judging by the rapid decrease
in the number of students between the first and second years, the
second and third and so on, it would seem that many students are
satisfied with only one or two years of study.
In this branch of education, there has been no recent reform
comparable to that in industrial education.
Agricultural

Education.

'Elementary and intermediate

standards.

The organisation of agricultural education in Colombia began
in 1941. In order to draw up the plans, a study mission was sent
to Puerto Bico, and a Puerto Bican agricultural expert was engaged
by the Colombian Government. In the same year, 39 agricultural
vocational schools were opened in various departments ; but the
difficulty of finding trained technical staff to run them made the
Government decide to concentrate its attention on those schools
which had given the best results and to close down the others.
The first college for training agricultural instructors, the agricultural teachers' college at Buga (Valle), was opened in 1943. A
second teachers' college of the same kind has recently been set up
a t Duitama (Boyacá). Thus, one of the first measures taken in
this field of education was the training of teaching staff.
There were 30 agricultural vocational schools operating in 1948
in addition to the teachers' training college, and three other schools
were being set up. In addition, the Ministry of Education was
subsidising four auxiliary schools. There was a budget of 811,348
pesos to cover the Ministry's work in this
field.
<
Except at the university level, the Ministry of Education is
responsible for administering the national agricultural schools and
for supervising the schools run by lower administrative bodies.
Usually the Ministry must co-operate with some other authority,
either departmental or municipal, in setting up any new schools,
for the opening of a new agricultural school depends on the availability of a suitable estate.
According to the table showing the distribution of agricultural
schools and of their teaching staff and students in 1948 1, out of
31 schools and teachers' training colleges in operation, only one was
on national property ; 10 were on land owned by a department,
intendency or commissary, 10 were on municipal land, two were
Panorama de la Educación vocational en Colombia, p. 72.
13

190

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

on land belonging to other governmental bodies (Ministry of National
Economy and Institute of Economic Development), and five on
estates owned by private persons or by agricultural associations
such as the Federation of Coffee Planters.
There were altogether 1,070 students in these 31 schools with a
teaching staff of 43 technical teachers and 54 general teachers. If
these figures are comparable with those used by the national bureau
of statistics, an increased attendance in agricultural schools is shown
between 1946 and 1948, since, according to information provided
by t h a t bureau, there were 882 students in official agricultural
schools in 1946. *
A comparison of the number of students in agricultural schools
with that of students in industrial and commercial schools seems to
show that the former is still rather low, especially in view of the
fact t h a t 80 per cent, of the Colombian population earns its livelihood
in some form of agriculture or stockbreeding. This is pointed out
in the Ministry of Education's memorandum, which comments t h a t
the Colombian economy is still predominantly rural in spite of the
recent tendency towards industrialisation.
Entrance conditions and programme of studies.
The plan on which the Ministry of Education is organising
industrial education contemplates three categories of students :
(a) young persons from 14 to 18 years of age following the
regular courses in agricultural schools ;
(b) young persons from 18 to 21 years of age attending those
schools intermittently and applying the instruction they receive
there to their work on land owned by their family ;
(c) adult farmers seeking advice from the school.
Only the curriculum followed by regular students is considered
here.
A minimum of four years elementary schooling is required for
admission to the regular courses. Preference is given to sons of
farmers and, as far as possible, to those who have arable land. The
curriculum is divided into several parts. The first part trains
" Colombian farmers ". The course lasts two years for young persons leaving rural elementary schools which provide sufficient basic
agricultural education. Those who have not had this education
have to follow a pre-vocational course lasting one year, after which
they may follow the regular two-year course.
These agricultural schools train estate stewards for large farms
in a three-year course, that is to say the basic two-year course
and an additional year, and " agricultural technicians " (prácticos
agrícolas) in four years, t h a t is to say the agricultural technicians'
course plus one year.
On account of the very varying climates in different areas of the
country, tropical, temperate or cold according to the altitude, very
different subjects are taught in the schools according to their location. The curriculum of each school takes into account not only
the main types of production practised in the area, but also
secondary and potential types.
1

At the time there was only one private agricultural school with only 14 students.

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

191

The syllabus must in any case include instruction on the use,
maintenance and even production of tools and equipment in current
agricultural use and on the upkeep of agricultural buildings and
plant. The weekly schedule always includes 37 hours of work and
must include 14 hours of practical work in fields or workshops
during the pre-vocational course and 18 hours during the first and
second years.
Development plan.
The Ministry of Education has drawn up a five-year plan for
developing agricultural schools by departments or climatic areas
within departments. The carrying out of the plan will involve an
annual increase in the budget varying from 100 per cent, in the
departments of North Santander and Tolima, to 150 per cent, in
the department of Boyaeá, to 200 per cent, in the departments of
Huila and South Santander, to 300 per cent, in the departments of
Valle and Nariño.
Education for girls.
In 1948 an agricultural school for girls was being organised. The
Ministry of Education's development plan and more particularly
the five-year plan for the departments of Boyaeá, Magdalena and
Nariño provides for the opening of similar schools called " country
women's schools " (escuelas de campesinas).
University

standard.

There are two faculties of agronomy, one affiliated to the national
university of Medellin, the other situated close to the experimental
station at Palmira, near Cali (Valle). The national university of
Bogotá has a faculty of veterinary surgery.
Study in agronomy lasts five years and leads to the degree of
agricultural expert. A new system has been adopted since 1947
based on " credit hours ". The students must attend classes in
52 subjects totalling 143 credit hours. Certain subjects are optional,
according to the subject in which the student specialises at a more
advanced level. The student may choose between several groups
of subjects which correspond to various branches of agriculture.
Those subjects are agronomy, fruit-growing, botany, agricultural
economy, agricultural education, entomology, genetics, science in
relation to agricultural engineering (building, irrigation, and sanitation), agricultural chemistry, soil preparation and conservation,
and animal husbandry.
Both faculties of agronomy are close to experimental agricultural
stations and the students may do research there under the guidance
of the technical staff.
Aid for Technical

Study

Certain subsidies in kind are provided for in the regulations
governing handicrafts schools and vocational schools for girls, as
has been shown above. In addition, the regulations provide that
each school must have a shop where the products of the students'
work may be displayed for sale. The students receive 60 per cent.

192

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

of the profit on the sale of products ; the other 40 per cent, being
placed in a savings bank or in a bank account and given to the
students only at the end of their course in order that they may buy
tools and other equipment for their work. If the student, through
his own fault, does not complete the course or is expelled for bad
conduct, the amount is put into a school reserve fund.
Technical study at all levels is free in official schools, with the
exception of certain small matriculation fees at the intermediate
and university levels. However, in order that children from poor
families may attend the schools, there is a fairly extensive system
of grants for boarding students. In addition, there is a canteen
where day-boarders may obtain a cheap or often a free meal. Some
schools which are distant from the more populated centres, such as
the Pascal Bravo industrial institute near Medellin, have organised
a free bus service for all their day-students.
In the Ministry of Education a special section deals with the
granting of national scholarships ; it also gives information on grants
awarded by departmental or municipal bodies as well as by private
undertakings. The proportion of grant-holders to the total number
of students in an industrial school may be inferred from the figures
for the Pascal Bravo industrial institute where, at the time of the
Mission's visit in 1949, 80 day-students out of 249 received a free
mid-day meal, while all boarders had grants with the exception of
10 supernumerary students. Forty-five grants were awarded by
the Government, six by departments, seven by municipalities, three
by municipal co-operatives, and eight by private industrial companies.
Figures published by the Ministry of Labour for 1948 show that
615 boarding students received grants out of a total of 1,070 students
in agricultural vocational schools. A canteen was available to all
the remainder. However, it should be noted that, under the regulations for these schools, applicants for grants must be able to prove
insufficient means in order to obtain a grant.
There are also grants for industrial and agricultural university
study. For example, the faculty of agronomy at the university of
Medellin awards 12 grants itself in addition to two awarded by the
National Federation of Coffee Planters and other grants awarded
by departments or municipalities ; this gives a total of approximately
50 grants.
For study abroad, there are some exchange grants with other
Latin American countries ; Colombian students may also avail
themselves of the grants offered by the United States and by several
European countries. The department of technical education can
award six annual grants, financed by a private endowment, for
agricultural training ; they were awarded for the first time in 1949.
Three were awarded to agricultural students for work in Puerto
Rico and the other three to students for work in European countries.
In order to promote technical training, Act No. 143 of 1948 also
made an annual sum of 2,000,000 pesos available to the Ministry of
National Education for loans to students, and intellectual or skilled
workers who wish to undertake technical study abroad. Those
loans—granted at the rate of 3 per cent.—may amount to a maximum of 5,000 pesos for two years of study. The Ministry may
waive repayment in the case of the 10 persons who have acquired
the highest qualifications abroad. The same Act provides for the
setting up of a consultative committee for specialised study abroad

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

193

within the Ministry of Education ; that committee is to assist the
Ministry in selecting candidates for grants or loans, in deciding what
foreign universities or institutes are best suited for the training of
these persons and in ensuring that the loans are correctly used.
The faculty of agronomy at the university of Medellin also has
a fund from which gifted students who have finished their studies
may, at the discretion of the administrative body of the faculty,
receive grants enabling them to continue their studies abroad. The
amount of the award is in each case fixed so as to cover travelling
and maintenance expenses. The faculty also awards some grants
to foreign students ; two were awarded to Costa Ricans and two to
Guatemalans in 1949. The award of similar grants to nationals of
other Latin American countries was being considered.
In-Plant

Training

In view of the fact that there is a lack of trained technical personnel and that, before the present reform, the schools did not
provide undertakings with staff properly trained for their needs,
the undertakings themselves have frequently had to train their
own staff. However, there is no general and systematic apprenticeship system. UNTO official regulations have been drawn up standardising
the various industrial schemes for training apprentices of which
there are many. For want of guidance in general regulations, the
methods used in 1949 by undertakings visited by the I.L.O. Mission
varied considerably from one undertaking to another. Training was
usually done on the job, beginners receiving some training by watching
the person whom they were helping. On the other hand some firms
had instituted fairly elaborate schemes for training technical staff,
Some had called on foreign or foreign-trained technicians to organise
those schemes, more particularly when a new industry was being
set up in the country.
I t should be noted that some firms encouraged their staff to
improve their training not only by paying them better wages for
improved skill, but also by paying the cost of training undertaken
outside the company, as in correspondence courses. In certain
exceptional cases, the undertaking even awarded members of its
staff grants enabling them to acquire technical experience abroad.
Such grants were made to staff already in the firm's employ and
should be distinguished from the grants frequently made by private
firms for the maintenance of young persons in technical schools who
are not yet in their employ.
TRAINING AND EETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Training

and

Upgrading

Facilities

Handicrafts.
The plans for implementing Act Ho. 56 of 1947, which deals
with the development of handicrafts schools and polytechnic schools
for girls, provide that those schools must give courses which are
open to adults in addition to the regular courses for children from
14 to 18 years of age. The courses for adults are of two sorts—
(a) Continuation courses may be followed by young persons
who have finished the regular basic course, but they are also open

194

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

to workers who wish to improve their skill in their own trades.
Those courses should be given during the day. The certificate
awarded is that of " craftsman " in the trade studied.
(b) Special courses may be given in the early evening, at night
or on Sundays, and are intended for apprentices and workers of any
age who cannot attend day courses because of their employment.
These courses must be essentially practical, and indeed the regulations of Act No. 56 stipulate that 70 per cent, of the time must be
devoted to workshop practice.
Both those courses are free, and work clothes, tools and equipment
are also provided free.
The regulations do not specify the duration of the courses, but
it is stated that the Ministry shall decide, with reference to the conditions obtaining in the various districts, what trades are to be
taught in each school.
The organisation of courses for adults in handicrafts schools had
not yet really started in 1949. However, night courses had been
organised by some municipalities, particularly the municipality of
Medellin, not only for the basic education of illiterates, for the
further education of people who could already read and write, and,
to some extent, for the training or upgrading of workers. Since
there was only very limited mechanical equipment, the courses
could hardly offer more than theoretical education or rather elementary manual exercises. Training facilities of this type are used
largely by workers who want to change their trade in order to
improve their personal status.
Industry.
The plans for the development of vocational education also
include a scheme for starting upgrading courses in the industrial
institutes. Such courses would be given in the evening, on Saturday
afternoons or on Sundays for workers in industry to improve their
skill and consequently their output. Instruction is to be given in
the application of scientific principles to practical work, but three
quarters of the time is to be devoted to workshop practice. I t was
hoped to begin carrying out this plan in 1950.
Agriculture.
As was mentioned in the chapter on the pre-vocational training
of juveniles, it is provided that young persons from 18 to 21 years
of age may from time to time attend the agricultural schools of the
Ministry of Education in order to observe the work done there and
to receive a training which they can apply directly to work on land
owned by their family. I t is also provided t h a t adults may attend
those schools from time to time to receive instruction appropriate
to their employment. This would seem to consist rather of advice
and technical guidance given to local farmers by the schools rather
than of any formal and collective education.
The basic idea underlying the part to be played by agricultural
schools in training adult workers is that each school has a sphere of
influence. This sphere is fixed geographically by the school's director
or agricultural teacher, who studies the farms in it to find out what
technical mistakes are made and how they can be corrected.

APPENDIX I : COLOMBIA

195

However, the technical education of the agricultural population
is even more the responsibility of the various bodies under the
Ministry of Agriculture and Stockbreeding, which include fairly
well-developed experimental and extension services.
The directorate of agriculture runs six experimental stations in
different climatic zones, which therefore specialise in the various
farming methods peculiar to each type of climate. For instance,
the experimental station at La Picota, on the high plateaux around
Bogotá, specialises in wheat and hops, another station in the same
area in potato growing. The experimental station at Magdalena,
in the tropical zone, specialises in rice, maize and sesame and in
the growing of tropical fruits. The directorate of stockbreeding
also runs services for the assistance of stockbreeders. In 1949,
14 stations (granjas) were operating in various districts of the
country, each following its own particular programme. There were
in addition six artificial insemination centres and 34 cattle servicing
centres, in addition to a free veterinary service which was organised
by regions.
The two directorates also have a publicity service which
publishes and distributes leaflets and even produces films in order
to make the educational facilities which it provides accessible to
farmers.
In organising those services, Colombia made use to some extent
of world experience by sending several agricultural experts to
complete their training abroad. Over 20 agricultural technicians in
the last two years were awarded either foreign grants or grants by
the Ministry of Agriculture and Stockbreeding, the latter being
for one year of study. Those technicians usually went to Brazil,
the United States or Mexico (particularly the Eockefeller Station
a t Chapingo in Mexico).
Colombia has also had recourse to a limited number of foreign
technicians for work in its experimental stations or in its other
agricultural services, particularly to carry out research on potato
production, to organise river fisheries and to organise the market
for agricultural produce.
Study

Abroad.

A new system of loans, and in some cases grants, instituted
under Act No. 143 of 1948, provides material facilities for intellectual
and skilled workers as well as for students to continue their study
abroad.
Training

of Instructors.

As has already been stated, one of the first measures taken to
organise agricultural education, was the opening of teachers' schools
for agricultural instructors. There are at present two such
schools.
Although the need for similar teachers' schools to train the
technical staff of industrial schools is recognised, it has not yet been
possible to organise them. There are plans for setting up a teachers'
school to train instructors for the handicrafts schools and for setting
up a similar school to train instructors for the technical industrial
institutes.

196

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND PLACEMENT

Vocational Guidance
Vocational guidance is being given, on a somewhat limited scale,
as a result of official and private initiative.
For the last 10 years there has been an institute of applied
psychology in the national university of Bogotá which has sections
dealing with education, research, and teaching methods. The
institute carries out psychotechnical tests for students of schools
in the city, who have appreciably increased in number during the
last years, from approximately 10,000 in 1945 to over 15,000 in 1948.
In the field of private secondary education, the modern college,
an institution using new teaching methods, which has acquired a
great reputation throughout Latin America, takes an active interest
in the educational and vocational guidance of its students.
The National Manufacturers' Association (A.ÏT.D.I.) has also
taken steps to organise collective guidance in schools. In primary
schools, it organises lectures with film shows from time to time,
using either American films or films made in Colombia, as for instance
one dealing with cotton and its use in industry. But the efforts of
A.N.D.I. are particularly directed towards guiding students in
secondary schools. I t sends lecturers to talk to students in their
last year to stress the importance of industry, to arouse the interest
of students who have not yet chosen a career and to give them an
idea of the main features of national industry. Visits to factories
are also organised for student groups. After these lectures and
visits the students write essays for which A.ÍT.D.I. awards prizes.
The preparatory year in official technical schools which introduces students to industrial study also gives them a wide variety
of elementary information about industrial processes so as to enable
them to choose the branch in which they wish to specialise.
Placement
So far there has been no public employment service for either
juvenile or adult workers, but the organisation of some such service
is under consideration. In 1951, under the expanded technical
iassistance programme, the Government of Colombia applied for
the services of an employment expert with general knowledge of
manpower problems to assist in this task.
Employment for young persons leaving vocational schools is
often found by the schools themselves, since employers apply to
them for skilled workers.

COSTA RICA
Since the economy of Costa Eica is essentially agricultural,
measures for organising vocational education have largely been
directed towards agriculture and stockbreeding.
In order to improve its agricultural production, Costa Eica, like
several countries in the area, has received technical assistance from
the United States Government.
A co-operative organisation was
set up in February 1948 under the terms of an agreement between
the Government of Costa Eica and the United States Institute of
Inter-American Affairs—the Technical Inter-American Service for
Agricultural Co-operation (S.T.I.C.A.). The service is financed by
both Governments, and it is an integral part of the Costa Eican
Ministry of Agriculture so that there need be no change in the work
performed by the service when the American technical staff leaves.
The service runs schemes of various sorts ; when they are educational
schemes, they must also be approved by the Ministry of Education,
which has a department of secondary and vocational education.
In December 1950, the Government applied, under the technical
assistance programme for an exploratory mission on rural education
(elementary, vocational and for teachers). A joint I.L.O./U.N.E.S.C.O.
agreement was therefore signed with the Government, each organisation providing experts within its own field of competence.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
Industry.
Elementary education for boys is highly developed and comes
up to a good standard ; it could provide an excellent basis for
technical study, but no technical school has yet been set up by the
Government, although it has been planned since 1943 to start one
at Limón, and this has even been provided for in a Decree.
The only education of this kind organised by the State consists
of a few pre-vocational courses given in certain secondary schools ;
the two courses with the most extensive curricula are those given
at the San José secondary school and at Limón college, but they
provide pre-vocational education rather than vocational training.
They include workshop practice in wood-turning, carpentry, cabinet
making and printing.
The Ministry of Education, however, does control private courses,
especially those given in child assistance homes, known as arts and
crafts schools. As in many other Latin American countries, there
are also vocational schools attached to the general education schools
of the Salesian Brothers. In January 1949, permission was given
to hold a small private course for fee-paying students in automobile
mechanics ; this was the first course of its type to be started in the
country.

198

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

These facilities are not sufficient for the needs of an industry
which has grown under war conditions ; there were 10,000 industrial
workers at the end of 1947. In May 1947, the Chamber of Manufacturers, an employers' association, took the initiative by opening
an evening course. A little later it announced that it would organise
apprenticeship schools on the same lines as those run by Brazilian
employers.
At the advanced level there is an engineering school at the
national university.
A large number of vocational courses for girls (about sixty
throughout the country) have been organised by the Ministry of
Education, usually in secondary schools. The principal establishment of this kind is the vocational school for girls at San José.
Students who have completed the second grade of secondary school
are admitted. The courses deal particularly with domestic science ;
however, some small trades which can be carried on at home are
also taught including sewing, hand and machine embroidery, hand
weaving, toy making, interior decoration, as well as dietetics and
beauty treatment. The basic course lasts two years, after which a
teaching course of one year may be taken in order to become a
teacher in domestic science. It is planned to make the basic course
at San José vocational school last three years, after which a certificate of competence would be awarded, and to add a supplementary
fourth year for1 specialisation. A slight payment of 30 colones is
made per year.
Agriculture.
Agricultural training at the elementary level is given in the rural
elementary schools or even in some secondary schools, provided
farming land is available. School gardens are being introduced as
much as possible in primary schools. In order to provide an improved and more technical agricultural training in primary schools,
it was decided by Legislative Decree of 8 February 1949 to set up a
rural teachers' training school.
At the advanced level, there is a faculty of agronomy in the
university of Costa Bica which works in close co-operation with
the Ministry of Agriculture and S.T.I.C.A. That faculty was started
in 1926 as a national agricultural school and raised to a university
faculty in 1940 ; it is situated on the central plateau, close to San
José in an estate of 17 acres. A school-leaving certificate from a
secondary school of good standing is required for admission. Studies
last four years, and are organised on a basis of " credit hours ", so
many hours being required for each subject in the curriculum. The
subjects include agronomy (special attention being paid to crops of
particular importance to the country such as coffee, sugar and
bananas), stockbreeding, veterinary surgery, geology, soil conservation (an important problem at the moment) and mechanised
farming. Certain optional courses are offered from the second year
onwards ; the degree of agricultural expert is awarded after submission of a thesis.2
1
Escuela Profesional Femenina, San José (Costa Bica, Imprenta Universal,
1949). The number of students is about 100.
a
Universidad de Costa Rica, Facultad de Agronomía: Seglamento y Plan de
Estudios.

APPENDIX I : COSTA EICA

199

Commerce.
Ten schools, of which eight are in San José, offer commercial
courses. In the aggregate there are about 4,000 students of both
sexes at these schools.
Aid for Technical Study
Within the Country.
A small fee is charged in the few vocational education institutes
which have been organised by the State, with the exception, of
course, of the rural elementary schools. In vocational schools for
girls, for instance, the fee is 30 colones a year. The faculty of agronomy charges an annual enrolment fee of 100 colones, and the graduation fee is 114 colones. There are also certain other examination
and laboratory fees. But the faculty has a fund providing for the
annual grant of 18 scholarships ; such scholarships may be forfeited
if the work or the conduct of the holder prove unsatisfactory.
Scholars are bound to serve two years in the administrative bodies
under the faculty of agronomy or under the Ministry of Agriculture
when they have completed their study.
Study Abroad.
The Ministry of Education awards a certain number of scholarships for study abroad each year ; in 1948, for instance, there were
87 awards. The majority of the awards are made for study in those
sciences which are not taught at the university of Costa Bica.
Sixty-five of the awards in 1948 were for study in medicine. The
following awards were made in 1948 for study in technical branches
relevant to this report : five in civil engineering ; one in chemical
engineering ; one in industrial chemistry ; four in agronomy ; one
in veterinary surgery ; and two in economics. All scholarship
holders went to countries on the American continent during that
year with the exception of two, one of whom went to Spain and the
other to Switzerland. The majority, 36, went to Mexico, 16 to the
United States, 14 to Salvador and nine to Chile, the remainder
going to seven different countries on the continent. There is no
information about the geographical distribution of scholarship
holders by subjects of study.
Costa Eicans can engage in advanced studies in an international
institution in their own country : the Inter-American Institute of
Agricultural Sciences at Turrialba. During the second semester of
the scholastic year 1948-1949, there were seven Costa Bicans out
of a total of 55 students ; three studied applied rural science, two
studied cocoa-growing, one studied phytogenetic methods, and one
rural economy and welfare.
In-Plant

Vocational

Training

The Costa Bican Labour Code of 1943 * contains a chapter on
apprenticeship (sections 114 to 117 inclusive). Section 114 states
that " persons who bind themselves to perform work for another
person receiving in return instruction, whether given personally or
1

I.L.O. : Legislative Series, 1943, CR. 1.

200

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

by a third party, in a craft, business or occupation, together with.
the agreed remuneration, shall be deemed to be apprentices ; the
remuneration may be less than the minimum wage and may be
paid in money or in kind or partly in money and partly in kind ".
Other Articles of the same Code deal with the exemption of
both parties to apprenticeship contracts from the general provisions
relating to the annulment of employment contracts (Articles 73 to
86), which normally afford great stability of employment ; the
annulment of apprenticeship contracts is made easier. However, no
technical provision has been introduced in this chapter of the Code
which could serve as a foundation on which measures for standardising apprenticeship in the skilled trades could be based.
TRAINING OF ADULTS

Industry
Since there are no official institutions providing further technical
training for workers, the Chamber of Manufacturers has sponsored
an establishment called the " workers' training school ". The
School funds were provided in 1948 and 1949 by 150 members of
the Chamber of Manufacturers who paid contributions proportionate
to the number of their employees, and by contributions from the
banks. The instructors are selected from among the students at
the engineering school of the national university.
Classes are given in the evening three times a week, each lasting
four hours, on the premises of the Chamber of Manufacturers. For
lack of complete equipment, they are for the time being theoretical
courses in mathematics, phyaics, chemistry, mechanics and electricity, supplemented by some laboratory practice. A small fee of
10 colones per month is made for these courses, since the Chamber
of Manufacturers feels t h a t this makes for regular attendance.
Some 40 students followed these courses at the beginning of 1949.
The Chamber of Manufacturers stated that its aim in setting
up this school was not solely to provide a partial solution to the
urgent problem of the shortage of technical personnel, but also to
experiment in teaching methods which the national authorities
might apply when it was deemed possible to set up a technical
secondary school providing effectual training for a new generation
of workers. 1 However, the Chamber has since stated its intention
of developing the experiment itself.
Agriculture
With the assistance of S.T.I.C.A., and in co-operation with the
agricultural loan branch of the National Bank, the Ministry of
Agriculture has set up extension services whose activity has rapidly
developed. Starting with three stations in 1947, there were nine
in December 1948 ; and it was planned to set up three new stations
and five sub-stations in order to cover the entire country.
These extension services serve a dual purpose. They study and
take direct action on soil conservation, combating parasites and
insects, crop preservation and intensified agricultural production
Escuela de Capacitación, published by the Chamber of Manufacturers.

APPENDIX I : COSTA BICA

201

and stockbreeding. They are also actively educating the rural
population by demonstration, instruction and consultation. They
are particularly intended to help the small farmer. Between 1 July
1948 and 31 January 1949, .they had helped 7,830 farmers with
advice or information and organised 38 information meetings which
were attended by 2,633 persons. They help farmers to organise
co-operative societies, lending them and teaching them to use all
agricultural equipment. They are also concerned with the improvement of agricultural training in rural schools. A dairy industry
section is being set up which will also be given technical assistance
and educational work to perform.
A department of rural economy and social welfare carries out
similar educational work among rural housewives and children,
organising youth clubs and promoting school and cottage gardens.
In order to provide these services with adequately trained personnel, temporary training courses are organised, candidates being
carefully selected. 1
The extension services division of the Ministry of Agriculture
has published a bulletin entitled Suelo Tico since 1948, bearing the
watchword, " technology in the service of agriculture ".
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Vocational Guidance
No official organisation has been set up to provide vocational
guidance, but recognition of the need for adequate vocational
guidance is noticeable in certain legislative provisions.
Section 92 of the Labour Code stipulates that in industrial
schools and reformatories the work done must be consistent with
the physical and mental ability of the students, and with their
capacities, tastes and inclinations. Section 115 dealing with apprenticeship contracts, states that " the employer may dismiss without
incurring any liability any apprentice who is found to be manifestly
unfit for the craft, business or occupation in question ".
Employment

Services

A department of employment was created in 1948 under the
Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. The functions of the department are to issue benefits in kind, as provided for in unemployment
legislation, particularly to veterans, and to try to find work
for registered unemployed persons. The department therefore is
concerned rather with public assistance than with the economic
management of the employment market. However, it has been
decided to compile an annual summary, based on forms to be filled
in by undertakings, of the monthly movement of persons employed
in industrial, commercial, agricultural and stockbreeding establishments.
Unemployed persons are registered on forms calling for information as to both their occupational and their family status. The
facts thus established are used in making card indexes classified by
professions ; 21 headings were in use in 1949. At the same time, a
1

Information provided by the Ministry of Agriculture and the S.T.I.C.A.

202

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

social investigation is being carried out by the social workers of
the department of welfare to ascertain relief requirements. Not
many registered unemployed persons were placed in jobs during
the first quarter in which the employment
department operated ;
of the 1,683 unemployed persons 1 registered between 10 October
and 31 December 1948, 195 persons were actually placed, i.e., 14.59
per cent.
In 1949, the only office of the employment department was in
the Capital at the Ministry itself.

1
56.4 per cent, were building workers and 14.6 per cent, were business or office
workers.

CUBA
During the last five years, a policy of expansion has been carried
out in Cuban education, especially in the basic education given in
elementary schools but also to some extent in vocational training.
Prom 1944 to 1947, the number of elementary schools increased by
255 per cent., the number of teachers by 144 per cent., and the
enrolment in State schools by 106 per cent. 1 The increase in the
number of students receiving technical education was, on the other
hand only 35 per cent., but the progress in elementary education
should afford a more favourable basis for vocational training in
future.
There has been much talk in recent years of a plan for a general
reform of education, promoted by a private association for social
advancement, the Club pedagógico to which persons who play a
leading part in official circles concerned with education belong.
The main idea of the proposed reform is to co-ordinate and standardise curricula. 2 As regards vocational training a first step was taken
in this direction by Decree IsTo. 3,578 of 1 July 1949, reorganising
the curriculum of the so-called polytechnic schools which provide
industrial training. 3
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
At present, vocational education is the concern of several administrative bodies.
The industrial and commercial educational
establishments come under the directorate of secondary education
in the Ministry of Education, but several of those establishments
also teach some rudiments of agricultural education, as do the
primary rural schools. The agricultural training establishments
proper are the responsibility of the educational directorate of the
Ministry of Agriculture.
Industry.
Elementary and intermediate grades.
Several kinds of official establishment provide industrial training
facilities—the industrial schools, the arts and crafts schools and the
polytechnic schools. I t is difficult to grade these schools according
1
Dra. M. CTJRBOLO : Informe sobre la Organización General de la Educación
en Cuba (Ministerio de Educación, Dirección de la Enseñanza, mimeogr.) ; and
Emma PEBEZ : La Política educacional del Dr. Grau San Martin (Havana,
1948), p. 89.
2
Club Pedagògico de Cuba : La Reforma General de la Enseñanza en Cuba
(Havana, Dec. 1945).
3
Gaceta Oficial, 23 Aug. 1949.

204

VOCATIONAL TEAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

to the standard of education afforded, since they differ not so much
in this respect as in their material arrangements—day or boarding
schools—in the subjects taught, especially in the circumstances
which led to their establishment.
There are two technical industrial schools, one for boys and one
for girls, admitting children between 14 and 18 years of age who
have finished their elementary schooling, providing they pass an
entrance examination. Both schools, situated on the outskirts of the
Capital (Eancho Boyeros), are boarding schools where most of the
students hold grants or scholarships. They are national schools and
the students may come from any township in the country. They
provide training facilities both for certain industrial trades and for
some handicrafts.
In 1940, there were 360 students and some 100 teachers,
instructors or assistant instructors in the boys' technical industrial
school. Each one of the 18 workshops was directed by an instructor helped by one or two assistant instructors and one
manual assistant.
In the curriculum, general education is the same for all b u t
workshop practice is specialised for 10 or 12 branches of activity,
each of which includes several distinct subjects between which the
students may choose. 1
The wide variety of subjects taught is illustrated by the 1948
syllabus, which includes the following sections :
industrial agricultural (rural industry, mechanical agricultural
equipment, irrigation and fertilisation, fodder, farming processes
peculiar to the country—sugar cane, tobacco and coffee) ;
industrial arts (cutting, moulding, painting) ;
carpentry (joinery, cabinet making, building carpentry, boat
building) ;
ceramics ;
building (masonry, ornamental masonry, hydraulic and sanitary
installation) ;
electricity (electricity, radio, electrical communications) ;
generating power, motors and furnaces ;
mechanical engineering (machine tool operation, foundry,
welding) ;
industrial chemistry (chemical analyses, chemistry of foodstuffs, manufacture of sugar and derivatives, of soap and of
perfumes) ;
printing trades (linotype, typography, printing press operation,
binding).
A diploma mentioning the subject chosen is awarded to students
who have completed the whole course and have received satisfactory
marks. From the school's foundation in 1929, until 1945, 2,767
students had been through the school of which 676 had received the
diploma.
The newer technical industrial school for girls had 125 students
in 1948-1949 and a teaching staff of 46 persons, including teachers,
workshop instructors and assistant instructors.
M n e different trades were taught including dressmaking, men's
tailoring, the preparatory processes in the shoe industry, leather
1
Ministerio de Educación. Escuela Técnica Industrial " General José B.
Alemán " : Programa de Ingreso (Havana, 1948).

APPENDIX I : CUBA

205

work and decorative arts, ceramics, dairy work, food-canning,
cooking and dietetics and some agricultural trades.
A diploma is also awarded by this school, mentioning the subject
studied, to students who complete the course successfully.
I n both these vocational schools, students must stay in the
section which they have chosen ; they are not allowed to pass from
one section to another during the course. I n addition to vocational
training, the curriculum includes many subjects of more general
education.
There are five arts and crafts schools in Cuba : an advanced
school at Havana and four others—one at Colon (Matanzas), one
at Santiago de Cuba (Oriente) and two in the province of Las Villas,
all of them being day-schools and co-educational. The training
given there is chiefly industrial. The advanced school offers a
four-year course and the others only three-year courses. Students
over 14 years of age who have completed their elementary education are admitted to the advanced school on passing an entrance
examination. During the first three years the theoretical teaching
is the same for all students and provides a groundwork. During
the fourth year theoretical teaching is specialised. Students may
specialise in one of four subjects in which they do practical work
from the first year. Those subjects are mechanical engineering,
electricity, building and industrial chemistry. Tuition is free, but
a charge is made for practical and laboratory work. Six hundred
students were enrolled in the regular courses of the advanced school
in 1948-1949. That school also offered a part-time evening course.
The provincial schools give only basic education in the same
four branches of study. There are now five of these polytechnic
schools : the former advanced polytechnic school at Ceiba del Agua
(which was co-educational and is now a boys' school) and four
others, two for boys and two for girls. When the I.L.O. Mission
visited Cuba in 1949 it found that two polytechnic schools described
as elementary were really pre-vocational schools, providing some
elements of manual training in addition to elementary education.
The advanced polytechnic school at Ceiba de Agua was originally
founded as a school under military discipline and restricted to
children from military families and more particularly to orphans.
Although in 1949 the school admitted other children, it was still
under semi-military discipline and all the students held scholarships. Indeed, it was in fact a child-assistance home.
I n accordance with Decree No. 3,578 of 1 July 1949 x, the polytechnic schools have been reorganised and their instruction adapted
to the training of educated and capable industrial workers able to
act as leading hands or foremen. The Decree lays down uniform
conditions of admission to these schools and outlines the curriculum
for the secondary or intermediate course. I t also provides that the
Minister of National Education may authorise the schools to run
advanced courses of university standard.
The secondary course is open to young people aged between
14 and 18 who pass an entrance and medical examination. I t lasts
three years and covers general and technical instruction in both
theory and practice. Special stress has, however, to be laid on the
practical side, and at least half the time available must be devoted
to practical work ; in addition, more time must be spent on class
1

Gaceta Oficial, 25 Aug. 1949.
14

206

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

work having some connection with the workshop practice than
on general knowledge unrelated to the practical side of the trade.
Instruction in the technology of the various subjects must be given
concurrently with practical work, whether industrial or agricultural,
the object being to provide trainees with the knowledge necessary
for them to do their work intelligently.
The syllabus of practical instruction outlined in the Decree
provides that certain departments shall be organised in these schools,
each divided into a large number of workshops or specialised
branches, viz. engineering, with nine specialised branches, woodwork (five), construction (four), electricity (six), industrial chemistry
(eight), industrial decoration, e.g., painting, sculpture, etc. (six),
printing trades (three), agriculture (two), miscellaneous arts and
crafts, e.g., jewellery, pottery and hairdressing (six), clothing (four)
and cooking (two). On the other hand, Chapter XVII, which deals
with the immediate introduction of the new curriculum in schools
that are already operating, lays down for each of them a practical
syllabus whose scope is definitely not as wide as that contemplated
in the general plan—except in the case of the boys' polytechnic
school at Ceiba del Agua * (the former advanced polytechnic centre),
where a wide variety of subjects had been taught even before
Decree No. 3,578 was promulgated. Up to that time, it had been
co-educational, though girls were not admitted to all departments,
and provisional arrangements have been made to ensure that studies
already begun may be completed.
One of the rules as to workshop practice in industrial schools
of all grades is that nothing is to be made for sale. Workshop
practice generally takes the form of systematic exercises for apprentices ; when the products made are fit for use they are used as equipment for the schools themselves or for other public establishments.
A Eesolution of 12 September 1949 reorganises the training
in radio-communications given at the academy of the Ministry of
Communications. This training is particularly intended for candidates for appointment in the technical services of that Ministry.
However, one section also trains operators for commercial undertakings. The school admits Cuban students of 16 years of age
who pass the entrance examination ; students holding diplomas from
the arts and crafts school or from the technical industrial school
are exempted from the entrance examination. The course lasts two
years. It is planned to start with two schools, one at Havana and
the other at Santiago de Cuba. Others may be opened later in
other provincial capitals.
University standard.
The national university of Havana, an autonomous but subsidised institution, has an engineering faculty which is open to students
who have matriculated in science and to former students of the
advanced arts and crafts school who have obtained a technician's
1

Even before the Decree was issued, the Ceiba del Agua polytechnic school
ran advanced courses, in addition to its secondary classes, for the training of
technicians in a large number of specialised branches, such as mechanics, electricity and radio, construction, industrial chemistry, printing trades, rural industries, and industrial or agricultural administration. There was also an advanced
domestic science course for girls.

APPENDIX I : CUBA

207

diploma, and also to land surveyors. Candidates who have none
of these qualifications may be admitted on passing an entrance
examination. The faculty can take up to about 200 first-year
students ; however, in 1948-1949 over 220 applicants had been
admitted, the total enrolment in the faculty being approximately
700 students.
Engineering studies last five years and students may specialise
either as civil or as electrical engineers. A new plan is under consideration for including more special subjects in the curriculum,
particularly mining, since this subject is not yet taught in Cuba.
The five Cuban mining engineers were all trained abroad. Under
the new plan, electrical studies would be divided into two branches,
one dealing with electro-mechanics and the other with electrical
communications. The work would be spread over a six-year period,
the main subjects forming a preliminary syllabus common to all
sections prior to specialisation.
The same university also has a faculty of architecture to which
candidates holding diplomas from intermediate technical schools
who have studied subjects connected with the building industry—
public works technicians and supervisors of the former vocational
school—are admitted on the same footing as those who have matriculated in science, that is, without having to pass an entrance
examination. Architectural studies last six years.
At the university level, girls may take courses in the technical
faculties on the same terms as the boys.
Commerce.
As has already been stated, there is an administrative section in
the advanced polytechnic school. I n addition, the Ministry of
Education maintained commercial training schools in eleven towns
in 1949. As in all countries, private schools also provide facilities
for commercial training. Eight of them are officially recognised
(incorporadas).
At the university level there is a faculty of economics at the
national university ; graduates of the State commercial schools may
be admitted.
Agriculture.
Elementary and intermediate

standards.

I t has already been stated that the technical industrial school
provides some basic education in agriculture and rural industries,
particularly the dairy industry.
Elementary agricultural education is also given in the rural
elementary schools of the Ministry of Education. 1 During the last
seven years the Government has been particularly interested in the
revision of the syllabuses of these schools and in their development.
The Ministries of Agriculture and Public Works have been charged
with the opening of new schools in conjunction with the Ministry of
Education, which is responsible for them.
The new rural schools have been located so as to be within
easy reach of the rural population and to have enough cultivable
1

For several years these have been called escuelas montunas.

208

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

land on which to train students ; the school farm should cover not
less than 30,000 square metres (about 7 % acres). Eural landowners
have frequently co-operated by giving up some of their land so that
a school may be opened. The main purpose has been to reform rural
education, which was considered too formal and out of touch with
country life, so as to make the teaching functional and to strengthen
the children's ties with their normal environment. In 1948 there were
approximately 1,500 schools of the new type, and their distribution
among the various provinces, mostly in the more agricultural ones,
is significant of the purpose for which they were set up. The distribution was as follows : Oriente, 553 ; Las Villas, 339 ; 1 Camaguey,
184 ; Pinar del Bio, 177 ; Havana, 152 ; Matanzas, 95.
However, agricultural training proper is given in schools of the
Ministry of Agriculture (educational directorate). These schools,
of which there are six, one in each province, are practical agricultural
schools admitting young persons of at least 14 years of age. Candidates do not have to submit proof that they have completed their
elementary schooling, as in industrial schools, but they have to pass
nn entrance examination. This examination covers dictation,
geography and elementary arithmetic. For admission to agricultural
schools candidates must prove that they come from a family that
works on and derives its livelihood from the land.
The practical agricultural school course lasts three years and
leads up to the certificate of skilled farmer. The work is essentially
practical and attracts a large number of candidates ; the school in the
province of Havana, which the I.L.O. Mission visited, was intended
to take 30 students but had more then 60 in 1949. In all there
were rather more than 250 pupils at these schools.
The practical schools grow food for their own consumption and are
self-sufficient, but like the industrial schools they do not sell their
produce.
University standard.
The national university of Havana includes a faculty of agronomy
and sugar industry with an enrolment of 600 to 800 students.
Students with secondary school-leaving certificates in science are
admitted without examination. All other applicants must take an
entrance examination covering a large number of subjects ; however,
candidates from the practical agricultural schools who have obtained
the skilled farmer's certificate are exempted from one of the tests.
The course, which lasts five years, leads up to the degree of agricultural expert. During the first three semesters a general scientific
course is given. After the second semester of the second year and
during the next three years the courses are less general and include
compulsory practical work on an experimental estate belonging to the
faculty (campo experimental de la Finca San Rafael). A course in
agricultural mechanics which was followed by about 100 students
in 1949 is run by the same faculty.
i Also sponsored by the same faculty, is a three-year course
leading up to a diploma in the chemistry of sugar and a five-year
course leading up to the degree of chemical engineer (sugar). The
students in this section must do a period of practical work covering
1

Cf. La Politica educacional del Dr. Grau San Martin, op. cit. p. 78.

APPENDIX I : CUBA

209

a whole sugar season at the Limones sugar stations. 1 Within certain
limits, students may plan their own year's work themselves, provided
they cover the entire course. However, certain courses are incompatible and cannot be taken simultaneously, and some must precede
others in order that students may learn systematically.
Aid for Technical

Study

As has been stated, the agricultural and several of the industrial
schools are boarding schools, most of the students holding scholarships or grants. Conditions for the award of scholarships were fixed
by Act No. 17 of February 1926 and Regulation Ko. 837 of 20 May
1948. Candidates must prove that their family's income does not
exceed $100 per month, and that they worked satisfactorily at their
last school ; they must obtain not less than 60 per cent, of full
marks for their examination papers. The examination is set according
to a programme officially laid down for each school.
Certain fees are charged for university education : a matriculation
fee of $30, laboratory fees of $10, sports fees of $5, a charge of $10
for the school medical services, and examination fees in each subject.
Under the Act mentioned above the university should exempt
one third of the students from all fees. An enquiry is made into
the financial position of students seeking exemption from fees,
who must also obtain a minimum number of marks either in the
school attended before the university or during the university study
itself. Because of these conditions, the maximum number of authorised exemptions is seldom reached ; in the engineering faculty in
1949, 65 students were exempted instead of the possible 150.
For study abroad, one scholarship is awarded in each faculty
to the student with the best marks in the final examination ; if he
waives the scholarship, it goes to the next best student. The scholarship, which lasts one year, carries a grant of $300 for travelling
and $125-150 per month for maintenance. I n addition endowments
made by private firms are available to Cubans.
In the field of agricultural training, graduates from the faculty
of agronomy and sugar may be awarded two similar scholarships
for study abroad offered by the Limones sugar station, an undertaking which belongs to the faculty and has a large sugar cane
plantation and an extraction factory. One of these scholarships
is given for specialised work in sugar cane growing and the other
for work in the sugar industry, including sugar extraction and
refining and alcohol distilling.
Two other grants are made for more advanced study within the
country after graduation either at the Limones sugar station or at
the university. They provide free lodging and maintenance and
$55 pocket money per month.
In-Plant

Training

Decree No. 798 of 30 April 1948, regulating labour contracts,
contains a chapter on articles of apprenticeship : the minimum age
for entry into apprenticeship is fixed at 14 years, and the respective
duties of both employer and apprentice are defined ; apprentices
1
These sugar stations in Cuba are sugar cane extraction factories which also
usually make rum and frequently refine sugar.

210

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

are protected in various ways, particularly by making it compulsory
for the employer to train and educate his apprentices, to lodge and
feed them properly if they live in his house and to pay them a
prescribed minimum wage ; the maximum length of the contract
is indirectly set at four years, thus preventing the employment of
young persons as apprentices after their apprenticeship has in fact
been completed. But none of these provisions regulate the technical
conditions of apprenticeship so as to protect the standard of training.
No attempt has been made to standardise the training given in
different undertakings to apprentices in the same trade. No provision
is made for a system of official supervision to follow the progress
made by young persons during apprenticeship or for the issue of
certificates to those so trained.
There is no precise information about the number of apprenticeship contracts signed, but it is obvious that, as in other countries,
workers are frequently trained on the job, even without a contract.
TRAINING AND BETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Training and Upgrading

Facilities

Industry.
As was stated previously the higher arts and crafts school, where
specialist courses are given after a basic course, also runs evening
classes, chiefly for young persons who are not free during the day.
The object of these classes is not so much to train adult workers
as to increase the teaching capacity of the school and train a larger
number of young persons.
The only upgrading course for adults of which the I.L.O. Mission
was informed was a private one run by the Catholic college of Belen
as part of their social work ; the course is run quite independently
of the regular courses of this college and the only conditions of
admission are technical.
A rather strict written examination is required for admission,
corresponding more or less to matriculation standard. Fifty students
are admitted each year. Tuition and the use of equipment and
supplies are free except for a small charge for drawing paper and
books which does not exceed a maximum of two pesos per year.
The course lasts two years and includes theoretical study as well
as workshop practice. The theoretical education in the first year
deals with mathematics, drawing, English and sociology ; during
the second year it deals with general physics, the elements of
chemistry and technology, drawing and citizenship training. The
practical work, which is done in six workshops, covers power generation and internal combustion engines, metal forging, foundry work,
machine shop operation and electricity. By agreement with the
observatory, students may study the wireless equipment there.
There are plans to install other workshops for carpentry and cabinet
making, printing processes and aero-mechanics.
Commerce.
Many commercial schools—both State and private—offer evening
or night courses for adult employees.

APPENDIX I : CUBA

211

Agriculture.
Various branches of the Ministry of Agriculture give guidance
and technical assistance to farmers and stockbreeders.
There are three agricultural stations in the provinces of Havana,
Pinar del Eio and Oriente. The first is general, the second specialises
in tobacco-growing and the third in coffee-growing. I n addition to
their technical research work, these stations also give advice to
farmers. For instance, the general experimental agronomy station
at Santiago de Las Vegas sent out 60 written answers in one month
and gave verbal advice in 26 cases.
These stations also promote education by issuing a large number
of pamphlets and a bulletin, thus helping to correct the faults
detected in the agricultural economy of the country when an agricultural census was taken in 1946 by the Ministry of Agriculture.
I t is admitted that much remains to be done to improve farming
methods and to overcome the routine habits which hinder such
improvement. The stations also run an agricultural machinery
service.
Similar work is done by the bio-pathology station at Santiago
de Las Vegas to promote the care of breeding animals and the
prevention or cure of disease. In the case of small farms all services
are given free including the inoculations carried out by the
veterinary service.
A training programme in rural home-economics is also run by
the Ministry of Agriculture.
Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons
An institute for the rehabilitation of persons disabled in the
course of employment was set up some 12 years ago at Mariano,
adjoining Havana, under the national institute of social welfare
and reform. The rehabilitation institute is a national one, open to
all disabled persons, whatever their place of residence, who fulfil
the conditions for admission.
Decree No. 554 of 6 February 1936 which regulates the operation
of the rehabilitation institute provides that all workers who have
been injured in the course of employment may avail themselves of
the services of the institute. However, those services are not
exclusively limited to cases of invalidity due to employment. The
Decree provides that funds from private persons or from institutions
may be accepted for the education of the blind, and even street
accidents are occasionally treated.
The services of the institute are intended for persons who have
reached the legal age of admission to employment and are no longer
able to earn their livelihood by their usual trade but are normal in
all other respects. Applicants for admission to the institute must
undergo a medical examination and a psychotechnical examination
so that they may be directed to the type of training best suited
to them. The following trades are taught : carpentry and cabinetmaking, metal cutting, turning, workshop mechanics and metal
forging, plumbing, welding, tinsmithing, electrical installation,
electrical winding, metal furniture and toymaking, leather work and
other applied arts.
Physiotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic
treatment may be given where needed. Since 1949 the institute
has also had an operating theatre.

212

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Such rehabilitation lasts nine' months to a year on the average,
though some students are kept as long as 18 months. As many as
30 students may be treated at the same time, but that maximum
is rarely reached. Courses in theory are given in the morning, but
they are not compulsory. Practical exercises in the workshops
take place during the afternoon and are better attended.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Vocational Guidance
There is no organisation of vocational guidance for all young
persons. However, children admitted to elementary schools of a
certain kind known as children's homes, do receive an education
likely to awaken an interest in some particular trade owing to the
inclusion of pre-vocational courses in the curriculum. The courses
consist mainly of exercises designed to develop manual dexterity
in handicraft or industrial processes, and there is no definite apprenticeship. The curriculum of higher elementary schools also includes
some pre-vocational training, particularly elements of commercial
training and manual crafts.
The aim of the rural primary schools in general is to arouse an
interest in agricultural life among children living in the villages.
Sural schools cope with approximately one third of the school
population. I n 1946-1947 173,000 students out of a total of 533,000
attended such schools. 1 I n addition the Ministry of Agriculture
maintains some boarding schools for the seventh and eighth grades
in rural areas ; they are of a pre-vocational type and are intended to
serve as preparatory schools for the practical agricultural schools.
Early in 1949, certain persons who were interested in guidance
programmes formed a study group to work out a system of vocational
guidance for young persons, based on psychotechnical methods,
making use of the experience already acquired by the institute
for the rehabilitation of persons disabled in the course of employment.
Later in the same year the institute of psychometry and vocational
guidance was opened. Furthermore, Decree No. 3,578 of 1 July
1949, reorganising the study plan of the polytechnic schools, makes
provision for setting up in polytechnic schools of the secondary
standard a vocational guidance office whose purpose would be to
advise students and guide them towards the kind of training best
suited to their ability and occupational aptitudes. In the same
schools, new entrants are to work in each of the various school
workshops during the first half of the first year course, so as to
discover their bent.
Placement
There is no organisation dealing particularly with the placement
of young persons. However, usually, the technical schools see to
the placement of their students, and manufacturers go straight to
the schools in order to find the young technicians they require.
Act ÎTo. 148 of 1935 2 provides for setting up a system of employment exchanges under the Ministry of Labour. There is a depart1
2

Informe sobre la Organización Oeneral de la Educación en Cuba, op. cit.
I.L.O. Legislative Series, 1935, Cuba 7.

APPENDIX I : CUBA

213

ment of employment exchanges and migration at the Ministry
itself with branch offices ; the branch offices consist of 66 employment exchanges proper in towns with a population of over 20,000,
and of 60 smaller offices working in correlation with the nearest
exchange.
The employment exchanges are responsible for—
(a) distributing labour cards which are compulsory for paid
employment in industry or business. The central office keeps one
copy of these cards, filing them by undertakings, and drawing up
scales of promotion (under a particular resolution dealing with the
building industry, workers in that branch of activity are separately
registered) ;
(b) keeping a register of all cases of loss of employment or of
engagement of which all undertakings or trade unions must notify
the central office under the terms of the above-mentioned Act.
Eeturns must distinguish between Cubans and foreign workers in
order that the legislation on the employment of foreign persons may
be applied (here again the movement of labour in the building
industry is separately registered) ;
(c) registering professional persons and specialised workers on
a special roll in accordance with the provisions of Besohition No. 776
of 3 October 1936. The following persons may on request be enrolled
as specialist workers :
(i) persons holding a degree or certificate of technical competence
awarded by an official or recognised educational institute ;
(ii) persons who have exercised a special profession for at least
five years, on submission of documents proving their claim
(generally a declaration from the employer) ;
(iii) higher-grade hotel employees and commercial employees who
know at least two languages.
The employment exchanges are empowered to effect placements.
Act No. 148 even provides that " whenever a vacancy occurs or it is
necessary to engage additional staff, whether temporary or permanent, the employer concerned shall be bound to apply to the competent employment exchange for fists of unemployed workers
suitable for the employment or post which is vacant ". In practice
this happens fairly seldom, workers being engaged through the
offices of the trade union in all branches of activity where unions
have been organised. The Act states that " in cases where in pursuance of an industrial agreement the employer is bound to apply
to a trade union or association when procuring the employees whom
he requires . . . the requisite lists of the employees to be sent in
conformity with the agreement in force shaU be sent through the
employment exchange for the province ".
I n February 1949 5,504 names were included in the register of
specialist workers under the following headings : surveyors 10,
architects and other building specialists 52, artists 20, carpenters
and other woodworkers 43, airmen 60, sugar specialists 762, cinematographic workers 1,162, glass and crystal specialists 129, train
drivers 24, nurses and midwives 180, accountants 227, pharmacists
30, metal forgers, ironsmiths and blacksmiths 131, electricians 387,
tobacco specialists 219, agricultural experts and experts in sugar 5,
civil and industrial engineers 203, soap and perfume specialists 57,

214

VOCATIONAL TEAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

lithographers and typographers 31, chemists and other laboratory
technicians 70, mechanics 206, shoe designers 19, tailors 19, hatmakers 16, textile technicians 375, other industrial technicians 216,
fisheries specialists 49, teachers and interpreters 163, chiropodists 10,
gaming employees 131, catering employees 466, commercial employees 66. The composition of the list is clearly affected by the
voluntary nature of enrolment, some trades being in the habit of
enrolling more regularly than others, and some of not enrolling at all.
Although this register cannot be taken as a complete record of
technicians and skilled workers in Cuba, it is nevertheless an interesting attempt to make a census of the country's technical resources.

ECUADOR
Eegulations made under the Education Act and dated 28 December 1947 set out a comprehensive plan relating to the organisation
of vocational training. 1 I t is stated in the preamble that, since national
conditions require the rationalisation of the production and distribution of wealth, and hence the technical improvement of industry
which should be provided with competent and reliable personnel,
it is necessary to institute an integrated, gradual and progressive
system of vocational and technical education, such as would develop
and utilise to the maximum extent the latent abilities of the
population.
As planned, the scheme is to cover all training establishments,
whether State, municipal or private, providing industrial, agricultural
or commercial training for adolescents or for adult workers. This is a
long-term project, which, it is expressly stated, can only be put
into effect gradually " in accordance with real needs and possibilities ".
The Minister of Education is to be responsible for administering
the scheme through the directorate of technical education in the
Ministry, with the assistance of an advisory council on technical
education. Eepresentatives of the Minister for Economic Affairs,
of Chambers of Industry, Commerce and Agriculture, as well as of
the Workers' Confederation of Ecuador, will have seats on this body
beside the education authorities. Among the council's prescribed
tasks are the following : to suggest how the defects of the present
educational system could be remedied, and how the education of
adolescents and adults could be complemented ; to find out how
industrialists and the State could co-operate in order to support
the scheme ; to suggest how attendance at certain classes could be
made compulsory within specified age limits, and what means should
be at the disposal of the directorate to hasten the achievement of the
plan.
In 1950 the Government of Ecuador applied under the expanded
technical assistance programme for assistance in education, including
vocational training. Three I.L.O. experts are, under a joint I.L.O.TT.If.E.S.C.O. project to assist the Government in establishing
technical and vocational training facilities as well as in adapting
training programmes to the economic system of the country.
Another factor making for improvement in agricultural training
is the increased production programme which the Government is
carrying out through the agency of the recently established institute
for economic development (Instituto del Fomento) and with the
technical assistance of a mission from the Eockefeller Institute ;
this programme is leading to the establishment of experimental
.stations and of subsidiary extension services.
Other signs of an interest in agricultural training should be noted,
such as the fact that a delegation of observers from Ecuador attended
a meeting where delegates from Bolivia and Peru discussed the educa1

Ministerio de Educación pública : Reglamento de Educación técnica, 1948.

216

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

tion of Indian populations in rural areas. Although it has not instituted
the same satellite school group as that which now functions in the two
neighbouring countries as a result of this meeting, Ecuador has, in
the past few years, improved the methods of agricultural training
for elementary school teachers in rural areas, entrusting such training
in each rural teachers' college to an agricultural expert. The Government is also trying to induce local authorities in rural areas
which have received grants for technical education to use these funds
to organise training for agriculture rather than for other occupations.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
Industry.
The plan grades the training establishments rather than the
standards of training to be offered.
At the elementary level there will be arts and crafts schools,
offering a five-year course to train skilled workers (prácticos) and
foremen (maestros). Intermediate technical colleges will give the
same elementary course in addition to an intermediate course, t o
train technicians (técnicos), or to enable students to obtain a technical diploma, in seven years. There will be only one establishment
for advanced training, the central State technical college : it will
offer, for the training of industrial engineers, the two first courses
already mentioned, as well as a third course.
The regulations carefully lay down what minimum equipment
and precisely what staff should be assigned to each type of establishment, and what qualifications the staff should have in each case.
They provide that arrangements shall be made to give the staff
adequate training. While the principals and the administrative
staff of these schools should as a rule be Ecuadorean citizens, there
is no such requirement for teachers of technical subjects or for
workshop instructors. 1
On presentation of a medical certificate, candidates over 12 years
of age who have had six years' elementary education will be admitted
to the elementary course, a competitive examination being held if t h e
number of candidates exceeds that of vacancies. After this t h e
transition from one course to another will be automatic, but it will
also be possible to pass from a grammar-school class to a technicalschool class, or vice-versa, a clear indication that technical and
classical studies are to have fully equivalent status. Accordingly, t h e
basic syllabus, common to all three curricula, which was published
in 1948, consists very largely of subjects of general educational
value.
Pending full application of new three-course curricula, the
regulations provide for a transitional curriculum which is practically
the same as that applied in the principal establishment now operating.
As regards industrial training this curriculum includes—
(a) one-year courses for 12 trades : carpenters and joiners,
house carpenters, house-painters, smiths and cartwrights, mechanics,
1

In fact at the main establishment visited by the Mission three out of fiveof the teachers of technical subjects were foreigners.

APPENDIX I : ECUADOR

217

plumbers, electrical fitters, shoemakers, hairdressers, tailors, masons,
stone cutters and dressers (one-year continuation courses are arranged
for nine of these crafts) ;
(b) three-year courses for the following textile trades : weaving,
finishing, dyeing and spinning ;
(c) four-year courses for training skilled workers for various
occupations in the metal trades, in mining, in foundry work, and in
the printing trades ;
(d) five-year courses in electricity, automobile engineering,
mechanical engineering, wireless and cabinet making ;
(e) six-year courses, for training technicians in cabinet making,
building, electricity, chemistry, wireless, mining engineering, foundry
practice, and typography and other printing trades ; or leading to
technical diplomas in radio-technology and electrical engineering,
automobile engineering, mechanical engineering and industrial
chemistry.
The programme of courses for the training of engineers has not
yet been published.
Under the new plan, girls are to have the same rights as boys
as regards access to the various types of technical training provided.
However the regulations also provide that the existing special schools
for the training of women workers will be retained, and that courses
in domestic science and family work will be instituted. 1
Since the special agencies contemplated in the plan have not yet
been set up, administrative responsibility for vocational training
devolves upon the directorate general of education.
For the time being, at the elementary and intermediate levels,
the main establishment for boys is the central technical college at
Quito, where there were 360 pupils in 1949. In the provinces, several
small establishments offer courses in industrial trades or in handicrafts. 2
The central technical college provides—
(a) an elementary course for training manual workers ; pupils
leaving primary school are admitted by examination. Until 1949
this had been a three-year course (for craftsmen and leading hands),
but it is progressively being lengthened to the five years required
for qualifying as a maestro. At present many pupils abandon their
studies after three years, on qualifying as skilled workers (prácticos).
I n 1949 there were 11 students of automobile engineering, 19 of
general mechanical engineering, and nine of electricity, in their
fourth or fifth year of the elementary course. Very few are interested
in carpentry : only three pupils were taking the special course.
1

In their reply to the enquiry of the Pan American Union, the Government
state that, although the regulations establish the right of girls to admission to all
vocational schools, in practice only certain commercial courses are co-educational.
2
The same reply mentions 13 industrial schools for boys in the provinces. In
1951, the total number of pupils in these schools and at the central technical
college was 1,107. However, it appears from the information supplied that very
few of these courses are really industrial (mainly courses in machine-tool operation
and electricity) ; many of them deal with crafts (carpentry, shoemaking,
weaving, tailoring, toy-making, etc.) and others with arts (painting, modelling,
wood and stone sculpture, decorating). Many of the schools also offer courses in
agriculture and bookkeeping or in women's crafts, such as dressmaking.

218

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

(b) a seven-year course leading up to the technical diploma. In
1949 only radio technology was taught. A timetable of 45 class
hours a week (instead of 30 in the grammar schools) was designed
to allow ordinary secondary education and technical education to be
completed at the same time.
Unofficially, the school arranges to provide its pupils with
practical experience when they have finished their studies. In 1949
jobs with private firms had been found in Chile for 25 former students
and in Colombia for two (who were specialising as aircraft mechanics).
Another type of official establishment are the " labour schools "
maintained by the directorate general of child welfare centres.
These institutions, which are free boarding schools, provide training
in carpentry, mechanics, printing, clothing manufacture, shoemakmg
and hairdressing for adolescents between 14 and 18 years of age.
There are two of these establishments, one in Quito and one in
Guayaquil, with about 100 pupils each. In future they will have
to conform to the 1948 programmes.
There are similar boarding-schools for girls in these two cities.
Furthermore, throughout the country there are 12 State day-schools
for girls which offer either courses in industrial trades and handicrafts
(dressmaking, weaving, embroidery, etc.) or in clerical occupations.
In 1951, the total number of students in these schools was 2,723.
Some private institutions are also covered by the national
scheme : they are the technical schools of the Salesian Order, one in
Quito (78 pupils in 1949), another m Cuenca, and a third now being
established at Loja. So far they had provided only an elementary
course of training for carpenters, mechanics and printers.

At the university level, the faculty of mathematical, physical and
natural science in the central university at Quito includes—
(a) a school of civil engineering, founded in 1874 (256 students,
two of them women, in 1947-1948). Six years of study lead to a
degree in civil engineering. Graduates may qualify for a doctorate
after they have practised their profession for five years and have
submitted original work.
(b) a school of architecture, founded in 1932 (73 students, all
men, in 1947-1948), in which the studies are organised along the same
lines as in the above school.
(c) a school of chemistry and pharmacy, founded in 1927 (116
students, 42 of them women, in 1947-1948). For a master's degree
a minimum of four and a half years' study is required. Four years
of subsequent practice are required to qualify for the doctorate.
Agriculture.
The new plan divides agricultural training into three stages along
the same lines as industrial training : there are to be a three-year
course to qualify as a skilled agricultural worker (práctico agrónomo),
a five-year course to qualify as a leading farm hand (maestro), and a
six-year course to obtain a diploma (matriculation standard) in
agricultural science.
It is also hoped to arrange for a three-year fisheries course dealing
with fishing industries, fishing proper and the building of fishingcraft, with similar certificates in these three branches.
At the elementary level, rural schools already give some instruction in agricultural subjects. At the intermediate level there are at

APPENDIX I : ECUADOR

219

present two agricultural training schools which train agricultural
experts, one at Guillan, which has a temperate climate, and the
other at Mileagro, which has a tropical one. They have had some
difficulty in operating, since there is not enough good land for the
cultivation of a sufficient variety of crops. Moreover, as has already
been pointed out, courses in agriculture are also given at some
schools which teach handicrafts or even commercial subjects.
At the university level the school of agriculture, founded in 1931
at the central university in Quito, had 72 students, two of them
women, in 1947-1948. The school of veterinary medicine, founded
in 1936, was being reorganised in 1948-1949. The school of agriculture is open to students over 18 years of age ; they need not hold
the school-leaving certificate, but those who do are exempted from
the entrance examination. The course of study covers four years ;
during their vacations, students may do practical work on estates
maintained by the department of agriculture. The degree is that
of agricultural expert. A school of agriculture was also founded
in 1946 at the university of Loja, and another in 1948 at the
university of Guayaquil.
Commerce.
Provision is made in the general plan for commercial training
along the same lines as for other forms of professional training.
After three years of study it will be possible to qualify for an office
machine operator's certificate ; after four years for a certificate
as a bookkeeper or a typist and office machine operator ; and
after five years for an accountant's or a typist-secretary's certificate.
At the intermediate level, a diploma in commerce and administration will be obtainable after six years' study.
For the time being, at the intermediate level, the central technical
college has a commercial course of three years, which is to be
gradually extended in accordance with the above programme. Six
other co-educational State schools offer commercial training.
Municipal and private schools will in future have to conform
to the same programme. 1
At the university level, there is at the central university a school
of economics which had 113 students, sixteen of them women, in
1947-1948. Holders of the school-leaving certificate qualify for
admission to its courses, as do qualified accountants (peritos contadores). The five-year course leads to a master's degree. For a
doctorate, candidates must also submit a thesis and undergo an
oral examination.
Aid for Technical

Training

Within the Country.
Education in technical training establishments at the elementary
and intermediate levels is free, but board has to be paid for and
1
The Government's reply to the Pan American Union's enquiry mentions
three municipal commercial schools (two co-educational and one for boys) and
28 private commercial schools (16 for girls, two for boys and 10 co-educational).
In 1951 the total number of pupils in commercial schools was 3,003, of whom
757 were in State schools, 418 in municipal schools and 1,723 in private schools.

220

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

there are some entrance fees. A limited number of scholarships
are awarded. Out of 360 pupils registered at the central technical
college in 1949, 82 held Government scholarships, 40 of them
for boarders ; 25 students had scholarships awarded by the
municipalities.
There are certain fees to be paid at the university, but it can
award a number of scholarships.
I n vocational schools where orders for work are accepted, the
pupils and instructors concerned each receive 20 per cent, of the
profits earned by the school.
Training

Abroad.

As has already been stated, under the arrangements by which
schools help their pupils to obtain practical experience abroad, the
pupils receive a small payment from their employers.
Ecuadorean citizens may also receive various forms of assistance
for academic studies but this assistance is felt to be inadequate.
The council of the central university is empowered under the university statutes to award scholarships to promising students in
order to enable them to study abroad, particularly in cases where
the university cannot provide instruction in the subject they wish
' to study. An exchange agreement concluded between this university
and Colombia provides for the award to Colombians of eight scholarships tenable at Quito, while eight scholarships tenable in Colombia
are made available to citizens of Ecuador.
Moreover there are foreign scholarships, chiefly United States
ones, available to Ecuadorean citizens ; so that in 1949 there were
29 of these holding scholarships abroad. Of those, one had been
admitted to the Chilean institute of technology, one to the national
school of agriculture of Mexico at Chapingo and three to the InterAmerican Institute of Agricultural Science at Turrialba (Costa
Bica)—all three were studying the cultivation of cocoa.
Furthermore, under the technical assistance agreement to which
reference has already been made, the I.L.O. agreed in 1951 to
award to Government officials seven fellowships for study abroad
in the field of technical training.
The national budget had not so far included grants for study
abroad. However, there is a clause in the December 1947 regulations governing the organisation of technical education which might
in the future lead to the provision of grants for scholarships : under
Article 11 (f), the director of technical education is, inter alia,
to propose to the Minister measures essential for the adequate basic
preparation and advanced training of the teaching staff, either by
organising special courses within the country or by making
arrangements for study abroad.
In-Plant

Training

The 1938 Labour Act includes a chapter (Articles 95 to 105) on
apprenticeship, stipulating that the number of apprentices in
an undertaking shaU not be more than 5 per cent, or less than 15 per
cent, of the total number of employed workers ; this provides a
fairly solid foundation for making use of the training facilities
available in the various firms.

APPENDIX I : ECUADOR

221

The regulations allow the parties to the articles of apprenticeship themselves to decide for what trade or occupation the apprenticeship shall be as well as the duration of the apprenticeship ; they
do not attempt to standardise training for the various trades and
occupations. On the other hand, the employer is required to allow
an apprentice time for complementary education during a certain
number of hours to be specified in the contract, and to see that
apprentices attend these classes. He is also required to appoint a
person to act as supervisor of training in his place if he is unable
to perform that function himself.
The other clauses relate to welfare rather than technical matters.
The regulations of 28 December 1947 provide that courses of
appprenticeship may be organised in technical establishments, and
entrust the advisory council with the task of studying the question.
TRAINING OF ADULTS

For some years past, the central university has arranged to
provide extension courses to raise the educational level of the
masses 1 ; one such arrangement was the institution in 1947 of a
section dealing with " minor industries ". There is no enrolment
fee and all those who have completed their elementary schooling
may enter ; but among the goals it has set itself the university
mentions the improvement of the workers' practical and technical
knowledge, as well as diffusion of knowledge of practical methods
of utilising the country's raw materials.
The course covers the industries dependent on chemistry, building (materials and draughtsmanship), electricity, the mechanical
industries, and also decoration. I t is proposed that other special
courses be instituted in this section as the need arises. Teaching
is chiefly through popular lectures, frequently illustrated by lanternslides or films. Examinations are held quarterly and at the end
of the year ; students must have attended 80 per cent, of the lectures
to qualify for the certificate.
The university extension courses also include commercial training courses in English and shorthand.
When a general plan for the organisation of vocational training
was drawn up at the end of 1947, it included the institution, in the
scheme's technical establishments, of upgrading courses for workers.
The advisory council on technical education was then entrusted
with the task of suggesting how such courses should be organised :
whether there should be day or evening courses, permanent or temporary ones ; whether they should be direct or by correspondence.
I t was also to indicate suitable means of fostering the upgrading
of workers through such courses, more particularly by holding out
prospects of promotion for those attending.
Early in 1948, a similar project was outlined in a Decree entrusting the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare with the responsibility
of organising and supervising workers' upgrading courses, in
co-operation with the Minister of Education since it was provided
that these courses be run by secondary schools or technical colleges,
whichever was the more convenient.
1
Cf. UNIVERSIDAD CENTRAL : Seglamento
Cultural Universitaria (Quito, 1947).

General para los cursos de Extension
15

222

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Under the terms of this Decree, classes are to be held five times
a week, early in the evening, in two periods of 30 minutes each,
interrupted by a light meal given to the trainees. The subjects
included in the syllabus are mainly general ones, which take up
seven of the 10 weekly periods, the remaining three being devoted
to one of the following technical subjects, to be chosen by the
trainee : industrial chemistry, drawing and applied geometry,
arithmetic and bookkeeping, and mechanics. Other optional
subjects may be added at the Minister's discretion.
Sporting, recreational and artistic activities also find a place
in the syllabus, which has clearly been made as attractive as possible,
for instance by the offer of a number of material advantages, such
as free medical and dental services, to those taking the course.
As for education in rural areas, extension services are to be
instituted, especially in connection with the work of the experimental
station at Pichilinguie (Los Eios Province) and its sub-station near
Quito.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Vocational Guidance
The 1948 plan provides that official technical training establishments shall have on their staff a chief vocational guidance officer
whose task it shall be, inter alia, to arrange vocational guidance
within the establishment, to carry out the enquiries necessary to
determine the vocational aptitudes of students, to direct the work
of methodical guidance, and to lecture on subjects related to
vocational guidance.
Employment Services
At present there is no public employment service. The State
schools often undertake unofficially to find employment for their
trainees.

GUATEMALA 1
The expansion of vocational education as well as of general
education has been one of the primary aims of the Government's
social policy since the revolution of October 1944.
In the field of general education, the basis of specialised education for both adults and juveniles, a strong drive has been made
against illiteracy, under the auspices of the Ministry of Education,
by the National Committee on Illiteracy, which was set up in
December 1944, working in collaboration with the Indian Institute.
The number of elementary schools for children increased by
22 in 1947-1948.
In the field of vocational training, the Ministry of Education
has received assistance in its educational reform from the InterAmerican Co-operative Educational Service under an agreement
signed in 1946 by the Governments of Guatemala and of the United
States, which was renewed on 11 July 1948. A co-operative budget
was set up under those agreements to be financed by both Governments for the development of the educational programme. These
agreements deal with the reform of industrial education in urban
areas on the one hand, and with the improvement of farming methods
and of the general education and welfare of the rural population
on the other.
In 1951 the Government applied, under the expanded technical
assistance programme, for assistance in planning and carrying out
the reorganisation of education, including technical education. A
joint I.L.O.-U.ÏLE.S.C.O. agreement has been signed under which
foreign experts are to assist the Government and fellowships are
to be granted to nationals of Guatemala.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Industry
Vocational schools preparing students for industrial employment are the responsibility of the Ministry of Education which is
reorganising them with the assistance of the industrial division of
the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service. There are
separate schools for boys and girls.
Boys.
Under present arrangements there are three schools providing
technical education for boys ; these are called industrial institutes.
1
This note has been based on information supplied by the Ministry of Publio
Education in Guatemala and by the Inter-American Co-operative Educational
Service for Guatemala. Another source used has been the report presented by the
delegate of Guatemala to the 12th International Conference on Public Education,
Geneva, 1949, on the educational movement in Guatemala in 1948-1949.

224

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The oldest, the national industrial institute, is situated in the
Capital ; the other two are at Quetzaltenanco and Eetalhuen. There
were 111 students enrolled in these industrial institutes in 1946,
161 in 1947 and 183 in 1948 ; 23, 5 and 85 students respectively
completed their schooling in these years.
The new curriculum, prepared jointly by the Ministry of Education and by the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service,
was first tested in the national institute, then approved by the
National Congress and published in Decree No. 622 of 17 May 1949.
Under this new curriculum, studies last five years and are divided
into two phases, a pre-vocational phase lasting two years, and a
vocational or specialised phase lasting three years.
In the pre-vocational phase, the curriculum is the same for
all students. During the first year, 40 hours of classes are given
per week, these being divided into 24 hours of general education,
one hour of vocational guidance, three hours of machine drawing
and 12 hours in the workshops (three hours each in metallurgy,
carpentry, electricity, and metal forging and tinsmithing). During
the second year there is a syllabus of 44 hours per week divided
into 24 hours of general education, four hours of machine drawing,
and 16 hours in the workshops (four hours each in mechanics,
carpentry, electricity, and the printing trades).
During the vocational phase, specialised study is done in one
of the following six branches : general mechanics, automobile
mechanics, general electricity, radio electricity, carpentry and the
printing trades. Studies in all of these branches last three years,
with 44 hours of classes per week, and with slight variations in the
syllabus according to the branch chosen. For example, the syllabus
for the third year in general mechanics (i.e., the first year of the
vocational phase) includes : mathematics, five hours ; Spanish, five
hours ; English, three hours ; physics (theory and laboratory), four
hours; theory in the branch chosen, three hours ; industrial drawing,
four hours ; general mechanics in the workshops, 16 hours ; sports,
etc., four hours. The fourth year syllabus includes : mathematics,
five hours ; chemistry (theory and laboratory), four hours ; industrial health and safety, three hours ; workshops organisation, three
hours ; theory in the chosen branch, five hours ; industrial drawing,
four hours ; general mechanics in the workshops, 16 hours ; sports,
etc., four hours. The fifth year syllabus is as follows : mathematics,
three hours ; physics, four hours ; chemistry, four hours ; social
legislation, two hours ; industrial accounting, two hours ; theory in the
chosen branch, five hours ; industrial drawing, four hours ; general
mechanics in the workshops, 16 hours ; sports, etc., four hours.
Implementation of the new curriculum was begun in 1949 in
the pre-vocational phase, and will be progressively carried out from
class to class in the following years. The former curriculum included
four years of technical study, specialisation being undertaken from
the very first year, and a schedule which varied according to the
branch but never exceeded 40 hours per week and in some years
was only 34 or 35 hours per week. The branches in which specialisation could be carried out were also different. Under the new curriculum they deal more particularly with industry. I n addition to
subjects such as mechanics, electricity and carpentry, which are
still to be taught, the former curriculum also included subjects
which might rather be described as handicrafts, such as shoemaking,
tailoring, weaving and ceramics.

APPENDIX I : GUATEMALA

225

Teaching methods have been defined in clearer detail and standardised. This has been achieved by making common educational
material available to the various schools. This material, which has
been prepared by the Ministry of Education with the help of the
industrial division of the Inter-American Co-operative Educational
Service, consists partly of manuals for the use of teachers and
workshop instructors and partly of textbooks for the students.
The manuals published so far deal, for example, with teaching
methods for industrial education, the interpretation of technical
drawing, workshop mathematics ; there are also syllabuses for use
in the workshops throughout the various years of the curriculum.
The Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service is also
assisting the Ministry in providing technical schools with more
adequate equipment.
I t is planned to organise temporary courses to perfect the teaching ability of workshop intructors in the industrial institutes, and
particularly to train them in the use of the manuals, and especially
in carrying out the syllabuses for workshop practice.
Girls.
I n 1948 there were two State and four private schools giving
vocational education for girls ; these had 163 and 121 enrolled
students respectively. Forty students graduated from the official
schools in 1946, 29 in 1947 and 41 in 1948.
These schools provided an education in more purely feminine
trades such as needlework, embroidery, weaving and the domestic
sciences.
Commerce.
According to information supplied by the school statistics section
of the Ministry of Education, there were five State commercial schools
in 1948 (one of which was started in 1948) and 28 private schools.
I n spite of the greater number of private schools, the number of
students enrolled in the State commercial schools (2,286) exceeded
the enrolment in the private schools (1,698). These figures indicate
a movement towards State education as well as a substantial increase
in commercial study generally, since in 1946 and 1947 there were
only 1,281 students enrolled in the official schools and 1,795 in
the private schools. These schools are co-educational.
Agriculture.
There is a national agricultural school training agricultural
technicians under the control of the Ministry of Agriculture. The
responsibility for most of the agricultural education in the country
rests with the department of rural education in the Ministry of
Education. A considerable programme of reform has been carried
out in basic agricultural education during the last three years.
That programme has been put into practice by the Guatemalan
Government with the help of the rural education division of the
Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service in collaboration
with the Ministry of Agriculture, the national agricultural school,
the Ministry of Health and the Indian institute.
The aim of the reform has been to give to the rural population,
which is in large part Indian, an education which is better suited

226

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

to its needs, by replacing the formal education based on memorising,
which was in use in the rural schools, by an essentially practical
education. The educational facilities have also been increased and
better trained staff and suitable equipment have been provided.
One of the first measures taken was to strengthen the staff of
the rural department of the Ministry of Education, which now
includes a director, general inspectors of rural agricultural and
health education respectively, with advisers from the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service.
Another basic measure has been that of reorganising training
facilities for the teaching staff in rural schools. The rural teachers'
training school at La Alameda has been reorganised both technically
and as to its equipment in order to implement the new rural programme. A second rural school was set up at Santa María Cauqué
as a preparatory teachers' training college in order to complete
the training as prospective teachers of graduates from rural schools
which only give four years of elementary education. I t is hoped
that the college will facilitate the recruitment of gifted teaching
staff in rural areas with an Indian population. After initial training
the students of the preparatory teachers' training college go on
to the higher rural teachers' training college. Six practical schools,
attached to the teachers' training college at La Alameda, have been
organised in carefully selected villages of the area where prospective
teachers go and teach for periods of several weeks from the second
year of study onwards. One of them has become an experimental
school for testing out the new rural education programme.
Another structural reform consists in forming groups of satellite
schools 1 in order gradually to make up for the shortage of well-trained
rural teaching staff. Eural schools are grouped by areas under the
direction of a central school, the central schools being run by former
students of the La Alameda school, who have been trained under
the new educational programme. Four hundred of the 2,000 rural
schools now operating in Guatemala have thus been grouped around
20 central schools, and it is planned to extend the system to other
areas little by little, and in the course of time to the whole country,
as the skilled personnel needed in the central schools gradually
becomes available. The principal of a central school is responsible
for gradually training the staff in the schools under him. The
20 central schools were sited in strategic localities after a careful
study carried out in collaboration with the Indian institute.
I t is planned to organise temporary six-week courses every year
as refresher courses for the principals of the central schools.
The equipment of the central schools was immediately improved
in accordance with the plans for the progressive re-equipment of
rural schools. I n addition, a general teaching manual has been
published for all rural teachers. I t will be supplemented by practical
manuals dealing with such subjects as the role of the rural teacher
in the community, agriculture, stockbreeding, health in rural areas,
and scholastic organisations (agricultural clubs, etc.).
The new programme for rural schools which has been put into
practice links general education to.the daily problems of rural life.
Technical agricultural education and general education are closely
bound. School activities are organised on the four main themes of
agriculture, domestic life, rural health and rural crafts.
1

The so-called núcleos escolares campesinos.

APPENDIX I : GUATEMALA

227

An additional measure has been the organisation of cultural
missions, travelling through the country and spreading information
on science, education, health and other matters among the children
in rural schools as well as the rural population in general. Those
missions use such visual aids as films and lantern slides.
Aid for Technical Study
Eight scholarships have been granted annually for several years
to children who have finished their elementary schooling, in order
that they may study at the national industrial institute.
According to an official statement published on 25 January 1949
on the educational programme, the Government is considering the
possibility of granting scholarships so that particularly gifted
students from the industrial institutes, may pursue advanced
technical studies abroad.
As regards agricultural training, it was decided in 1949 to grant
60 scholarships to the rural teachers' training college to satisfactory
students from the rural elementary schools. In addition, Guatemalan
educators may be sent to study in the United States under the
programme of the Inter-American Co-operative Educational Service.
The regulations concerning industrial institutes provide that a
certain percentage of the proceeds of the sale of objects manufactured
in the workshops is to go to the students who have helped to manufacture them (10 to 20 per cent, according to the year of study).
The total receipts are paid into a savings account to be used for
purchasing tools and other equipment on leaving school.
VOCATIONAL TRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Upgrading Courses
Industry.
The Ministry of Education, with the assistance of San Carlos
university, has set up a workers' university, which provides both
general education and upgrading courses for workers. However,
cultural and artistic subjects have received most attention during
the initial period of the new institution's activity.
The workers' university is an autonomous institution run by a
central council in the Capital. I t is planned to set up branches in
provincial towns as resources gradually become available.
The courses in the university are open to persons over 16 years
of age, and were followed by 2,957 persons in 1948.
Agriculture.
The rural schools have much influence in both social and technical
matters. One of their aims is to raise the standard of living of the
entire rural population. Various measures are taken to this effect.
At social evenings held once a week in the practical teachers'
training colleges, the farmers of the neighbourhood are brought
together, and the prospective teachers lecture to them either in
Spanish or in Cakchiquel, the local Indian language, mainly on
agriculture or health. The new programme for rural schools provides
for the organisation of such lectures to instruct the rural population in means of improving production, preventing plant and animal
diseases and acquiring other technical agricultural knowledge.

228

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Agricultural clubs have also been organised by practical training
schools and also by schools in several other regions, more particularly
in the Cakchiquel area. I t is planned to organise more of them,
and the national agricultural school as well as the Inter-American
Co-operative Educational Service (under its co-operative agricultural programme) have promised to give the clubs technical
assistance in implementing their programmes. I n addition, the
Ministry of Agriculture is to work out a soil conservation programme
for land belonging to the satellite schools on which the initial effort
will be brought to bear.
Training of Teachers
As stated above, temporary courses are being organised for workshop instructors in the industrial institutes and for the directors
of the central rural schools.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

There is no public employment service either for juveniles or
for adult labour, nor is there any proper vocational guidance service.
However, in 1951, the Government entered into a technical assistance
agreement with the I.L.O., in virtue of which experts on manpower
problems, including employment service and migration, are to assist
the Government and fellowships are to be granted to Guatemalan
nationals for the purpose of studying these problems abroad. I t
may therefore be expected that public services will be set up to
deal with such matters. Measures have been taken within the framework of the technical education system to promote the guidance of
young persons while they are still at school and in the placement
of former students.
The guidance of young persons towards vocational training
for which they are best suited is provided for in part by the organisation of " united industrial centres ", set up in 1945 in the Capital,
to initiate boys and girls in the fifth and sixth grades of elementary
schooling in various arts and trades. For this purpose, Guatemala
City has been divided into school zones, each having one industrial
centre, in which the students of the national industrial school give
vocational training under the guidance of their teachers to students
in primary schools. There are courses for boys in metalwork, tinsmithing, carpentry, bookbinding, shoemaking and clothes making.
Similar courses exist for girls in needlework and dressmaking,
hand weaving, embroidery, fashion designing, toy-making, and
cooking.
Another measure of vocational guidance is the two-year preapprenticeship phase of technical study, mentioned above. When
choosing the branch of activity in which they would like to specialise, students have at least an elementary knowledge of the various
skilled trades which are taught, since the curriculum is the same for
all students in industrial schools and since they pass from one
workshop to another within the school.
Employment is found unofficially for students who have completed
their technical training by the industrial institutes, who receive notices
of vacancies from the National Chamber of Manufacturers.

MEXICO
A broad movement to promote general education was started
by the 1911 revolution, and has continued to influence the policy
of successive Governments since then. The outstanding features
of the movement have been the institution of rural schools and
cultural missions (a type of direct-method teaching which has been
copied in several other Latin American countries) and the appeals
made to the whole population to help in fm'thering the education
of the masses. One example is the spectacular campaign for adult
literacy in 1945-1946, where the fundamental idea was that all citizens
had an obligation towards their neighbours to give or receive instruction, and another instance is to be found in the recent campaign
for the construction of schools, which brought in 15 million pesos
in donations alone during the first six months of 1948. Yet another
manifestation of this movement is the constant increase in the
credits assigned to public instruction in the national budget.
In the field of vocational training, the same movement has
made for the organisation of agricultural education and the establishment of the polytechnic institute. The emphasis has, however,
been variously placed on either basic or technical training, and
again, within these two types of instruction, which are equally
necessary if any improvement in the situation of the mass of the
people is to be achieved, on the training of either children and
youths or adults.
Agricultural education received a great stimulus from the
agrarian reforms and the transfer of the land to the peasants,
while industrial training was stimulated by industrialisation, which
has been particularly marked during the last ten years.
As in many countries, so in Mexico a good many of the facilities
for vocational training have, however, been organised piecemeal
to meet immediate requirements, and sometimes they have even
been due to private initiative. Some such institutions date
from the last century. The federal constitution of the country
has a decentralising effect on the opening of public institutions,
since, under the constitution, each State is responsible for organising education, and some have proved more active than others in
setting up vocational training centres.
Furthermore, despite the favourable atmosphere for a general
plan created by the revolutionary doctrines, the facilities at present
available for vocational training are very far from being integrated
in any such plan. Nevertheless, recent policy shows a tendency
to co-ordinate technical training facilities under a national scheme,
because, with more funds at its disposal, the federal Secretariat
of Public Education is in a position to increase the federal
vocational and general training facilities throughout the country to
a considerable extent. 1
1
It should be noted that there is a general movement to centralise the educational system, and this will also have a beneficial effect on technical training. In

[Footnote continued overleaf,

230

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

The authorities concerned nevertheless feel that the facilities
for vocational training, like those for basic education, are still not
sufficient to meet the growing need for training. In 1949, at the
opening of the school year, the Secretary for Public Education
was still making urgent appeals to the population to do everything
within its power to further his school construction programme and so
extend the technical facilities offered by the polytechnic institute
and its branches in various parts of the country to meet the needs
of growing industry, as well as to provide educational amenities for
half the children of school age, for whom no provision had yet been
made.
The importance attached by the Government to the organisation of facilities for vocational training is also evidenced by a new
project for whose preparation the help of three I.L.O. experts was
obtained in 1951 under the expanded technical assistance programme. The purpose of the project is to improve the methods
and curricula of vocational training for the three branches of
industry considered of most importance to the economic system
of the country : textiles, mining and chemicals, and metal and
electrical trades.
Moreover the establishment in Mexico, in 1950, of a regional,
fundamental education centre for Latin America will also make
for the promotion of vocational training. The centre is sponsored
by the Mexican Government, U.K".E.S.C.O. and the Organisation
of American States. I t is located at Patzcuaro and its purposes
are to train teachers and produce material, for fundamental education including training for certain economic activities. A specialist
in rural arts and crafts nominated by the I.L.O. is collaborating in
the project.
TRAINING OF JUVENILES

Technical Training in Schools
1

Industry.

The polytechnic institute, which was founded in 1932 and comes
under the Secretariat of Public Education provides the main facilities at present available for vocational training. Although it
is not exclusively concerned with industry, its mathematics and
physics department, which prepares pupils for industrial careers,
has developed furthest.
Most of the arts and crafts schools which were in existence
before the institute was founded have been affiliated to it, at least
1948, the federal Government had concluded agreements with four of the States,
arranging for their schools to be federalised. Two other agreements were being
negotiated. In several other States, the school administrative services were
co-ordinated with those of the National Secretariat of Public Education with the
result that, through fédéralisation or co-ordination, the Ministry controlled the
teaching facilities of 14 States (Memoria de la Secretaría de Educación Pública,
1947-1948, Mexico, 1948, pp. 285-286).
1
This paragraph is based on information given in Memoria de la Secretaria de
Educación Pública, 1947-1948 (Mexico, 1948) ; Secretaría de Educación Pública,
Dirección General de Estadística Educativa : Anuario de Estadística Educativa
(Mexico, 1947) ; and unpublished statistical data supplied to the I.L.O. Mission
by the national polytechnic institute.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

231

in the Federal District, and it is in this direction that it has developed
most recently.
The polytechnic institute began its work in the Federal District,
and the schools in other parts of the country which were affiliated
to it were those in existence before its foundation. They were predominantly pre-vocational or handicraft schools and several of them
were children's homes. 1 In 1940, all schools in the States and territories were disassociated from the institute (with the exception
of the textile school at Eio Blanco—Vera Cruz), but it is now setting
up its own new vocational training centres in the States.
When the I.L.O. Mission was in Mexico in 1949, a new centre
of the polytechnic institute had just been opened in the State of
Durango and five others were being organised. 2 Six technical
schools in various parts of the country had also asked to become
part of the institute. In the Federal District, the polytechnic
institute ran 17 schools in 1948, 13 of which were for industrial
training. 3 A new school preparing pupils for careers in industrial
chemistry was due to open in February 1949.
Industrial schools fall into three categories according to the
standard of education they provide.
Elementary

standard.

This includes the schools known as escuelas de capacitación,
escuelas prevocacionales, escuelas de segunda enseñanza or tecnológicas, of which there were ñve in 1949. In 1947, the last year for
which statistics were available, the total number of pupils in such
schools was 3,860, as against 2,430 in 1944. They accept pupils
of 12 years and over who have attended a primary school for four
years. Their curriculum, which covers three years, is designed to
enable pupils with incomplete primary education to benefit later
from proper vocational training and also to provide them, as future
citizens, with a sufficiently broad educational background. Most
of the curriculum therefore consists of general instruction.
During the first year, 30 of the 34 hours of class work per week
are devoted to general education in mathematics, biology, geography
and history, languages and literature, civics, music, physical training
and drawing. Four hours of workshop instruction give the pupils
a start in vocational training.
1
Particularly the schools for soldiers' children, which formed part of the
polytechnic institute from the time it was founded until 1940.
The 1947 list of secondary schools prepared by the Secretariat of Public Education {Anuario de Estadística Educativa, pp. 215-241) shows t h a t vocational training
classes are given by a fairly large number of general education establishments and
further t h a t many technical centres are difficult to classify because the education
they provide is very varied—industrial, handicraft, commercial, domestic and so on.
This is true, for instance, of the E x Casino de Agua Caliente industrial technology
institute a t Tijuana (Lower California) and of No. 15 special training school a t
Campeche, which are both given in the list as general secondary schools, arts and
crafts schools, dressmaking and domestic science schools and commercial schools.
This explains the wide divergencies in the statistics on technical schools quoted in
different sources.
2
I n Chihuahua, Guadalajara, Orizaba, Saltillo and Puebla. The Chihuahua
centre was formed with financial assistance from the Government of the State.
3
Schools providing other than industrial training fall into two categories,
medical and biological (three colleges) and economic and social (one).

232

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

During the second year 28 of the 35 hours are still given up to
general education. There are three hours of technical drawing,
but the time spent in the workshops is still only four hours.
During the third year the technical syllabus is extended to
include two hours of chemistry, which is considered to be a part of
the general education provided, and a few hours of optional study
which can be spent in the workshops.
Intermediate

standard.

Vocational schools provide a more genuinely technical education.
Pupils are admitted after having followed preparatory courses or
done six years' elementary schooling. There were four such schools
by the end of 1948, and their number was increased to five at the
beginning of the 1949 scholastic year. The number of pupils in 1947
was 5,430. Attendance is increasing as rapidly as the accommodation of the schools will allow, and applications for admission are
far in excess of the teaching facilities. When the I.L.O. Mission
passed through in February 1949, when the names of pupils
were being taken, one of the vocational schools in the institute
itself with a capacity of about 2,000 had received 13,000 requests
for admission. No entrance examination had yet been arranged to
sort out the candidates, however, and selection was based on their
previous record, family circumstances and other factors which might
operate in their favour.
At that time the length of the courses varied from one vocational school to another according to the standard of education
provided. Several schools gave a basic training lasting only two
years. Additional courses in special subjects are to be provided in
continuation of these classes, and in this way pupils will be trained
for careers lying between skilled manual labour and the technical
trades.
While the curriculum is fairly broad, it trains pupils in four main
branches of study : mechanics and electricity, civil engineering and
architecture, textile industry technology, and, since 1949, chemistry.
The final curriculum is being prepared by the technical training
office of the institute, and in 1949, this office was also preparing a
series of textbooks for use in the various schools of the institute.
I n this way, some standardisation of education is being achieved. 1
By studying the curricula so far introduced and comparing their
various sections, it will be seen that, in general, the proportion of
classroom to practical laboratory or workshop instruction leaves
about one third of the time for practical work in the first year
(including physical training) and hardly more than half in the
second year. Each section includes a large number of subjects. 2
During the first year at No. 2 vocational school, for example,
24 of the 39 hours are devoted to classroom work in the following
subjects : analytical geometry and differential calculus, elementary
1
In 1950 a long strike of the students at the polytechnic institute lasting from
14 April to 28 May ended in an agreement between the Secretary for Public Education and the strike committee arranging, amongst other things, for a joint committee to revise the curricula and syllabuses and suggest various improvements
to students' living conditions.
2
The proposed reform would seem to aim at excluding subjects which will be
of the least direct use to the pupils in their future occupations.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

233

statistics, physics, and descriptive geometry (four and a half hours
each), literature and psychology and logic (three hours each) ;
15 hours are devoted to practical work in laboratory experiments
and physics (three hours), engineering drawing (three hours), mechanical and electrical workshop instruction (six hours) and physical
training (three hours). During the second year there are 18 hours
of classroom work in integral calculus and differential equations
(six hours), dynamics (four and a half hours), electricity and magnetism (four and a half hours) and organic and inorganic chemistry
(three hours) ; four and a half hours are given up to the theory and
practice of designing and drawing. Time is also allotted to practical
work on engineering drawing (four and a half hours), laboratory
work in electricity and magnetism (three hours), chemistry (three
hours), workshop training in mechanics and foundry work (six
hours), plus three hours of physical trammg, making a total of
42 hours.
According to the new curriculum prepared for the physics and
mathematics department, training courses for the various trades are
due to last as follows :
two years for carpenter-cabinet makers ;
three years for turners, specialist motor mechanics, winding
and wiring electricians, radio mechanics and skilled spinners and
weavers ;
four years for mechanics, electricians, master mechanics, master
spinners and master weavers ;
five years for master spinners and weavers (proficiency in both
trades) ;
six years for mechanical, electrical, and radio engineers.
University

standard.

The industrial colleges, run by the polytechnic institute are
three in number and a fourth was to be opened in 1949 to teach
chemistry. Those already open are the Escuela Swperior de Ingeniería
Mecánica y Electrica (E.S.I.M.E.), the Escuela Superior de Ingenieria y Arquitectura (E.S.I.A.) and the Escuela Superior de Ingeniería
Textil (E.S.I.T.). In 1947 the total attendance at these schools
was 1,913.
Advanced courses of this kind are open to young persons who
have finished their studies at one of the vocational schools giving
training in the trades in which these colleges specialise. Pupils
are prepared for the following careers :
(a) mechanical, aeronautical, electrical and telecommunication
engineering (requiring four years at the E.S.I.M.E.) ;
(b) surveying and hydrographie engineering, road construction
and railway engineering, sanitary engineering, hydraulic engineering, architectural engineering, metallurgical engineering, mining
engineering, geology, chemical engineering and petroleum engineering (also requiring four years at the E.S.I.A.J. 1
1
Certain incomplete statistics are available on the number of pupils graduating
from the E.S.I.A. in 1947. There were 16 architectural engineers, nine surveyors,
six railway engineers, four hydraulic engineers, four petroleum engineers, one
sanitary engineer, one petroleum chemist and one geologist, making a total of 42.
•Candidates for advanced courses numbered 100 in 1948.

234

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Advanced training for the textile industry is organised differently,
because the basic course which is normally given at the Eio Blanco
school, is more thorough than that given at other vocational
centres. Three years' basic studies followed by two years' advanced
training are required before the title of " technical director of textiles "
is granted, and to win the title of technical textile engineer, a year's
extra study is required after the two years' advanced training. Such.
instruction is provided by the B.S.I.T., where there were 230 pupils
in 1948.
The advanced training courses provided by the polytechnic
institute are predominantly theoretical. Classes for the diploma of
mechanical engineer, for example, have 2 5 % hours of theory as
against six hours of practical work in the first year ; in the second
year, the proportion is 24 hours to six, in the third 22% hours t a
nine and in the fourth 19 % hours to 13 %. As will be seen, practical
work increases as the classes progress because time is allotted to
designing machinery and thermal and hydraulic power stations.
Where the training is essentially practical, however, as is the case
with the textile industry, the time allotted for laboratory, analytical
and workshop instruction is greater from the very beginning,
11 y2 hours out of 37 in the first year, nine out of 31 % in the second,
and 12 out of 34 % in the third. A thesis is usually prepared as a p a r i
of such advanced courses.
Preparation for certain industrial careers is also provided b y
the Mexican national independent university, where there is a?
school of civil engineering preparing pupils for careers in mechanical
and electrical engineering ; it also has a national school of chemistry
and a national school of architecture. For any given career, thetwo types of training differ in three ways :
(a) Access is different. Pupils must have a matriculation
certificate to enter the higher faculties of the university and must
therefore have followed the requisite courses in a general secondary
school. Pupils wishing to take the advanced courses arranged b y
the polytechnic institute need only have followed the elementary
and secondary technical classes previously referred to after leaving
their elementary school.
(b) The type of curriculum is different. I t is more directly
practical at the institute and more scientific at the university.
(c) The fees are different. Instruction at the institute is freeand students have to pay only for the books and materials they
require. Certain, though moderate, fees are charged at the university.
I n the three faculties mentioned above, entrance fees amount to
20 Mexican pesos, lecture fees to 130 pesos and examination feesto 250 pesos.
One private college founded before the national polytechnic
institute is still in existence. This is the Monterrey' technological
institute, which was opened by a group of large industrial firms in
the area, and the more recent official institutions have done nothing
to reduce its reputation.
I n addition, special schools with various standards of training
have been opened by individual bodies, and particularly technical
public services. A case in point is the national railways of Mexico -r
its vocational training facilities will be described later, however,
because they are for staff already in the service of the company and

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

235

to be trained for upgrading and promotion rather than for young
persons not yet employed. Other examples are provided by the
Mexican Aviation Company and Pan American Airways which,
apart from flying schools, also have workshops for the training of
flight mechanics.
Industrial

training for girls.

All the vocational training facilities provided by the national
polytechnic institute and the Mexican national independent university are open to students of both sexes without distinction. The
proportion of women in the industrial branch of the institute is
lower than in the other two, but no exact figures can be given,
as the institute has not prepared separate statistics for each sex
during recent years.
Apart from mixed classes, there are a certain number of special
pre-vocational or vocational schools for women and girls. For the
most part, they are maintained by the States or municipalities,
though they may be privately run. The training they provide
is primarily devoted to handicrafts, such as needlework, embroidery
and weaving. Instruction in domestic science is also given. They
do not appear separately in educational statistics and are included
with boys' pre-vocational, arts and crafts or commercial schools
under the heading " technical training " in the statistics prepared
by the National Secretariat of Public Education. On the other
hand, the 1947 list of secondary schools prepared by the Secretariat 1
gives the names of 46 institutions under the heading " Schools for
dressmaking, domestic science and women's occupations " and this
would seem to include nearly all the special semi-vocational schools
for women and girls. Twenty-two of the States have such schools,
most of them one or two each, though the Federal District has six,
the State of Vera Cruz seven and the State of Tamaulipas nine.
Commercial and Administrative

Training.

The I.L.O. Mission was not able to collect very full information
on the way commercial and administrative courses are run in Mexico.
There are no exact figures for the number of schools or pupils of
various standards, and it is difficult to get a clear idea of how much
progress has been achieved in the organisation of such courses.
Intermediate

standard.

Commercial schools in this category come under the authority
of the director of secondary education in the department of
special instruction. Official statistics make no distinction between
them and the other schools in the same group of a very different
type, but the 1947 list of secondary schools prepared by the Secretariat of Public Education x includes a heading " Commercial
schools and schools of administrative and social sciences " and this
contains the names of 163 schools or courses at larger educational
establishments where this type of training can be received. Such
courses are scattered most irregularly over 24 States. The list
1

Anuario de Estadística Educativa, op. cit., pp. 215-241.

236

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

shows the State of Tamaulipas with the highest number, 42, Coahuila with 15, San Luis Potosi with 14, Chihuahua with 13, the
Federal District with 12, Quintana Eoo with 10, Nayarit with nine
and so on, whereas the States of Lower California, Mexico, Morelos,
Puebla and Yucatan have only one. None is believed to exist in
the States of Guerrero, Nuevo León, Tabasco and Tlaxcala.
As the department of special instruction of the Secretariat
of Public Education at that time controlled only nine schools in
the Federal District and 21 in other parts of the country, it will
be readily appreciated that most of the 163 institutions mentioned
in this list are either private or run by local authorities (States or
municipalities). From the size of certain well-known private institutions such as the Escuela Bancaria y Comercial in Mexico City,
which is sponsored by banking circles, it can easily be seen that
private schools play a major part in vocational training, even though
no serious effort would seem to have been made to standardise the
education they provide, except in the case of one career for which
regulations have been drawn up and to which reference will be
made later.
Federal Government commercial schools give training to office
machine operators, filing clerks, English and Spanish typists, stenographers, English and Spanish correspondence clerks, bookkeepers,
translators, interpreters, tax officials, salesmen and commercial
administrators. 1
Similar education is provided in such private schools as the one
mentioned above, where there are day and evening classes and
correspondence courses.
Post-secondary and university

standard.

This category includes several official institutions working side
by side.
Of the four colleges of the polytechnic institute, one, the college
of economic, administrative and social sciences had 1,349 pupils
in 1948, of whom 449 were following courses for specific careers
and 750 were attending general classes.2 Students must first have
completed their secondary school studies before they can be accepted
for vocational classes. The educational standard attained at the end
of the various courses varies considerably, however, because each is
of different length. A two-year course aims mainly at imparting a
knowledge of accountancy and elementary economics and a grounding in civil, commercial, constitutional and administrative law and
foreign languages (French and English). Depending on the year,
32 or 33 hours of instruction are given per week. A statistics course
lasts three years, and 18 to 21 hours of instruction are given per week,
depending on the year. I n addition to a grounding in mathematics
and statistics, the course includes elements of political economy,
economic geography and foreign languages. Two other three-year
courses are more specifically technical ; the first lasts 25 to 27 hours
per week and prepares pupüs for careers as accountants or auditors 3 ,
while the second has a weekly timetable of 15 to 18 hours and
prepares its students for careers as assistant brokers. There is
1
2
3

Memoria ¿le ¡a Secretaría de Educación Pública, op. cit., pp. 119-120.
Ibid., p. 513.
Sixteen diplomas were granted in 1948.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

237

also a five-year course for economists with a timetable of 15 to
18 hours.
Under the new programmes, the instruction will last longer and
students will thus pass out with a more thorough training. Courses
for assistant accountants will last three years, those for bookkeepers four years, and those for bank officials five years. The
training of statisticians in advanced vocational classes will require
eight years' study after graduation from primary school, i.e., three
years' secondary education, two years' vocational courses and three
years' advanced study. The same will apply to the training of
accountants and auditors. Assistant brokers, on the other hand,
will be trained in six years from the time they complete their primary
training, i.e., three years' secondary education and three years'
advanced vocational training.
The Mexican national independent university has two institutions in this category, the national school of economics, which only
accepts students who have passed their matriculation examination, and the commerce and administration college where completion
of a secondary education is a necessary but adequate qualification
for admission. This college also prepares students for careers in
accountancy and auditing. The large private school mentioned above
(Escuela Bancaria y Comercial) also trains pupils for these careers,
but under the supervision of the university, which grants the diploma.
I n this particular case, therefore, it has been possible to standardise
technical training.
Commercial and administrative training for women.
Courses given by the polytechnic institute and the university are
open to both sexes. ÍTo information is available on openings for
women and girls elsewhere.
Agricultural

Training.1

Agricultural training forms a well co-ordinated whole and is
governed by the Agricultural Education Act of 31 December 1945.
Two bodies were set up to direct the system, the Practical Agricultural Education Council and the Advanced Agricultural Education Council.
The work of the first is to direct and co-ordinate the activities
of practical and elementary agricultural education centres, regardless of the authorities running the courses (the federal Government,
States, municipalities or private individuals). The work of the
second is to direct advanced agricultural education centres, and
each has a representative from the other on its staff, thus forming
a link whereby their activities can be co-ordinated.
I t has not been possible to carry through the whole of the development scheme for which the Act provides, but a framework for weü1

In connection with this paragraph, see Anuario de Estadística Educativa, op.
cit., pp. 46-52 and 96-98 ; Memoria de la Secretaría de Educación Pública, 1947-1948,
pp. 103-105, 319-345 and 356-360 ; Secretaría de Educación Pública, Departamento
de Enseñanza Agrícola : Escuelas Prácticas de Agricultura (Mexico, 1948) ; Secretaría
de Agricultura y Ganadería : Resumen del Informe de Labores de la Secretaria de
Agricultura y Ganadería, 1941-1948 (Mexico, 1948) ; and Escuela Nacional de
Agricultura, Plan de Estudios de la Carrera de Ingeniero Agrónomo (Mexico, 1947).
16

238

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

planned development has nevertheless been created, and this is
progressing favourably. There is certainly far more standardisation
in this field of vocational education than in the other two branches
of technical education dealt with in this note.
Elementary

standard.

Children in country districts are given a grounding in agriculture
in their primary schools. Under the Agricultural Education Act
referred to above (Articles 9-11), schools in country districts have
to prepare their curricula in such a way that the training " links the
pupils with their surroundings and fosters in them a spirit of community with the soil ". Practical training has to be given in all
schools which have a plot of ground.
Eural education is an idea which goes back to the time of the
1911 revolution and it first came in with the rudimentary schools
instituted by the Act of 1 June 1911. Their purpose was to spread
a knowledge of Spanish among the Indian country population by
teaching the children to read, write and count in the language
while giving them some practical knowledge and training fitted to
their material needs. Some years later, the rural schools were
introduced ; this was a system of elementary education in which
practical training assumed more definite forms to provide an elementary knowledge of agriculture, stock-raising and allied industries.
The number of such schools increased rapidly ; by the end of 1926,
2,000 had been opened, with 183,861 pupils and 2,968 teachers and
by 1934 the figure had increased to 8,000. I n 1947-1948, the federal
Government maintained 12,219 primary village schools, attended
by 796,946 pupils. The schoolteachers numbered 17,660. Of these
schools 6,037 had a plot of land on which practical training in agriculture could be given and the area they cultivated totalled 12,839
hectares. 1
When this system was originally introduced, the rural school
teachers were helped in their work by the cultural missions, first
organised in 1922. These were groups of agricultural instructors
and experts who visited each school in turn, remaining there for
five or six weeks, during which time the teacher was given intensive
training both in teaching methods and in practical aspects of
agriculture and small-scale rural industries.
After being discontinued from 1938 to 1942, these cultural missions have been reorganised in recent years, but with a slightly
different object, since other facilities are now available for training
rural schoolmasters. Their efforts are now directed primarily
towards training the adult country population.
Training for rural schoolmasters is now provided by rural
teachers' training colleges, which give them the practical working
knowledge they require to carry out their work of providing elementary agricultural instruction. In 1947-1948,19 rural teachers' training
colleges with 374 instructors and 4,026 pupils of both sexes were
1
By 31 May 1949, the number of rural schools had increased to 16,08$ and that
of the plots of land to 6,260. The area under cultivation had increased far more
rapidly, totalling 23,033 hectares, or an average of 3.8 hectares per plot as against
2.1 in 1947 (information provided in 1950 to an I.L.O. Mission by the school allotment office of the National Secretariat of Public Education).

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

239

maintained by the federal Government. The courses last six years.
Training programmes were revised a short time ago to make the
curricula of the various colleges conform more closely to one another,
and a meeting of the principals and teachers of the colleges was
called so that the final programmes could be devised in the light
of their opinions. Agricultural output figures for the colleges are
prepared each year. In 1948 they dropped owing to a shortage of
specialised staff and a lack of equipment and animals, and a special
credit for running expenses was passed to remedy the situation.
The importance which the Mexican Government continues to
attach to this type of training is also shown by the fact that the
elementary agricultural training schools and cultural missions have
recently been made the central features of a pilot project for basic
education which the National Secretariat of Public Education
introduced in 1948 in the farming State of Nayarit by way of ¿lustration of the Mexican delegation proposal approved by the Second
General Conference of U.ÏT.E.S.C.O. that all countries should launch
pilot projects as an incentive to mass education. 1
Intermediate

standard.

Intermediate agricultural training is provided in practical agriculture schools also under the authority of the department of agricultural education of the Secretariat of Public Education. These
are boarding schools and all the pupils hold scholarships. The
purpose is to give prospective farmers the practical skill and scientific
knowledge they will need to work efficiently on their land, raise
domestic animals and carry on subsidiary agricultural industries.
They also give a training in the various types of farm work to
practical specialists in agriculture, who are then given posts in undertakings or employed by the State as assistants in the National
Secretariat of Agriculture and Stockbreeding or in other agricultural
establishments. Candidates for advanced agricultural instruction
are also trained in these schools.
There are 12 practical agriculture schools in various parts of the
country. In 1947-1948, they had 560 teachers and instructors
and 2,175 pupils ; 315 had graduated the year before. I t was intended
to open a further 13 schools in 1949 2 , for preference in areas recently
opened to cultivation as a result of irrigation schemes. The location is considered to be most important and the Secretariat has
itself pointed out that only seven of the 12 schools already open had
land which was sufficiently well irrigated for them to work under
satisfactory conditions. Two of the new schools will be placed under
the supervision of the National Secretariat of Agriculture and Stockbreeding which is already responsible for the irrigation system of the
areas in which they will be opened.
There are definite regulations governing the conditions of admission and the way the schools are run. The schools are open to
children aged 13 and over having completed four years' elementary
schooling. If, on entry, this minimum is all the instruction they have
1

See Memoria de la Secretaría de Educación Pública, op. cit., pp. 160-166.
By .1951 it had not yet been possible to carry out this plan, and, since the
number of candidates exceeded the capacity of the practical agricultural schools,
the maximum number whose admission was authorised during that year was fixed
at 2,198.
2

240

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

received, they have to follow a preparatory two-year course at the
school before they begin the technical classes. Children with six
years' elementary schooling can pass straight to the agricultural
courses, which take young people between the ages of 14 and 20.
Admission is by examination, judged by a selection board consisting of teachers at the school and also of representatives of the
municipal educational and administrative authorities, the State in
which the school is located, and the community farms (ejidos).
A candidate must produce evidence that he is the son of a
member of a community farm (ejidatario), an agricultural worker,
farmer or cultivator, a rural craftsman or owner of a small rural
industry, or a member of the permanent staff of the school. Data
published by the Secretariat of Public Education for 1947 show
that of the pupils attending practical agriculture schools, 696 came
from the country, 375 from the towns and 1,048 from families of
intermediate origin.
Another factor in the selection of candidates is the locality from
which they come. I n order that the experience acquired at the
school may be put to immediate practical use, the regulations stipulate that, in the selection of candidates for agricultural schools,
preference must be given to those coming from areas in the immediate neighbourhood of the school concerned or having similar
climatic and farming conditions.
The department of agricultural education prepares the curricula for these schools in broad outline, but it is the individual
principals who are responsible for planning the practical work.
Certain general principles are nevertheless laid down for their
guidance, e.g., preference has to be given to economically productive local crops and schools must try to produce all the fodder
required for the animals they breed. The plans are then approved
by the technical section of the department. The principals are
also responsible for proper plans being prepared for stockbreeding
and subsidiary industries.
In the preparatory two-year courses, the work approximately
corresponds to the syllabus of the fifth and sixth primary classes,
but there are in addition 20 hours a week of practical training in
agricultural work, animal care and subsidiary industries and in the
maintenance workshops of the school, so that pupils can be prepared
for real technical training. The practical nature of the classes becomes
apparent in the agricultural training courses. The general programmes prepared by the department of agricultural education
provide for 43 hours of instruction per week, of which 25 hours are
to be spent in practical work both in strictly agricultural activities
and in subsidiary industries. I n addition, two hours are spent in
the workshops, making a total of 27 hours of practical training as
against 16 hours of classwork. During the first year, these 16 hours
are devoted to agricultural theory, botany, the economic geography
of the area, arithmetic, geometry, physics, chemistry, and the
national language. During the second year, theoretical training is
given in zoology, economics, farm administration and accounting,
surveying and the national language. Pre-service physical training
is given by an army officer.
The schools are of two types, those for winter crops, whose school
year ends with the summer holidays, and those for summer crops,
whose annual holidays are in the winter. Second-year pupils cover
the period between the two school years.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

241

The timetable for the crops has to be prepared by the principal
of the school, and the pupils have to keep a log-book of the various
stages of their work on each type of crop. Pupils form groups which
take turns to do the different kinds of work. Each section of the
programme ends with practical tests and examinations. Great
importance is attached to high production and, as far as the available credits allow, the schools are provided with modern equipment
to bring home to the pupils the advantages to be derived from its
use. The organisers consider that the amount of money assigned
for new equipment is still too small, but credits are increasing and
400,000 pesos were granted in 1947 and 490,000 in 1949.x
Pupils with satisfactory marks receive a diploma of practical
agriculture at the end of their two years' technical course. They can
then finish their studies at this point and begin practical farming,
or continue their studies for a further year in either of the schools
founded for the purpose.
This specialist training can take either of two forms :
(a) a specialist course, at the end of which pupils receive a
diploma certifying that they are experts (peritos) in their particular
branch, such as farm machinery, poultry farming, bee-keeping,
dairying, vegetable and fruit preserving, tanning, etc. ;
(b) a preparatory course leading to the national school of agriculture or the national school of veterinary medicine. A few of
the best pupils (usually three from each school) are selected each
year from the 12 practical schools to follow these two types of
advanced course.
At the end of their studies, most of the pupils from the practical
agriculture schools work for a year as trainees in an agricultural
undertaking near the school or in one of the federal agricultural
services such as the Banco Nacional Agrícola, the Banco Nacional
de Credito Ejidal or the farm schools. This period of practical
work is usually called the " year of social service ". Only a small
wage is paid.
During the last few years, the National Secretariat of Agriculture
has taken a great interest in the future of the pupils trained by
these agricultural schools. I t had been hoped that the country
people would improve their methods as a result of such pupils returning to the areas from which they came, but, for several reasons, this
was not always the case. The reason was partly to be found in a
traditionalism which proved stronger than the freshly acquired and
insufficiently assimilated knowledge of the young graduates and
partly in the fact that many of these young people had no land and
could often find no other opening than as agricultural officials. A
great effort has therefore been made to find land for ex-pupils of
agricultural schools.
Under the Agricultural Education Act
(Article 17), all pupils who have finished their studies in a practical
agriculture school are entitled to preferential treatment when trying
to establish themselves as smallholders on public land open for
cultivation in newly irrigated districts (distritos nacionales de
riegos) and in new rural communities. To facilitate the exercise of
this right—and also to ensure that the knowledge acquired at school
1
I n their reply to the P a n American Union's enquiry on vocational education,
the Government stated in 1951 t h a t to have the 12 practical agricultural schools
properly equipped an expenditure of 12 million pesos would be necessary.

242

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

will not be lost as a result of routine work—special settlements
have been established, formed exclusively of pupils from the schools.
A first attempt was made with four settlements in the States of
Vera Cruz, Tamaulipas, Durango and Chiapas ; these were established in 1946, immediately after the law was made public. The
Agricultural Credit Bank has supplied the young farmers with
advances of working capital and the Department of Agricultural
Education is giving them the initial technical assistance they require
and has assigned a technical adviser to each settlement. It is anticipated that this initial period will last five years. Ninety farmers
have been settled in these four trial colonies and, if the experiment
is successful, the scheme will be extended.
University standard.
There is the national school of agriculture at Chapingo (State of
Mexico), which is an official college maintained by the federal
State, and there are also two schools, the first opened by the Government of one of the States and the second a private institution
providing roughly the same standard of education.
Some of the pupils entering the national school of agriculture
come from secondary schools after they have matriculated, and
others are graduates from practical agriculture schools who have
finished the year of preparatory study to which reference has already
been made. The law provides that at least 60 per cent, of the
vacancies in advanced agricultural training centres shall be allotted
to pupils from practical agriculture schools. The national school

of agriculture also admits foreign students. It is an interesting fact
that, when the I.L.O. Mission visited the school at the beginning
of 1949, the 369 pupils included 31 Latin American scholarship
holders.
The course is in two parts. The first, lasting three years, is
followed by all the students and covers all branches of agricultural
science. The second lasts four years and provides specialist training
in one of the following subjects : phytogenetic methods, pest control,
stockbreeding, irrigation, forestry and rural industries. Detailed
programmes are prepared for each part and for each subject in the
second part. Courses are scientific rather than practical.1 Graduates
are granted the title of agricultural experts (ingeniero agrónomo).
Students have an opportunity of acquainting themselves with
methods of scientific agricultural research at the agricultural technology institute which the Bockefeiler Foundation has set up in the
vicinity by agreement with the Mexican Government.
Military discipline is observed in the school, and an army officer
is responsible for giving the students a military training which
takes the place of compulsory military service. On completing their
studies, they have to serve at least three years in one of the federal
State agricultural administrations. In fact, the great majority
of the agricultural experts trained by the national school remain
with the official administrations. This has given rise to frequent
1
See Escuela Nacional de Agricultura : Plan de Estudios de la Carrera de Ingeniero Agrónomo (Mexico, 1947). The school has a vast area of land (about 20,000
hectares) and the manual labour required to work it. The students are able to
watch all that is done and happens, as, unlike the pupils in the practical agriculture
schools, they have none of the heavy work to do themselves.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

243

criticism and the national press has expressed the opinion that
the agricultural economy of the country should benefit more from
the technical knowledge acquired by the pupils of this school.
The Antonio Narro school (Saltillo), founded in 1923, is a State
school admitting young people who have completed three years'
secondary schooling or three years' training at a practical agriculture school. Courses last five years and cover the various branches
of agriculture. No specialised training is given. Students completing
their studies are granted the title of agricultural expert. Moderate
fees are charged (70 pesos per month), except in the case of scholarship holders, who represent about 10 per cent, of the total. The
pupils do not undertake to serve the State on completing their
studies.
The Ciudad Juarez school of agriculture is a private school
founded in 1906. Its level is not quite as high as that of the other
two, even though its courses are of the same length (five years),
because it accepts pupils coming directly from a primary school and
therefore having a more limited general background. Here, too,
90 per cent, of the pupils pay fees, but in this case the rates are higher
(lecture fees are 35 pesos per month and board costs 115). The pupils
are mainly the children of country landowners who will later work
on their own farms.
There is also a national school of veterinary medicine and zoology at the Mexican national independent university ; this accepts
graduates from secondary schools or pupils from a practical agriculture school who have followed a one-year preparatory course.
Agricultural training for girls.
Up to 1941, the co-education principle applied in all Mexican
schools meant that all technical agricultural training centres were
open to girls. After the educational reforms of 1941 abolishing
co-education except at the university level, girls were still left with
facilities for elementary training in agriculture and rural handicrafts, because the rural schools were then divided into girls' and boys'
departments. The same action was taken in the rural teachers'
training colleges where, as has been mentioned, the teachers for
these schools are trained. About 40 per cent, of their pupils are
women and, according to statistics prepared by the National Secretariat of Public Education, out of a total of 4,357 pupils in the
colleges in 1947, 1,867 were girls. I n this way, women are able to
obtain what roughly approximates to an intermediate agricultural
training, but with the emphasis on teaching methods rather than
on practical work. No real agricultural training facilities have been
provided for women in the category corresponding to the practical
agriculture schools or the national school of agriculture, but women
can, as a rule, have access to the national school of veterinary medicine and, indeed, to all departments of the national independent
university, where no sex distinction is made.
Training for Fishery.
For some years the Mexican Government has been making
various attempts to stimulate an interest in the abundant resources
of its long Atlantic and Pacific seaboards. One way has been to
organise a system of vocational training for trades in the fishing

244

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

industry. Two fishery schools have been opened under the general
directorate of fisheries and associated industries, one at Guaymas
(Sonora) and the other at Alvarado (Vera Cruz). They are still in
their initial stages and, in 1949, had about 25 pupils each. They
admit young people aged between 17 and 21, who are physically
suited to the trades of fisherman or fishing boat mechanic, able to
read and write Spanish, have a knowledge of the four basic operations of arithmetic, and are Mexican by birth and unmarried. Parents'
consent is required.
There are regulations governing the training provided in these
schools and all other matters concerned with their activities. The
courses are divided into sections on deep sea or coastal fishing,
and the handling, maintenance and repair of motor-driven fishing
boats. They last a year or a year and a half. Theoretical instruction
is given in the mornings and practical in the afternoons.
The general curriculum and any modifications it may require
are considered by the Technical Advisory Committee on Fisheries
before being approved by the general directorate.
At the end of the first term, an examination is held to eliminate
any pupils unsuited to the trade. Subsequently, examinations are
held every six months to give an indication of how the training is
progressing. The course ends with a final examination before a
board under the chairmanship of a representative from the general
directorate of fisheries. Oral, written and practical examinations
are held, and incentives are provided in the form of prizes and
distinctions.
Special Vocational Training for the Juvenile Indigenous

Population.

The technical training facilities referred to above are open to
all, irrespective of race. As has already been mentioned, the primary
object of some of the universally accessible facilities, such as the
rural schools, has even been to help the indigenous population to
play a fuller part in the life of the country by providing it with
educational facilities. There are in addition, however, special training facilities administered by the directorate general of Indian
affairs.1 This is a department of the Secretariat of Public Education, whose object is to provide the unassimilated Indian population with vocational training facilities more especially suited to
their needs.
The most important centres for the vocational training of young
people are the Indian training centres. This description is applied
to institutions whose training, by being both general and vocational,
prepares leaders for Indian communities, who are then able to
improve the methods used in the traditional crafts in districts from
which they come.
In 1948 there were 19 such centres ; the States of Chiapas,
Guerrero, Hidalgo, Mexico, Michoacan, Queretaro, Sonora, Tabasco,
Tlaxcala, Vera Cruz, and Yucatan each had one, and the States of
Chihuahua, Oaxaca, Puebla and San Luis Potosi each had two.
At that time, they had in all 2,160 pupils (1,750 boys and 410 girls),
1

See Memoria de la Secretaria de Educación Pública, 1947-1948, op. cit.,
pp. 303-315. The directorate general of Indian Affairs is assisted in its work by
general offices in the five States with the highest proportion of unassimilated
Indians : Hidalgo, Saxaca, Chihuahua, Guerrero and Chiapas.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

245

ranging from 11 to 20 years of age and belonging to 24 ethnic groups ;
767 could speak only one language and 130 were Mestizos, the policy
being for 6 per cent, of the pupils in each centre to be Mestizos,
so that the indigenous population could be more easily assimilated
into the community as a whole.
Each centre is intended to provide for 40 pupils and, apart from
the general teaching staff, is supposed to have a master carpenter,
a master metal-worker, a specialist in the Indian industries peculiar
to the region where the centre is located, an agricultural expert,
a creative arts supervisor, a recreation supervisor and a nurse.
The new programme introduced in 1948 provides for all the
pupils to follow agricultural training classes, the idea being that
the bonds uniting these Indian children with their country life
should not be weakened and also that, on leaving school, they should
be able to take back to their homes a knowledge of modern farming
methods, whatever their main trade may have been. During their
second year of primary education, all pupils attend carpentry
classes in addition to their academic studies, and in their third
year they attend a course in metal work. In the fourth, fifth and
sixth elementary classes, pupils are free to choose the practical
work most suited to their tastes. In 1948,1,750 pupils were following classes in agriculture, 518 in carpentry, 317 in metal work, 185 in
spinning and weaving, 127 in saddlery, 103 in other leather work,
75 in mechanics, 74 in tailoring and dressmaking, 69 in pottery,
59 in silver work, 55 in needlework, 50 in knitting, 46 in shoemaking,
45 in soapmaking, 41 in baking, 36 in hairdressing, 25 in fruit preserving, 23 in nursing, 18 in stonemasonry, 16 in lacquer work, 14 in
musical instrument making and 8 in turning.
Two main principles govern teaching methods :
(a) pupils have to be taught to practise their trades as scientifically as possible and must try to apply in practice the theory they have
learnt in class ;
(b) the work of the pupils must always be put to improving
the equipment of the centres.
To facilitate attendance, the directorate general of Indian
affairs provides a certain number of places for boarders, of which
there were 1,916 in 1948 (1,710 for boys and 206 for girls). 1
The " brigades " for the improvement of living conditions in
Indian communities are specialist institutions of another kind which
will be dealt with in a later section, as their work is also concerned
with the welfare of the adult population. Some of their activities
are, however, directed towards improving educational facilities,
and are therefore of particular benefit to young people.
Aid for Technical Study
Within the Country.
Education is free in all State schools (apart from minor entrance
fees to certain courses run by the national polytechnic institute),
and the question of payment for technical training therefore arises
only in connection with advanced work at the national independent
university. Even here, the problem is not serious as the fees are
Anuario

de Estadístico Educativo, op. cit., p . 97.

246

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

very low, and needy students can win scholarships, which are awarded
by a special board after consideration of the financial circumstances
and merits of the applicants. Scholarships may cover half or all
the total lecture fees, the amount of the grant depending on the
candidate's previous record.
An increasing number of boarding scholarships and grants are
allotted each year for the maintenance of pupils while they are
studying. On 31 July 1947, the Secretariat of Public Education
was responsible for the maintenance of 17,268 pupils in its boarding
schools, 8,301 being cases of assistance in schools covered in this
monograph, rural teachers' training colleges, agricultural training
centres of the boarding school type, and boarding schools run by
the directorate general of Indian affairs and the national polytechnic institute. 1 Such facilities are not available to the same
extent, however, for all types of study, but it is in agricultural
training that they are most extensive. Maintenance scholarships
in the form of free board are granted to all pupils attending agricultural training courses in federal State institutions, at whatever
level, whether rural teachers' training colleges, practical agriculture
schools or the national school of agriculture. The conditions on
which they are granted have already been mentioned in the description of how these institutions work.
The same progress has not been made in other branches of education. In 1947, the national polytechnic institute was able to
offer only 265 places to boarders, while the number of its pupils was
nearly 14,000. Since that time, work on the construction of boarding
schools has gone ahead fast and accommodation in temporary
buildings was available for 1,000 pupils in 1949. Places were
allotted in preference to students who had to live far from their
homes. I t was hoped that, by 1950, current construction work
would provide boarding facilities for a large proportion of the pupils
at the institute itself in Mexico City and the branches in various
parts of the country. I t will, however, be some years before such
amenities can be provided for all the pupils in industrial schools
run by the federal State, and these are only some of the institutions
providing industrial training.
I t should be noted that scholarships are not confined to Mexicans
and that foreign students are allowed to come to Mexico as scholarship holders. In day schools, the granting of a scholarship may
simply mean an exemption from lecture fees or it may include an
additional grant which, in 1949, was in some cases as high as 300
pesos a month. In boarding schools, on the other hand, scholarships
take the form of free maintenance ; this was the type of assistance
received in 1949 by 31 Latin American students at the national
school of agriculture. Most of them were Central American nationals.
Study Abroad.
A number of scholarships are open to Mexican students wishing to
supplement their studies at home by advanced training abroad. These
are particularly necessary for agricultural training, because, although
the national school of agriculture programme provides for courses
leading to a doctorate in agricultural sciences, it has not been possible to organise any so far. Six or seven scholarships are therefore
i Anuario de Estadístico Educativo, op. cit., p. 97.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

247

granted for this purpose each year by the Secretariat of Agriculture
and about the same number by the Bank of Mexico. In addition,
students of agricultural science can obtain certain foreign scholarships, some of which are held at the Turrialba school of agriculture,
which is maintained by the Organization of American States, while
others are offered by the United States Department of Agriculture
or the Eockefeller Foundation. Fairly recently, more scholarships
have been offered by U.N.E.S.C.O. In this way, 20 to 25 scholarships are open for advanced agricultural training abroad. This
number is considered to be quite inadequate to meet requirements.
At the present time, neither the national polytechnic institute
nor the Mexican national independent university have funds available to provide similar facilities for their graduates.
On the other hand, there are certain scholarships for the study
of industrial technology which are offered by employers in accordance with a provision of the federal Labour Act. 1 Article 111 (xxi)
makes it compulsory for every employer employing more than 400
but less than 2,000 employees to make suitable provision at his own
expense for the technical, industrial or practical instruction at a
special centre, either at home or abroad, of one of his employees or
a child of one of his employees. Those employing more than 2,000
employees are obliged to make provision for three bursaries. On
the termination of their course of study bursars are bound to work
for two years for the employer who paid for their studies.
This provision, with special clauses to cover certain points, is
taken up in the collective agreements which have been prepared
for large-scale industries. Under the cotton industry agreement,
for example, the bursar has to remain in the services of the employer
who paid for his studies for a period of one, and not two years.
Clauses 191-195 of the petroleum industry agreement provide for
scholarships to be granted under special financial conditions and
for particular purposes. Petróleos Mexicanos have undertaken to
provide 90,000 pesos a year for scholarships ; these are allocated to
the various departments of the firm in proportion to the number of
staff employed in each. The bursar is paid 250 pesos a month if he
is a worker, and 125 if he is the child of a worker. On completing
his studies, he is employed by the undertaking, where possible, in
the branch in which he has specialised ; he then either replaces a
foreign technician or non-trade union worker or fills a new post.
The Act provides for the bursar to be chosen either by the
workers or the employers. In the cotton industry, bursars are
selected by a joint board set up to implement the collective agreement. In the petroleum industry, they are chosen by the trade
union executive committee. Both agreements provide for the scholarship to be granted to the same bursar for several years in succession,
but there is a check to ensure that he is making good use of the
advantages offered him. If he is not, a more deserving candidate
takes his place.
Mention must be made of the following facilities for international student exchanges :
(a) the special foreign university section of the National
Secretariat of Public Education which supplies the Mexican public
1
In addition, several big firms, and particularly branches of American concerns,
pay for some of their technicians to go abroad to gain experience.

248

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

with information on foreign advanced training centres, and foreign
countries with similar information on facilities in Mexico ;
(b) the building which the Mexican national independent university has recently decided to open in the University City in Paris.
The Mexican Government has several times offered facilities to
Latin Americans to acquire practical experience in petroleum work,
which is the country's main nationalised industry. About fifteen
students (mainly Brazilians, but also Colombians and Venezuelans)
have taken advantage of this scheme in recent years.
In-Plant
Apprenticeship

Training

Legislation.

Part I I I of the Federal Labour Act of 1931 deals with contracts
of apprenticeship, and this legislation goes some way to cover
in-plant vocational training. No provision, however, has yet been
made for the application of this part of the Act, and the way it is
to be enforced has been defined only in regard to some of the cases
it affects. These have been covered by clauses in collective agreements particularly in those having the force of law throughout a
branch of industry. The way apprenticeship is organised consequently varies from branch to branch.
Article 218 of the Labour Act defines a contract of apprenticeship as one " in virtue of which one of the parties binds himself
to perform personal services for the other, receiving in return instruction in a craft or occupation together with the agreed remuneration." ÎTo indication, however, is given in the Act as to the trades
which can or should be covered by a contract of apprenticeship.
Articles 224 and 227 imply that they may be concluded equally
well for persons taking up an unskilled occupation as for those to
be instructed in a skilled trade, and it is therefore by no means
clear what apprenticeship training represents.
Under Article 220, the contracting parties are responsible for
defining in the contract of apprenticeship what are to be the curriculum and duration of the instruction constituting the object of
the contract, as well as the remuneration due in each of the stages
of apprenticeship. This is one of the points on which collective
agreements have included some useful additional clauses, b u t in
doing so most of them have been concerned solely with fixing the
wages to be paid to apprentices, generally specifying a rate which
increases every six months or every year without distinction as
to the work covered by the apprenticeship. Very few collective
agreements have made any real effort to make the length of the
apprenticeship correspond to the difficulty of the work. I n the
hosiery trade, all contracts of apprenticeship normally last three
years (clause 97 of the collective agreement) whereas in the petroleum industry they last for four (clause 196 (vii)). The cotton industry
agreement is about the only one to fix a definite period of apprenticeship for each operation ; the length varies from six months for
preparatory work in spinning to 42 months for block printing of
fabrics. I t should furthermore be noted that the list of apprenticed
trades and their corresponding periods of instruction given in the
cotton industry agreement includes not only the trades in the
textile industry itself but also subsidiary occupations in the repair

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

249

workshops of a textile undertaking which, as far as technical training is concerned, are in an entirely different category. Carpenters,
for example, are apprenticed for 24 months, foundrymen and electricians for 30 and mechanics for 36. This illustrates how Mexican
collective agreements bind apprentices as actual workmen, with
the main object of fixing their wage rates in proportion to the work
they perform rather than of standardising vocational training in
the skilled trades of the industry concerned.
Article 221 of the Act obliges employers to admit into every
undertaking and department of an undertaking a number of apprentices amounting to not less than 5 per cent, of the total number of
employees in each occupation or craft and to grant preference for
employment as apprentices to the children of employees in an
undertaking who belong to an industrial association. These provisions, often with additional clauses, appear in most collective
agreements and it is noteworthy that, in general, the minimum of
5 per cent, mentioned in the Act is regarded as a maximum.
Other legislation (Articles 224-226) covers cases of dismissal and
the duties of employers and apprentices towards one another.
Collective agreements have few comments to make upon them,
except in so far as they clarify the provisions of Article 224 ; this
refers to the right of apprentices having completed their contracts
to preferential appointment to any vacant posts in the branch in
which they were apprenticed. Several collective agreements enable
apprentices to place their names on a list of candidates for posts,
where none is vacant.
Article 227 of the Labour Act outlines a scheme whereby the
progress of an apprentice can be followed and stipulates that apprentices to skilled trades shall be examined every year, whenever they
apply, by a joint board of experts composed of workers and employers
under the chairmanship of a representative appointed by the labour
inspector. In the case of maritime apprenticeship, the harbourmaster has to act as chairman. The jury has to decide and, if
necessary, certify in writing that the candidate possesses the necessary ability to work in the branch of industry to which he has been
apprenticed. ÎTo provision has been made for this part of the Labour
Act to be applied and, as a result, the joint examining boards have
not been systematically or generally organised throughout the
country and few collective agreements have given effect to these
provisions in their own particular branch of industry. The following
clauses from agreements do nevertheless provide instances of this
interesting provision being applied. Clause 98 of the hosiery trade
agreement lays down that, as each contract of apprenticeship is
prepared, the undertaking, the trade union and the apprentice shall
jointly decide when examinations are to be held. Clause 103 of the
cotton industry agreement recognises the right of an undertaking
or trade union to have an apprentice examined at any time and, if
his results are not satisfactory, he has to give place to another.
Under clause 196 (viii-xi) of the petroleum industry agreement, the
apprentice is entitled to request an annual examination through
the intermediary of his trade union. This agreement also stipulates
that special provision shall be made for the way apprentices are to
be examined at the end of each stage of their apprenticeship, so that
they can be promoted to the next grade. Apprentices who are not
ready to take the examination are granted six months in which to
pass.

250

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Private In-Plant

Training

Schemes.

To illustrate the methodical training provided in very technical
public services or private undertakings requiring highly skilled staff,.
a later section on adult vocational training described the schemes
introduced by the national railways of Mexico, a private concern
manufacturing high-precision electrical equipment (Industria Eléctrica) and certain other large firms. They are mostly concerned
with adult labour, but some of the day courses run full time by the
railway schools are intended for young people who have not yet
joined the company. These classes, which are very varied, prepare
pupils for accountancy, technical work on rolling stock (engine
driving, brakes, etc.), and for technical duties in signal boxes and
cabins (telecommunications and other work). An appreciable
number of the workers trained under the general scheme introduced
by Industria Eléctrica when it first opened were young people chosen
from the graduates of Mexican technical schools. The collective
agreements governing industrial relations in this firm now provide
for new staff to be recruited regularly under a permanent apprenticeship scheme for each trade and occupation, along the lines of the
system initiated by the Labour Act.

TRAINING OF ADULTS

Industry
Polytechnic Institute

Courses.

Some of the older industrial schools like the B.S.I.M.E., which
is now part of the polytechnic institute, have held evening classes
for many years, and those run by the E.S.I.M.E. go back as far as
1910. These courses, while being open to adults and young people
alike, are mostly attended by young workers and are strictly speaking upgrading courses, because their object is to enable pupils who
have followed elementary or intermediate technical courses to continue their technical training and yet start work. The polytechnic
institute now intends to organise more post-secondary and advanced
evening classes. I n this way, more technicians will be trained for
the service of their country, since young people whose family circumstances oblige them to earn a living will be able to receive the
same standard of training as if they had continued their studies
full time by attending evening classes for a relatively longer period.
I t is considered that six years at evening classes would be the
equivalent of four years' attendance at a day school.
The administrative structure of the polytechnic institute hasrecently been extended to include a new department, whose work
is to organise courses for adult workers. These courses began in
the Capital in June 1948 with an attendance of 14, but the number
rose to 200 by the end of the year. 1 The credits for 1948 amounted
to 750,000 pesos. A thousand applicants for the courses in theCapital were anticipated in 1949, and similar courses were beingorganised in other parts of the country in the new technological.
centres which were being opened by the polytechnic institute.
Cf. Memoria de la Secretaria de Educación Pública, op. cit., pp. 514 and 516.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

251

Up to that time, the adults' courses had not been divided into
different standards, and workers wishing to become more proficient
at their trade worked side by side with others who wished to change
their occupation and so had everything to learn. Classes are at
present designed to last two years, four evenings a week. Training
is given in the trades of carpenter, cabinet maker, general mechanic,
motor mechanic, foundry, industrial electricity and industrial
tinsmith. Later, all the so-called vocational schools (i.e., providing
secondary education), are scheduled to have evening classes in the
various branches of training provided during the daytime. I t is
also intended to organise adults' intermediate courses for the training
of foremen, similar to those already run for young people.
In-Plant Training
National

Schemes.

railways.

At the present time, the most advanced facilities for adult
workers' vocational upgrading are those provided by certain public
undertakings such as the national railways of Mexico. This company has a special technical training department which runs the
various training facilities offered to present or prospective staff.
There is a teaching staff of technicians selected from among the
employees, and their whole time, eight hours a day, is given up to
teaching.
Several types of training facility have been organised in this
way.
Courses are held in the company's schools (Escuelas Técnicas
Ferrocarrileras) in Mexico City and 19 towns in various parts of
the country. The number of courses ran depends on the school, and
they may be of several kinds : (a) beginners' courses, which are
run full time and may last from a few days to three months or even
a year ; (b) upgrading courses for employees already engaged on
regular work (these are attended in working hours, because they
are organised in the company's own interest for the training of a
group of employees or workers needing instruction in some new
process—as an instance, the I.L.O. Mission was able to visit a special
full-time, i.e., eight-hour day, course in diesel engine driving which the
company was giving for 30 or 40 days to a number of engine driverstokers in preparation for a change-over of locomotives) ; (c) upgrading courses in various trades provided for the benefit of the
staff and attended out of working hours. Most of these courses are
given several times a day so that all employees are able to attend
them in their spare time, without having to alter their normal
working hours.
The duration of the courses depends on the subjects, which are
extremely varied. I n Mexico City in 1949, courses were being run
in accountancy, transport, telecommunications, pneumatic brakes,
railway legislation, signals, engineering, drawing, mathematics and
English. There is an examination at the end of each course. If the
candidate passes, he is given a certificate ; if he fails, he can take the
course again any time within the next year.
The company has had text-books prepared for each of the courses
and has engaged specialists to do the work. They are generally
Americans, as the books are adaptations of those used in railway
schools in the United States.

252

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Oral instruction is often supplemented by lantern slides or
films, these latter being generally of American origin. The best
results have been obtained by showing them after the class by way of
illustration, rather than by interrupting the lecture in order to
show them.
Practical courses are held in the repair and maintenance workshops and are designed to improve the skill of workers already
in the service of the company. They are attended outside working
hours and last one or two years. Classes usually last an hour
for each group, but the workshop is open eight hours a day and the
classes follow one another. Practice is given in smelting, ironwork, engineering and industrial electricity.
Correspondence courses can be taken by employees of the company wherever they may be on the railway network. The scheme
is run in conjunction with the Bailways Educational Bureau at
Omaha (Nebraska) in the United States. Three special schools
have been opened, No. 1 in Mexico City, No. 2 in Aguas Calientes and
No. 3 in Monterrey. Others are projected. The courses offer a very
varied training in several trades. 1 An employee of the company
wishing to take a course applies to the school in his area, which
sends him a list of the courses open. Separate applications are made
for each course. The schools running these courses had more than
13,000 names on their lists in 1949. The pupil is first sent the text
of the course and then exercises in the form of questions. He sends
his answers to the school in his area for correction. If they are
satisfactory, he is given a certificate of competence in the subjects
he has taken at the end of the course.
No fees are charged for the courses in categories 1 and 2 and
all the materials are provided free of charge by the railway company ; this includes exercise books and manuals, which remain the
property of the pupils, who can then refresh their knowledge from
time to time. A small entrance fee is charged for correspondence
courses, but no charge is made for the delivery of exercises if pupils
hand their papers to travelling officials of the company.
The collective agreement of the national railways of Mexico,
as amended on 6 January 1949, arranges for due account to be
taken of the results obtained in this technical training scheme which
the company has organised for its staff. While still considering
seniority as a factor in promotion, the agreement includes technical
skill as another indispensable requirement for advancement. Clause
141, in its present wording, provides that " promotion shall be by
seniority for workers who can prove that they have the ability to fill
the vacant posts. The conditions of the preliminary examination are
to be laid down for each trade by agreement between the management of the company and the trade union . . . " I n practice,
the certificates awarded at the end of direct or correspondence
upgrading courses take the place of this examination. Clauses 176
and 286 of the same collective agreement also concern facilities
granted to workers to train for specialised posts with a view to
possible promotion. These facilities are, in fact, those offered by
1
In 1949, there were courses in the following subjects : administration, 29
lessons; steam locomotive driving, 11 lessons; diesel locomotive driving, 20 lessons ; advanced workshop mechanics, 22 lessons ; electricity, continuous and
alternating current, 21 lessons ; pneumatic brakes, 15 lessons ; mathematics, 19
lessons ; transport service salesmanship, 15 lessons ; track maintenance, 35 lessons.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

253

the railway schools and their workshops. Such recognition of
workers' efforts to increase their skill and so gain promotion acts
as an incentive for them to use the technical training and upgrading
facilities which the company provides for its staff.
Private

undertakings.

I t is impossible to give individual consideration to all the training
schemes which undertakings have introduced to increase the qualifications of their staff. There is, however, one which may be of some
interest, not only because of the methodical way it was applied,
but also because it has been recognised in a collective agreement.
This is the scheme which Industria Eléctrica 8. A., a branch of the
Westinghouse Company, introduced when it first opened to train
all the members of its staff.
The Company was intending to manufacture certain precision
instruments under foreign patent and only a small margin for error
could be left ; an advanced type of equipment previously unknown
in Mexico had to be used and no staff already trained in such
work could be found in the country. Apart from a small number
of men employed on extremely simple subsidiary duties, all the
production staff required were given an intensive and systematic
course of training. The programme was introduced in several
stages. First, engineers were fully trained in the United States.
Ordinary technicians and skilled workers were then given instruction
in the workshops in Mexico. During this initial training period,
their status under the collective agreement governing industrial
relations in this firm was that of trainees (practicantes) and not
factory workers (trabajadores de planta).
The training varied in
length according to the skill required for each type of operation—
three months, six months, nine months, a year or even more for
certain types of skilled work. Examinations were held at the end
of the training and the permanent appointment of trainees depended
on the results they obtained. Workers passing the examination,
however, were allowed to count their period of training towards
their seniority of service.
The collective agreement governing industrial relations in this
undertaking attaches great importance to workers' efforts to increase
their skill and so gain promotion. While accepting the principle of
seniority in each separate occupation and trade, it formally states
in clause 61 that promotion shall be granted primarily on ability
and only secondly on seniority. According to clause 62, candidates
for advancement who are eligible as far as seniority is concerned
have to pass a test before they are promoted to show that they are
fitted for their new work. In the case of workers of equal ability,
promotion is granted on seniority. I n addition, clause 23 provides
for workers to be moved from one department to another " in order
that they may be given a chance to widen their knowledge " and
also to keep the organisation as flexible as possible.
Similar systems of training have been organised by a steel furniture factory, the Distribuidora Nacional, a vehicle assembly branch
of General Motors, the Ensembladora, and an aluminium ware
factory which, for the most part, sends its technicians for advanced
training to the United States.

254

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Commerce
The polytechnic institute intends to include commercial and
administrative courses in the programmes of its workers' upgrading
centres.
I n addition, private commercial schools, as in all countries,
arrange evening classes for adults which can be attended after
normal working hours, though on payment of a fee.
Agriculture
The Mexican Government considers that full effect can be given
to the agrarian reforms only if there is an improvement of the
working methods of the peasant class. I t is felt that no purpose
would have been served by allotting land, irrigating it at great
expense, arranging credit banks to supply farmers with working
capital and attempting to provide them with modern equipment if
they were not trained to use their implements with intelligence and
skill and obtain the most from the natural resources of the country.
The Education Act already quoted therefore sets the education
of the adult rural population, like that of the young, as an essential
goal. Having defined this objective in Article 14, the Act goes on
to list the ways in which it is to be achieved. According to Article 15,
agricultural extension classes are to be organised in their respective
areas by all the elementary rural and practical agriculture schools,
any special training schools which have been opened in country
districts and by " cultural missions " and special temporary or permanent agricultural training centres to be organised in rural areas
as required. The Secretariat of Agriculture has to arrange for correspondence courses and extension services throughout the country.
In application of this legislation, the general directorate for
agricultural training of the Secretariat of Public Education has.
organised correspondence courses 1 which are followed by pupils not
only in Mexico but also in other Latin American countries. They
are free and the pupils' correspondence is charged at the lowest postal
rate (third class). These lessons have been made as practical as
possible, worded clearly and concisely in simple language and reproduced on sheets or in booklets which are easy to handle and read
anywhere. Pupils are encouraged to ask for explanations of the
problems they meet in practice. Each lesson is followed by a series
of questions and the answers constitute a kind of examination. ÎTo
pupil can follow more than two courses simultaneously, but, on
completing one, he can submit his name for another. An average
of a little more than 3,000 pupils follow these courses each year
(3,319 in 1946 and 3,102 in 1948).
I n 1948, courses were given in elementary agriculture (7 lessons),
citrus fruit-growing (12), vegetable and fruit preserving (12), maize
cultivation (9), temperate fruit-growing (17), tropical fruit-growing
(13), horticulture (12), gardening (14), use of farm machinery (11),
agricultural pest control (24), fodder plants (6), and soil improvement
and fertilisers (10).
Courses on poultry, sheep, pig and dairy farming, etc., were in
preparation.
1
See Escuelas Prácticas de Agricultura, op. cit., pp. 288-296, and Memoria de
la Secretaria de Educación Pública, op. cit. pp. 337-341.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

255

The same department is preparing popular handbooks on a
large number of agricultural and stockbreeding questions and
has organised an advice bureau with a specialised staff for
problems of agriculture, stockbreeding and rural industries. The
radio education station is also used to spread a knowledge of
agriculture.
In addition, the Secretariat of Agriculture and Stockbreeding
announced in 1948 that it had arranged with the Secretariat of
National Defence for 500 conscripts to be trained every year in the
use of farm machinery during their military service.
The agriculture schools remain in close contact with the peasant
population in their area, and the instructors and pupils provide a
kind of technical welfare service. Admittedly, there have sometimes
been lapses or mistakes in the way their work has been interpreted
or performed, but the care taken by the department to criticise
such mistakes and prevent their recurrence is an indication of the
importance attached by the Government to the efficiency of the
service. 1
One of the methods which these schools are advised to use to
educate the local peasants is to organise " weeks " devoted to what
they do and how they do it. These are carefully prepared and each
one is devoted to a particular branch of agriculture, stockbreeding
or subsidiary industries. Local authorities, representatives of
official and private agricultural associations, the students' parents
and peasants from the surrounding countryside are all invited to
attend. Practical agriculture schools are also responsible for organising advisory services for the peasants in their area.
The town and country " cultural missions " play an important
part in spreading technical knowledge. Their purpose is to help
the population to improve every aspect of its living conditions. In
towns, semi-rural districts and mining areas, instruction is often
given in cottage industries, gardening, fruit-growing and the breeding
of small domestic animals as additional ways of raising the standard
of life of the population.
The work of such missions has progressed most in country districts and especially in areas where the population is Indian. In
1948, there were 48 rural cultural mission centres and seven special
missions (three of which were mobile) and 12 motorised missions.
Apart from their health campaign, they try to help the peasants to
increase the productivity of their farming and stockbreeding by
teaching them to use modern methods such as vaccination and
incubator hatching.
An improvement in housing is another of their aims, and this
they try to achieve by training the peasants in the use of masons'
and carpenters' tools, and by teaching them to do their own repairs
and construct farm buildings and fittings. The skill acquired in
such work is sometimes applied in public development schemes
such as the laying of water pipes to villages, the installation of drains,
and the repairing or enlarging of the local school.
Young men are given apprentice training, particularly in the
small-scale rural industries in which agricultural produce is processed, e.g., reed plaiting, the weaving of wool, sandal making,
pottery, and vegetable and fruit preserving.
1
See Memoria de la Secretarla de Educación Pública, op. cit., pp. 339-341 and
Escuelas Prácticas de Agricultura, op. cit., pp. 288-296.

256

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

In the same way, peasant women are taught to sew, make and
repair clothes, cook food and look after children and the sick. 1
Extension Services for the Indian Population
The General Directorate of Indian Affairs of the Secretariat of
Public Education has provided special services staffed with men
and women having a knowledge of the local tongues and specially
trained to help the Indian population to improve its economic,
hygienic and social conditions. These brigades for Indian areas 2
are teams consisting of sanitary and welfare staff (a doctor, a nurse
and a weKare assistant) and also certain technicians (a master
weaver, master carpenter, master smith and an agricultural expert).
Credits were limited in 1948, and, to concentrate the activities
of these teams as efficiently as possible, their number was reduced
from 14 to 12. These worked in the States of Chihuahua (two brigades), Chiapas (one), Guerrero (two), Hidalgo (two), Mexico (one),
Oaxaca (one), Puebla (one), Queretaro (one) and Tlaxcala (one).
Each brigade is responsible for at least eight Indian villages and
a total of nearly 22,000 people. Their duties are to spread a knowledge of modern methods of agriculture and stockbreeding, and
each team has a centre for the maintenance of agricultural equipment (posta mecánica) and one for the care of animals (posta zootécnica). The brigades also help the peasants to organise consumers' and producers' co-operatives. Workshops are set up where
necessary. I n 1947-1948, for example, one of the centres in the
State of Chihuahua opened a carpenters' shop to help the Indians
to start a timber industry in the forest area.
Basic instruction is an essential factor in improving the economic
conditions of the Indian population and a campaign for literacy is
being waged not only by these brigades but also by the town and
country " cultural missions " and " literacy institutes " such as the
literacy institute for monolingual Indians, which has special programmes for teaching in local tongues, such as Tarasco, Otomi, etc.
About 50 per cent, of the pupils in these institutes are adults ; the
remainder are children of school age whom the literacy institutes
are obliged to educate in certain areas because not enough normal
schools are available. 3
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

There are special conditions in Mexico which make placement to
some extent automatic, at least in manual trades, and leave only a
small place for vocational guidance.
Vocational Guidance
Such arrangements as have been made are for guidance in technical education rather than for vocational guidance in the strict
sense of the term.
(a) For some years, the polytechnic institute has had an applied
psychology and vocational guidance laboratory, which has been
1
3
3

Memoria de la Secretaria de Educación Pública, op. cit., pp. 431 to 443.
Ibid., pp. 303 et seq.
Ibid., p. 439.

APPENDIX I : MEXICO

257

set up in its old biotypology laboratory. Its work is concerned
more with research than with practice. I t does, however, examine
a limited number of pupils from the various vocational classes of
the institute each year. In 1947-1948, when more than 13,000
pupils were following the various courses run by the institute, 130
were examined in the laboratory. 1
(b) The general directorate of higher education has a national
pedagogical institute which gives initial training to a certain number
of university students in the organising of psychological tests, and
it can in this way help to train experts in vocational guidance. 2
(c) About eight years ago, an applied psychology laboratory
was opened in the advanced teachers' training college, and this
gives a certain amount of primary training to future teachers in
the methods of in-school and vocational guidance.
These have already been mentioned. All technical schools,
whether industrial or agricultural, begin with a preparatory prevocational training course which is taken by all the pupils who are
thus helped to discover their tastes and aptitudes, not as regards
the choice of a career from all those offered by economic life, but
rather the choice of a specialised trade in the branch of activity
they have already begun.
Among the factors operating against an extension of vocational
guidance, mention must be made of established custom, which has
been consolidated by legislation and labour agreements and which
has taken all the flexibility out of the employment market. In
particular, there are the provisions contained in Article 221 of the
federal Labour Act, not only reserving apprenticeship vacancies
in an undertaking for the sons of trade union workers already
employed there, but also, and more especially, reserving vacancies
for them in their parents' trades. The fact that almost all collective
agreements include these provisions 3 would appear to imply that
the trade unions have so far been eager to safeguard what seemed
to them to be prior claims to employment, probably without fully
realising that the individual claims in each economic field contradicted each other and might finally prejudice the future of the
children by hindering them from making a free choice of an occupation suited to their tastes and aptitudes. Clearly, the limiting
effects of this system are felt most in the older industries, such as
the various branches of the textile industry, where the employment
market is already stagnant ; conversely, its influence is felt less in
new or expanding industries.
Employment

Service

Eegulations were published on 6 March 1934 * providing for
official employment exchanges to be set up in Mexico City and any
1

Memoria de la Secretaria de Educación Pública, op. cit., pp. 615-616.
*Ibid., pp. 183-188.
3
It is, however, interesting to note that the petroleum industry agreement,
while containing a clause reserving apprenticeship vacancies for children of trade
union workers or members of their families, also includes a clause which authorises
the apprentices, at least, to change from one department to another during the
first six months of their contract of apprenticeship (clause 196 (xix)).
4
1.L.O. : Legislative Series, 1934—Mex. 2.

258

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

other places in the country where they were felt to be necessary.
The directorate of social welfare of the Labour Department (now
the Labour Secretariat) was given the task of co-ordinating the
activities of these exchanges. In this way, the regulations provided
a framework for an official employment service, which, in broad
outline, corresponded to that referred to in the international Convention of 1948. I n practice, no such service has been introduced
and, in all the main branches of industrial economy, labour is provided by the trade unions under clauses in the collective agreements
governing conditions of employment in the various industries.
However, in order that manpower may be used more rationally
to promote economic development, the Government is now planning
the organisation of an employment service which will work in
conjunction with a vocational guidance service. With this end in
view, the Government applied in 1951 for the assistance of I.L.O.
experts and for the grant to Mexicans of fellowships for study
abroad in both these fields.

PERU
Although the Government's plans for making a complete system
of vocational training available to young persons and to adults
have not yet been completely realised, they are at last developing
in a co-ordinated way under the plan of reorganisation which was
set out in a series of Presidential Decrees issued in 1945. 1 Almost
all institutions for vocational training are the responsibility of the
Ministry of Education. However, the advisory bodies—national
committee and provincial committees on technical education—
which were set up to assist the Ministry in its task do not seem
to have developed any marked activity.
Considerable technical and material assistance has been given
to the Peruvian Government by the United States in drawing up
and implementing the plan for reorganising vocational education
within the framework of the reform of public education in general.
A co-operative agreement was signed on 4 April 1944 and, after
several renewals, continues to apply. The Peruvian and North
American Co-operative Education Service (S.C.P.N.E.) is the executive organisation under the agreement. The two other organisations for technical assistance that the American Government maintains in Peru—the Co-operative Inter-American Health Service
(S.C.I.S.P.) and the Co-operative Inter-American Pood Production
Service (S.C.I.P.A.)—have frequently co-operated in solving the
health problems which are connected with education problems.
The efforts of the Peruvian Government to carry out the reform
have rapidly increased. The funds for the co-operative educational
programme are found by contributions from both Peru and the
United States 2, but while there has been little increase in the contribution of the United States since the agreement was signed,
there was an eight-fold increase in the Peruvian contribution for
1948 as compared with that for 1944 (1944 : 185,903 soles ; 1948 :
1,565,469 soles).
The aim of this international co-operation being to promote
the welfare of the Peruvian population, no distinction was drawn,
when providing facilities, between the education of children and
young persons and that of the adult population. Although in the
following pages an attempt will be made to describe first the existing facilities for young persons who are not yet in employment
and then those for adult workers, it will frequently be necessary
to deal with both simultaneously.
A major obstacle to the expansion of general educational facilities
to cope with the yearly increase of about 50,000 children in the
scholastic population was the building shortage. A big scheme for
school building was started in 1948. In order to provide the
necessary funds, a national education fund was set up by Legis1

Nos. 2,885 of 2 Aug., 2,904 of 8 Aug. and 3,699 of 15 Dec. 1945.
This contribution is independent of the budget appropriation for the maintenance of vocational training establishments.
2

260

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

lative Decree TSo. 18 ; existing financial appropriations for school
building were transferred to the fund which also received the
proceeds of various new taxes : 10 per cent, on horse race bets,
4 to 6 per cent, (according to the locality) on lotteries, and an
extra 3 centavo stamp on inland postage. I t is hoped that voluntary
donations will also be forthcoming. A national education council
was set up to find donations and to allocate the money thus received.
Technical education will be financed by the fund on the same footing as other types of education.

TRAINING OP JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
For a number of reasons which apply in many countries of the
area but are particularly important in Peru in view of particular
circumstances, the problems of technical education could not be
treated apart from the other educational problems. Illiteracy being
extremely widespread, particularly among the rural population, the
indispensable general basis of education for any kind of technical
training was lacking. The mere increase in the number of schools
would not have sufficed to solve the problem, for neither the elementary nor the secondary school education directly answered the
requirements of the population. I t was too purely academic, it
failed to arouse any desire for practical activity among those who
did follow it, and, not appearing to be of any immediate use, it
did not attract the mass of the population.
Furthermore, the geography of the country makes communication difficult and isolates human communities from each other.
For many children the village elementary school is the only available
means of education. The school should therefore provide them
with sufficient knowledge to direct their adult activities rationally ;
they should receive vocational as well as cultural education. This
has been the basic idea in the educational reform which has striven
to make the primary school an active school helping the children
to understand the environment in which they live, teaching them
to observe that environment, and encouraging them to improve it.
According to such a concept, the school should serve to.awaken
vocational interests in all children, whether to induce them to
pursue technical education in some chosen branch of study in a
specialised school, or to provide them with at least the basic knowledge indispensable to the fruition of the practical work which
their environment imposes on them, helping them to improve their
experience gradually by a deliberate and considered practice.
The elementary school, once it has been reformed on these lines,
forms the basis of the institutional scheme for providing technical
education whether in industry or in agriculture.
Vocational education proper, whether industrial, commercial or
agricultural, is a part of secondary education and comes under a
special department of the Ministry of Education, the directorate
of technical education. That directorate is responsible for all institutions providing technical education, whether public or private.
Under sections 170-171 of the Organic Education Act, authority
must be obtained from the Ministry of Education for all private
courses or schools and the curricula must also be submitted to the

APPENDIX I : PERU

261

Ministry for approval ; the provision has been made apphcable to
institutions for technical education by a Ministerial Order of
17 December 1949, and it applies to all day and evening technical
courses. 1
Attempts are being made to standardise vocational education
as much as possible. Under the Presidential Decree of 10 November
1949 2, which takes effect in the scholastic year 1950, unified syllabuses are to be drawn up for all secondary vocational education
including agricultural education, industrial education for boys and
for girls and commercial training. The general education provided
in those syllabuses must be the same for the various branches ; they
are so-called common courses as opposed to the technical courses which
are peculiar to each branch. The technical syllabuses are drawn
up for all schools of a given type in each branch and are published
by the Ministry of Education. Under Ministerial Order No. 7,343
of 12 November 1949 3 committees of teachers in specialised subjects
have been appointed to revise the technical curricula ; the new
curricula will apply and may not be amended for three years.
Industry.
Pre-vocational standard.
With the help of S.C.P.N.E., the Ministry of Education started
pre-vocational training programmes in the later grades of primary
school 4 (usually from the fifth to the sixth grade) and " technical
initiation " programmes in the first three grades of the secondary
school.5 The idea is to introduce education of this type into all
schools. During the transitional period, students in schools close
to one in which such courses have been organised will be allowed,
as far as possible, to attend those courses for a few hours each week.
The authors of the plan intended that the pre-vocational courses
should serve to indicate the inclinations and abilities of the students,
who should be sent in rotation to the workshops organised for the
courses, or to at least four different workshops. The industrial trades
and handicrafts taught pre-vocationally in the boys' schools concern
the wood, leather, tin and electrical industries, as well as mechanics
and ceramics. The first workshops to be set up should be those
for carpentry and metal forging. In the girls' schools, cutting, dressmaking and domestic science form the basis of pre-vocational
education. The technical initiation courses in secondary colleges
are primarily intended to correct the mistakes previously made
in vocational selection.
The whole programme is controlled by the directorate of primary
education, but the directorate of technical education, in the same
Ministry, must co-operate with the governing bodies of the chosen
schools in setting up the courses. In order to help in implementing
the programme, the directorate of technical education published a
1

El Peruano 12 Nov. 1949.
Ibid., 19 Nov. 1949.
Ibid., 25 Nov. 1949.
Cf. Ministerio de Educación Pública : Planes y Programas farà la Educación
Infantil, las Clases de Transición y la Educación Primaria Común (1947), pp. 108135.5
Cf. Ministerio de Educación Pública : Plan de Estudios y Programas para
la Educación Secundaria (1947), pp. 155-174.
2
8
4

262

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

manual in 1946 setting out the aims of the programme, the supplies
and equipment needed in each workshop, and the methods to be
used in order that the teaching staff may enter into the spirit of
the programme which is a very novel one. The manual recommends
that theory and practice should be applied together in carrying
out all technical work in schools.1 Model plans of work were later
issued in roneoed form. In 1949, 32 schools in 12 provinces were
giving this new technical education.
Secondary

standard.

Industrial education at the secondary level is, with few exceptions, given under totally separate syllabuses for boys and girls.
Under the new programme, industrial education for boys is
divided into two phases which should as a rule be completed in
two different types of school. During the first phase, the industrial
colleges train skilled manual workers ; during the second, the polytechnic institutes give more advanced education for technicians,
that is to say highly skilled specialists or prospective junior supervisory personnel. But in fact the institutes also give first phase
education, to such an extent, indeed, that the information available
on the total enrolment of students in these schools gives no precise
idea of the number of students in each phase.
First phase courses, sometimes called apprenticeship courses and
sometimes vocational courses, are open to students who have
finished their elementary schooling provided they pass an entrance
examination. Besides purely scholastic tests, that examination
includes psychotechnical tests and sometimes a medical examination.
Some years ago, there were not many more applicants than
places available in the schools, and a high percentage of applicants
was admitted. Official statistics show that, in 1946, 558 students
were admitted to industrial colleges out of 742 applicants, an exclusion of 25 per cent, only. 2 Since then, there seems to have been a
substantial increase in the number of applicants, at any rate in the
larger towns, for in 1949 the national institute for industrial education at Lima only admitted 180 out of 634 applicants to the first
phase courses, a very strict selection in which psychotechnical tests
play a large part.
Study in the first phase normally lasts two years and includes
general education as well as vocational study, which is essentially
practical. On admission, students are placed in one of the school's
specialised divisions, of which there may be few or many according
to the school. The school at Lima mentioned above ran five divisions
in 1949 dealing with carpentry, electricity, radio, general mechanics
and motor mechanics (repairs). The principal polytechnic institute
has more divisions, including those dealing with metal forging and
building. The progress made is checked by fortnightly and yearly
examinations. After two years, provided satisfactory results have
been obtained, a certificate of competence in the chosen trade is
awarded.
In 1946 there were 25 industrial colleges, all in different towns,
affording education at this level, with a total enrolment of 1,301
1
Ministerio de Educación Pública, Dirección de Educación Técnica : Manual
de Artes Industriales y Notas sobre Educación prevocacional (1946).
2
Anuario Estadístico del Perú, 1946, pp. 562-586.

APPENDIX I : PERU

263

students. The opening of two new colleges was announced in 1949.
Their size may vary greatly ; in 1946, some had a hundred odd
students, others only a dozen. They may also be very differently
fitted out.
I n addition to the industrial colleges, there are other means
available for study in the first phase, especially the elementary
sections of the polytechnic institutes which usually have better
equipment than the colleges. In 1948 the apprenticeship section
of the principal polytechnic institute at Lima had 71 students, 23 of
whom finished their studies that year, 14 of those receiving their
certificates. That section provides more thorough training than that
given in the colleges since, in 1948, the length of the apprenticeship
course was increased from two to three years.
The second phase of industrial education is generally called the
technical phase since it leads to a technician's diploma. Training in
this phase is only given in the polytechnic institutes and deals more
thoroughly with the same subjects : e.g., mechanics, electricity and
radio. Some institutes have additional divisions ; the principal
polytechnic institute, for instance, gives courses in wood sculpture, the printing processes, mechanical drawing and commercial
drawing. Candidates from the industrial colleges within the area
of each institute are admitted if successful in a competitive
examination.
The official statistics for 1946 showed four polytechnic institutes,
the principal institute at Lima and three others in the provinces,
with a total of 763 students, 475 of whom were in the institute at
Lima. Two colleges, one at Lima and the other at Chiclayo, have
since been given the status of an institute. The total number of
students enrolled in these institutes does not include only those
following the second phase courses since elementary technical
education and courses for adults are also given there. For instance
in 1948, only 80 out of 568 students followed second phase courses
under the new programme in the principal polytechnic institute ; this
number was increased to 160 in 1949 as the old programme was
suppressed. The figure of 763 students is therefore probably far
greater than the real number of students following technicians'
courses in mstitutes run by the Ministry of Education in Peru
in 1946.
The significance of the total number of students in each phase
of study is limited if the trades for which they acquire professional
knowledge are not also known. Comprehensive information on this
subject is lacking, but the partial information supplied by the principal polytechnic institute is worth analysing. When that institute
discontinued the former training scheme for technicians which
it had applied from 1910 to 1947, as the national arts and crafts
school of Lima, it took stock of the results of its educational work.
Of the 1,267 diplomas awarded by the school during that period,
515 had been given to electricians, over 40 per cent, of the total,
504 to mechanics (34.33 per cent.), 114 to building technicians (8.44
per cent.) and only 75 to carpenters (6.25 per cent.). Some diplomas
had also been awarded in eight other trades ; only two were given
in the printing processes, one in moulding and one in cabinet-making.
I t is also significant that no vocational school in Peru has sought
to teach the processes of the country's oldest established industry,
the textile industry, with the result that most of the technical staff
in the industry is either foreign or foreign-trained.

264

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

I n addition to the institutes under the Ministry of Education,,
there are also certain other facilities for industrial training afforded
by other official bodies, especially technical military institutions :
the army mechanics school, army communications school, army
artificers school, the naval school and the aeronautical school.
The information for 1946 shows a total of 602 students in these
. five military technical schools.
There do not seem to be many facilities for private industrial
training. The technical school attached to the secondary college
of the Salesian Order at Magdalena del Mar (Lima) should,
however, be mentioned. That school had 63 students in 1946. I n
addition to the branches of study that are also taught in the State
schools, the Salesian school of Peru gives instruction in the printing
processes, in which the Salesian Order is particularly distinguished, and which are not frequently taught in the official Peruvian
schools.
In order to standardise the training during both phases in the
various schools, the directorate of technical education, is, with the
help of S.C.PJST.E., preparing text-books for the main courses. 1
A special section of that directorate has been made responsible
for preparing text-books and distributing them to the schools.
Most of them are adaptations or even translations of text-books in
use in the United States. They are carefully revised as they are
prepared, particular care being taken to ensure that the technical
terms used correspond to those in use locally.
The problem of equipping technical schools with tools and
machines is also a matter of some concern to the directorate. I n
1947, a sum of $600,000 was allocated for the purchase in the United
States of equipment for technical schools. A considerable improvement has been effected in the operational capacity of the schools
by the distribution of the imported equipment, although it was felt
in all schools visited by the I.L.O. Mission that the problem had not
been completely resolved.
Apart from the principal polytechnic institute at Lima, where
there is a division for teachers of technical education (40 students
in 1946), there are almost no facilities for training technical teachers.
During the last few years, special courses have been given in the
teachers' division of the Lima institute either to train teachers in
trades which it had so far been impossible to teach in Peruvian
technical schools (courses in plumbing and sanitary installation in
1948) or to increase the staff in those industrial branches where there
was a particular need for skilled workers and technicians (a course
in motor mechanics was started in 1949). S.C.P.ÎT.E. co-operated
actively in organising those courses. Continuation courses have
also been given as a temporary measure for teachers who already
hold appointments ; they will be considered later with reference to
the training of adults.
Schools providing industrial education for girls also come under
the directorate of technical education. In this field too, important
changes were made in 1946-1947.2 Training is given in a small number
of women's trades such as cutting and dressmaking, fine linen
1
Cf. Revista del Politécnico Principal del Perú. Vol. I, Nos. 2 to 4, Apr.-Deo.
1947, p. 41.
2
Direcoión.de Educación Técnica: Reglamento de Colegios industriales femeninos (1947).

APPENDIX I : PERU

265

drapery, hand and machine embroidery, hand weaving, toymaking
and the decorative arts.
Women's industrial study takes place in three phases. The
first is a pre-vocational phase which may be completed in the general
elementary schools as has been explained above, and also in the
industrial colleges as additional education for prospective teachers
in industrial subjects whose general education is inadequate.
The second phase is the vocational phase, which is completed at
the girls' secondary technical colleges.1 This lasts two years if
taken by day or three if taken in evening courses. Entrance is open
to candidates who are between 12 and 17 years of age and have
finished their elementary schooling. A certain number of schools
take boarding students, and it is planned to provide boarding facilities in all schools when material resources are available. In most
cases maintenance is free and thus constitutes a sort of grant. When
there are more candidates than vacancies, the entrance examination
serves as a competitive test to which are added a medical examination and sometimes a psychotechnical test. Every college must
appoint a board of examiners. The psychotechnical tests count
50 per cent., the practical tests 10 per cent, and the theoretical
knowledge tests 40 per cent. Grants are awarded in order of merit,
consideration being given to the number of vacancies allocated to
each province or district served by the college. In addition to the
girls holding grants, applicants who give evidence of sufficient
ability may be admitted as paying boarders or day students, provided the school's capacity is not exceeded. The first four months
of study are considered as a probationary period. On the results
of the examinations held at the end of the year it is decided whether
the students are to be given grants, admitted as paying boarders or
denied admittance the following year. A new method of checking
the progress made in apprenticeship was started in 1949 : a progress
sheet is made out for each student on which the teachers write their
remarks at regular intervals.
A third phase is called the finishing phase and is completed in
the industrial institutes. This generally lasts three years, although
the duration is not strictly fixed, each student being left free to
continue her training as long as is necessary for the career she has
in mind. The courses may be used to train specialists in a chosen
trade or forewomen and workshop supervisors. Generally, students
who have completed the second phase are admitted by competitive
examination.
I t is the aim of this educational reform that the vocational and
finishing courses taken together should be equivalent to secondary
schooling in an establishment providing general education. In
addition to technical courses in the chosen trade (cutting, fashion
designing, etc.), students are also given courses providing a basic
education (applied mathematics, applied drawing and scientific
1
I n 1946 there were 11 industrial colleges for girls with 2,465 students. I t
is not possible to distinguish between the number of adult students in evening
courses and the number of young persons in day or evening courses. The colleges
are very irregularly distributed ; Lima and the province of Lima had five and
Callao one. The other five were also in the western area. The capacity of the
colleges also differed considerably : one in the province of Lima had over 500 students, others between 250 and 350, while some had no more than 18 or 20.
Several new colleges were opened in 1949 and 1950, especially in the southern
areas (at Arequipa and Cuzco).

266

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

principles), a general cultural education (Spanish, geography and
history) and a complementary education (English, domestic economy, and physical, civic, moral and religious training). Of the
40 hours of study per week in the full-time vocational courses,
theoretical work takes 24 hours and practical work 15 hours. One
hour is devoted to maintaining the workshops and equipment.
Not all vocational schools for women give the same courses.
One rule is that no course may be started unless at least 10 students
enrol in it, while the maximum number for each course may not
exceed 35. Another rule is that schools may only teach trades
which may easily be exercised in their areas and that, in choosing,
they should be guided by activities peculiar to or typical of the
region. One part of the syllabus however must be taught in all
schools, namely that dealing with domestic science, child welfare
and cutting and dressmaking.
For technical subjects, a system of work projects has, under the
reform, been introduced in both the first and second phases. Under
that system, a student about to undertake a given piece of work
first plans her work, for instance, by making a drawing or a scale
model, then assembles the requisite materials and performs the work
within a given time. Another feature of these colleges is that they must
each run their production and consumption on a co-operative basis.
I t is expected that good results will be obtained not only from the
economic but also from the educational point of view.
The certificate attesting the completion of studies in the vocational phase is awarded only after an eight-months' probationary
period in some State or private industrial undertaking, doing practical work related to the trade taught in the school ; the governing
body of each school must also try to find opportunities for the
students to do practical work in undertakings during the school
holidays.
The directorate of technical education has drawn up syllabuses for each of the main subjects, indicating the progress that should
be made in each year, the amount of time that should be allowed
to each part of the syllabus, and how each part should be carried
out. I t has also published and distributed to the schools textbooks for technical courses in cutting and dressmaking, fine linen
work and art leather work. 1
The directorate also controls private institutes giving tuition
in women's trades. In particular, in a regulation of 17 November
1948, it set out the rules to which all paying schools of cutting and
dressmaking or other women's trades must conform. Besides laying
down rules as to the premises and teaching staffs of such schools,
the regulation provides that they must follow official syllabuses, and
that they must submit to inspection by the directorate. Private
schools must have a licence to open and a licence to operate which
is renewable every three years. A statement, which must be approved
by the Mmistry, giving the total tuition fees, must be included
when application is made for a licence. Eeligious as well as commercial institutes are covered by this regulation. The school or course
timetables are also regulated. Studies may not last less than two
years, divided into 32 weeks of classwork per year with a minimum
1
Under Ministerial Order No. 6,763 of 14 Oct. 1949 a competition was opened
for the preparation of eight official text-books for use in the vocational education
of girls (El Peruano, 19 Nov. 1949).

APPENDIX I : PERU

267

work period of 15 hours per week during the first year and 10 hours
per week during the second. Correspondence courses may be authorised, but the certificates awarded are not officially recognised.
A State fee must be paid for examinations, at which a representative
of the Ministry of Education must invigilate. 1
The national institute of domestic science and practical arts
at Lima, which was originally a private establishment, offers, among
others, a course for the training of teachers for women's industrial colleges and for practical courses in elementary and secondary schools. 2
A small fee is charged for this course, which lasts three years. A new
branch, dealing with cosmetics and beauty treatment, has recently
been added to the teachers' course for girls ; it may therefore be
expected that that subject will be introduced into the colleges in
the next few years.
University

standard.

The main facilities for industrial training for advanced technical
personnel are to be found at the national engineering school and at
various universities.
The national engineering school at Lima, founded in 1872, had
an enrolment of 918 students in 1946. I t admits students who have
completed their secondary schooling after competitive entrance
examinations consisting of medical and psychotechnical tests as
well as written scholastic tests. In order to eliminate the personal
factor, no viva voce tests are given. Selection is rather strict ; only
150 students were admitted in 1948 out of 900 applicants. Study
lasts five years, of which the first is preparatory and is the same
for all students. During the next four years, the students are allocated
according to their preference and ability to one of the following
branches ; architecture and civil engineering, electricity and mechanics, mining and metallurgy, industrial chemistry, petroleum
engineering, and sanitary engineering. There is a considerable difference between the number of students in the various branches : in
1946, 257 followed civil engineering courses, 77 electricity and
mechanics' courses, 76 industrial chemistry, 53 mining and 31 petroleum. Attempts are being made to direct the choice of students to
trades in accordance with the country's needs by means of lectures
given during the first year.
The engineering school maintains a close link with industry and
organises periods of work within industry in order that students
may acquire a practical experience which could never be sufficiently
provided by the use of laboratory equipment. These periods of
practical work are begun in the very first year in the case of mining
engineering in order to make sure that those who choose that branch
are physically able to work at the altitude of the Peruvian mines.
In other branches, such practical work is largely undertaken during
the fifth and sixth years. The school is trying to find opportunities
for such practice abroad, particularly for students specialising in
the petroleum industry. In 1948, the entire graduating class in petro1
Ministerio de Educación Pública, Dirección de Educación Técnica : Reglamento para Academias Particulares de Corte, Confección y Labores (1948).
2
In 1948 there were 85 students in the teachers' section of the institute ;
the maximum number is henceforward limited to 35 under a Presidential Order
of 22 Mar. 1949.

268

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

leum engineering was able to acquire practical experience in the
United States. A teacher always accompanies students who do a
study trip as a group. When students have completed their study
and submitted a thesis they are awarded the degree of engineering
in whatever branch they choose.
In universities, the following are the faculties or sections which
may lead to an industrial career.
The faculty of chemistry in the national senior university of
San Marcos (Lima) was reorganised in 1946 so as to include industrial chemistry in its programme. There are now some 500 students
in the faculty, twice as many as before the change. Technicians
of two kinds are trained : chemists, of whom 56 graduated between
1946 and 1948 ; and chemical engineers, the first class graduating
in 1949. There is also a small geology institute in the same university, with 27 students in 1946.
The national university of La Libertad has an industrial chemistry
section which had 423 students in 1946 doing the four-year course.
The pontifical catholic university, a private institution at Lima,
had an engineering section with 104 students in 1946 ; studies there
last five years.
Study at the university level is co-educational. I n 1946, 2,358
women students were enrolled in Peruvian universities along with
9,197 men students. Although women tend rather to enter the
literary or legal faculties, a certain number also enter science faculties
which may lead them to industrial careers. There were 67 women
in the faculty of science at the university at San Marcos, 27 of whom
studied chemistry ; 18 were enrolled in the industrial chemistry
course at the university of La Libertad. There were eight women
at the national engineering school at Lima, mostly in the architecture
and building section, and one woman in the engineering faculty of
the Catholic university. 1
Commerce.
Secondary standard.
The statistical year-book of Peru for 1946 lists eleven commercial
colleges, six of which were for boys and five for girls. The colleges
were attended by 366 boys and 359 girls, a total of 725 students.
One boys' college and three girls' colleges were situated in Lima
and its suburbs, one of each at Callao, and one of the remainder
in each of five other cities. Most of these colleges only gave a two
years' course, and, judging from the figures of students enrolled in
first and second year courses, it would seem that many were satisfied
with only the first year ; according to the statistical data for 1946
there were 450 students in the first year as against 210 in the second.
In only two colleges, both at Lima, one for girls and one for boys,
did the courses last as long as three or four years. I n 1946,105 diplomas as commercial assistants were awarded and 20 diplomas in
working office machinery.
In 1949-1950 the number of State schools for commercial education was increased and these schools were classified (as the industrial
schools already were) in two classes : colleges (seven establishments)
and institutes (12 establishments).
1

Cf. Anuario Estadístico del Perú, 1946, pp. 564-680.

APPENDIX I : PERU

269

University standard.
At this level, there are institutions in several universities training
persons for administrative or commercial careers ; they are all
co-educational. Some of them also offer secondary standard courses.
The national senior university of San Marcos has a faculty of
economics and commercial science with a section preparing students
for a doctorate in six years and another preparing in four years for
a career as chartered accountant. In 1946, 605 students (536 men ;
69 women) were enrolled in the latter vocational section. 1 The
national university of La Libertad has a commercial section which
also offers a four-year course. There were 109 students (91 men ;
18 women) in that section in 1946, but the decrease in the number
attending during the last two years of the course would seem to
show that many are content with only two years of study. At the
national university of Arequipa, there is an advanced banking and
commercial institute ; studies there last three years. There were
109 students in 1946 (96 men; 13 women), the majority, 74, being
in the first year. The pontifical catholic university of Peru at Lima
has a faculty of economics and commercial science giving five-year
courses ; there were 171 students in 1946 (156 men ; 15 women).
Taking institutes at the advanced level as a whole, the following
degrees were awarded in 1946 : bachelors of economics and commercial science, 12 (11 men ; one woman) ; doctors of economics
and commercial science, five (four men ; one woman) ; chartered
accountants, 68 (57 men ; 11 women).
The university of San Marcos has awarded 132 degrees as
chartered accountants between 1941, when the first accountancy
students finished their studies, and 31 July 1947 ; 53 of those degrees
were awarded in 1947 2, an indication of the increasingly favourable
results in this class of technical study.
Agriculture.
Pre-vocational and elementary standards.
As in the case of industrial training, basic teaching about agriculture is given in the elementary schools so as to help pupils to
choose a career. The agricultural training has, however, been
carried rather further because the rural population must frequently
be content with the vocational training given in the local school.
The rural school has thus adopted direct teaching methods in
the last few years and become an instrument of vocational education. A plan for a far-reaching reorganisation of this education
has been carried into effect with the help of S.C.P.ÏT.E., particularly
in the high plateau districts in Southern Peru which are inhabited
by an Indian population. 3
The system which has been adopted, that of satellite rural
schools (núcleos escolares campesinos), is the result of bilateral
international co-operation. A conference was held at Arequipa
in November 1945 between the Ministers of Education of Bolivia
1

Anuario Estadístico del Perú, op. cit., pp. 564-586.
Information supplied by San Marcos university.
Cf. S.C.P.N.E. publication No. 7 : El Nuevo Educador, with its supplement :
Actividades en la Escuela Rural Peruana : Programa interamericano de núcleos
-escolares campesinos.
2
3

270

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

and Peru, representatives of S.C.P.N.E. also taking part. A
declaration was signed, which was to become the charter of the
movement, laying down the principles and methods of the educational system to be applied in areas on both sides of the frontier.
The following month the educational authorities, including teachers
from the areas in question, of both countries met in Bolivia. An
agreement was signed at Warisata on 24 December 1945.
Although the special methods put into use under this agreement
were specifically intended for areas on both sides of the frontier
with an aboriginal population, the use of that word was carefully
avoided. Indeed the term rural schools was substituted for the
phrases schools for Indians or native schools which had previously
been used during the first attempts to apply the new system.
The educational system instituted under this agreement is
essentially agricultural. The tuition given must be based on the
interests of the rural population. Another fundamental characteristic is that the tuition must not be limited to the classroom but
must be extended to the home. The rural school must be a school
for all who live in the country, be they children, young persons
or adults of either sex. The main aims of the programme are to
develop a love for country life, to ensure the mental and physical
wellbeing of those receiving the education, to spread gradually
the knowledge of Spanish, beginning the instruction in the pupil's
mother tongue, to give students an introduction to agricultural
and stockbreeding practice and then to give them a fuller knowledge of such work.
The method used is to proportion the teaching given to the
mental abilities of the students, to make the work of the school
fit in with the features of social life in the area, to base education
on real life and to develop apprenticeship on functional lines.
For administrative purposes, it was decided to organise rural
schools in groups under one central school ; in Peru, this was
brought about by a Decree of 25 April 1946.
Since the staff was lacking to put the scheme into effect, the
first step taken was to start a course for supervisors of satellite
schools. The course opened on 8 July 1946 in a farm school at
Puno belonging to the Salesian Order, and lasted for six months.
I t was attended by 56 persons, 20 Peruvians, and 7 Bolivians
specialising in agriculture and stockbreeding, and 20 Peruvians
and 9 Bolivians specialising in public health. Another course,
lasting two months, was held in October-November 1946 to train
teachers how to teach reading and writing in Spanish to persons who
can only speak the local language. That course was followed by
20 persons. These newly trained teachers formed the nucleus of
the teaching staff in the schools which were opened shortly afterwards. At the end of 1948 there were 16 school groups in Peru.
Bach central school directed between 16 and 30 subsidiary schools,
of which there were altogether 420 with approximately 35,000 students. Each central school had a minimum staff consisting of the
school director, an agricultural supervisor, a health and sanitation
supervisor and a teacher of reading and writing. These persons
visited all the subsidiary schools in turn. The agricultural supervisor draws up farming and breeding projects to be carried out
in the school gardens and farms. The produce of the school farm
serves both to improve the students' diet and to prove to them
the efficiency of modern farming and stockbreeding methods.

APPENDIX I : PEEtr

271

The system is still in its early stages in Peru, although Bolivia has
a rather longer experience, and the rural schools in large measure
still lack premises and equipment. One of the points of the programme is to urge the local population to co-operate in improving
the schools. Another is to make the influence of the school reach
as far as the family. Thus a reciprocal flow of services should
start, prompted and maintained by the school committees which
are being organised for each rural school.
The scheme has been launched in the Lake Titicaca region and
in the Urubamba Valley ; the extension of the programme into
other areas is being studied, especially for the so-called forest area
across the Andes where similar demographic conditions are found.
Other training courses for the teaching staff are also being planned.
Secondary standard.
Vocational agricultural education proper is given in the " agriculture and stockbreeding colleges " and " institutes " which come
under the agriculture and stockbreeding section of the directorate
of technical education in the Ministry of Education. The work
done in those colleges and institutes as a whole constitutes secondary
education in this field. I t is divided into two phases totalling five
years, two years being spent in the college phase and three in the
institute phase. The colleges admit students who have finished
their six years in elementary schools, while the institutes take in
those who have completed the first phase in one of the colleges
within their area.
According to information given to the I.L.O. Mission by the
directorate of technical education, there were 21 colleges with 580
students in 1948. Most of these were quite small, one having only 10
students. There were five institutes with 119 students. One of the
colleges was given institute status in 1949. Also, some colleges were
converted into rural schools, while three other schools were included
among the agricultural colleges ; those colleges, which had 95 students
in 1948, had previously been known as agro-industrial colleges.
They provided training in the derivative industries of agriculture
but agricultural study predominates. A new classification which
appeared in Presidential Order ~No. 164 of 14 February 1949 listed
at the time 14 agriculture and stockbreeding colleges in 11 departments and six institutes in five departments. 1 Taking into consideration both those students finishing their college study in 1948
and those starting their first year at institutes, the agriculture and
stockbreeding section of the directorate of technical education
estimated that the number of students in institutes at the beginning
of the scholastic year 1949 would amount to over 500.
The plan of study and the syllabuses in secondary agricultural
education were revised in March 1949 with a view to making such
vocational training essentially practical. 2
1
In virtue of later reclassifications made in agricultural educational establishments, the number of agricultural colleges and institutes amounted to 11 and
seven respectively in 1950. The total number of registered students exceeded
one thousand.
2
Cf. Ministerio de Educación Pública : Fundamentada», del Nuevo Plan de
Estudios y Programas 'para la Educación Secundaria Técnica Agropecuaria (Lima,
21 Mar. 1949).

272

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The object of the first phase course, which lasts two years and
is done in the colleges, is to train agricultural supervisors who may
be made responsible on farms for supervising the execution of
orders given by agricultural experts. The training given during this
phase may also produce farmers capable of running their own
farms. The curriculum includes a fairly large proportion of general
subjects which are the same as those taught in secondary schools,
for there is a need to complete basic education at this level. Technical courses must be very practical ; purely theoretical instruction
which does not seem to be of any direct use to agricultural supervisors has been eliminated.
An analysis of the curriculum for these two years shows that,
during both years, 17 of the 39 hours of work per week are devoted
to general educational subjects (Spanish, geography, history, moral
and religious education, arithmetic, physical training and premilitary training), two hours are given to science connected with
agriculture (botany in the first year and zoology in the second)
and 20 hours of technical training in agriculture and stockbreeding.
The second (or institute) phase serves to train agricultural
technicians, and lasts three years. Courses common to both this
training and general secondary education still take up a considerable proportion of the curriculum, 17 to 19 hours per week. Technical courses and practical work in agriculture and stockbreeding
take 19, 20 or 22 hours per week according to whether the student
is in his first, second or third year. Training is given in the main
branches of the stockbreeding and farming of the country ; cotton,
wheat, sugar cane, maize, rice, potatoes, cocoa, oil-producing
plants and vines. Other courses deal with derivative industries
such as canning and oenology, with farm accounting and banking,
with co-operative agricultural societies, and with the administration of arable and stock farms.
I t is widely admitted that there is still a serious problem of
providing these schools with sufficient modern equipment so that
the practical work may really apply the principles learnt. The
need for acquiring experience after leaving school is officially recognised by the fact that the diplomas for work done in colleges (capataces agrícolas) and in institutes (técnicos agrícolas) are not awarded
immediately on conclusion of the course, but only after the students
have submitted proof that they have completed a probationary
period of at least eight months either in a private agricultural undertaking or in one of the field departments of the Ministry of Agriculture. The probationary period completing study as a technician
is more frequently done in one of those departments than on private
farms. According to Eesolution No. 1947 of 31 July 1948 an agricultural supervisor ranks, in the professional scale drawn up in
1945, as a second class assistant while an agricultural technician
ranks as first class assistant.
University

standard.

There are at present two training institutions for agricultural
and stockbreeding at the university level. The national agriculture
and veterinary surgery school, founded in 1902, was the first school
of this kind ; it was later broken up into two separate schools, one
teaching agricultural subjects and the other veterinary surgery.
The national agricultural school continues to operate, training agri-

APPENDIX I : PERU

273

cultural experts in five years. Veterinary surgery was taught
during an interim period in a military school but has now been set
up as a separate faculty in the national senior university of San
Marcos (Lima).
The faculty of veterinary surgery, which is situated on the
outskirts of Lima, had 110 students in 1949. Since 1948, a new
plan, approved in a Decree of October 1947, has been put into
effect under which teaching is divided into two phases. 1 The first
phase is completed in the university college where the rather general
teaching is intended to make up for any gaps in basic education in
order to provide the student with the necessary fundamental knowledge on which technical education must be based. In addition to
literary subjects the curriculum includes the principles of biology,
zoology, general botany, physics and chemistry. The second phase,
lasting five years, leads to the degree of veterinary surgeon and
gives its holders the right to practise. The faculty also awards a
doctorate after two further years of study, but that degree is academic rather than professional. The second phase consists of four
years of veterinary study within the faculty and one year of practical
probationary work which must be done in various parts of the
country. The curriculum includes classes of theory for 11, 16 or
17 hours per week according to the year and practical exercise in
veterinary surgery for 23 to 26 hours. During the probationary
period outside the university, the students are divided into six
groups which go in turn to différent areas and study centres. This
probationary work is done under the supervision of the regional
veterinary surgery officers of the Ministry of Agriculture, making
use of the various facilities provided by the Ministry, in the experimental station at Tingo María, where the Co-operative PeruvianAmerican Service works, in the veterinary assistants department,
in the diagnosis laboratory, or even in the national cold storage
plant. I t is hoped that through this practical work the students
will acquire direct knowledge of the health problems of stockbreeding which arise in the various parts of the country. Arrangements
have also been made for students in their third or fourth years to
work during the holidays on private farms in the coastal area, the
mountain area, or the forest area east of the Andes. The faculty
pays their travel expenses while the farms pay for their upkeep.
Approximately 10 degrees in veterinary surgery were granted
yearly before the school's reorganisation. In 1947,12 were awarded,
and 17 in 1948. Considering the limited premises and equipment,
the school is working at full capacity. I t is felt by those concerned
that the country needs a greater number of trained veterinary
surgeons.
In-Plant

Training

The authorities have so far not organised in-plant apprenticeship.
There are no regulations on the subject, and consequently the
training systems which have been put into effect by undertakings,
whether for the training of skilled or semi-skilled labour, have been
organised separately according to the individual methods of each
undertaking.
1
Universidad Mayor de San Marcos : Revista de la Facultad de Medicina veterinaria, Vol. I l l , No. 1, May-June 1948.

274

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

The visits which the I.L.O. Mission made to some undertakings frequently showed that the personnel was trained on the job, most
usually by practice only without any systematic arrangements by
which the required qualifications for each operation could be acquired
within a given time. However in some cases methodical training
systems have been introduced. A few of these are outlined below
as examples of the various types.
The most fully developed system is that introduced by the
International Petroleum Company Limited. The central office
at Lima has a training department ; it does not provide the technical
instruction itself, but draws up plans, makes the necessary arrangements, and may even prepare manuals and text-books. With the
exception of certain courses for the staff of the central office, the
courses are given on the company's premises at the oilfields of
Tamara.
Various programmes have been put into effect.1 The most
important is one for the training of high grade staff. Known as the
national replacement plan, it has been in operation since 1945,
training young Peruvian engineers to take over the positions at
present held by foreign engineers as they retire or are promoted.
When the company began to operate in 1945, only 5 per cent, of
the higher technical staff was Peruvian. The aim is to increase
that percentage to 65 by 1953 ; in 1949, the plan was 6 per cent.
ahead of expectations.
The first step in applying this scheme is to offer engineering
students at the national engineering school or at Peruvian universities the opportunity to work with the company for six weeks
during the holidays ; this gives the company a chance to gauge
their ability and aptitudes. Those who are considered capable are
later helped by the company to specialise in the petroleum industry.
For this, the company awards four kinds of grants, more or less
completely meeting the expenses of study and maintenance ; t h e
highest grant covers a year's study in the United States. On taking
his degree, the young engineer is engaged for a practical training
period of one year during which he does manual work in the oilfields
as a member of a team. Later, he is sent as an assistant in a supervisory position in various sections so that he may be ready to take
the place of a foreign engineer when a post becomes vacant.
Short-time upgrading courses are also organised by the company
for personnel already in their employment ; these are described in
the section on the training of adult workers.
Another typical programme, since it is more or less international,
is that adopted by the Panagra Aviation Company. That company
trains mechanics in its maintenance shops at Lima for work in
its workshops in Peru and in other countries on the same airline,
especially Chile and Ecuador. The programme includes a six weeks'
course for beginners as well as a course for staff already in
employment.
Several more or less systematic training schemes have been put
into effect under foreign technicians during the settling-in periods
of companies introducing new industries into the country, for
instance rubber, chemical products, etc. Once the companies are
properly under way they confine themselves to training their new
recruits on the job.
Information supplied b y the International Petroleum Company Limited.

APPENDIX I : PERU

275

Aid for Technical Study
At the secondary level, State technical education is completely
free. In day schools, students are almost always provided with a
mid-day meal. I n boarding technical schools, the board is usually
free x and is a sort of grant awarded on the results of a competitive
examination ; that grant may be kept or lost according to the results
of the yearly examinations.
The principal polytechnic institute, where all the students have
grants is under military discipline and the years spent there count
as compulsory military service, thus avoiding any loss of time
between leaving school and entering employment.
I n order to encourage adults to follow the free evening courses
in technical schools, it is planned to subsidise them, but it has
not yet been possible to earmark the necessary funds for that
purpose.
Students in technical industrial schools do have a chance to
make small earnings. Both the colleges and the institutes are
encouraged by the Government to organise their workshops on a
productive footing, not only to increase the practical knowledge
of the students by giving them training in work methods, but
also to lessen the burden of those schools on the State. The productive work must first be directed to meeting State requirements,
but private orders may also be taken, in which case 50 per cent.
of the profits remain in the school, 25 per cent, being shared among
the students who took part in the work. Bealising that the students
have little time during the school year in which to undertake productive work, the headmaster of the principal polytechnic institute
stated his intention of opening the school's workshops during the
holidays so that the students might not only increase their experience
but also make a small profit.
A limited number of men and women students from industrial
institutes have received foreign grants during the last few years
to continue their training abroad. In 1948, seven students, both
men and women, held grants in the United States under which they
acquired specialised experience in industry or in running industrial
schools, or under which they might pursue study in domestic economy. One grant for a short course in beauty treatment was
awarded by Chile to a Peruvian woman.
At the university level, a small fee is charged, although the
students' payments by no means cover the cost of their education. 2
Exemptions are allowed in some cases where the poverty or merit
of the students warrant them.
Universities generally do not have sufficient funds to be able
to offer their students maintenance grants. However, the Government, in order to encourage advanced agricultural study, decided
in Presidential Order No. 185 of 10 April 1949 to apportion monthly
totals of 3,000 soles and 1,200 soles respectively from the general
budget to the national agriculture school and to the faculty of
1
Industrial colleges for girls are, however, authorised to admit a small number
of paying boarders in addition to girls holding grants.
2
At the national engineering school students pay approximately 350 soles per
year. At the national senior university of San Marcos, the enrolment fee in technical
faculties varies between 70 and 100 soles, and the examination fees are approximately of the same amount.

276

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

veterinary surgery, in order to start 20 maintenance grants of
150 soles per month in the former school and eight similar grants
in the latter.
Students in advanced technical schools, may also take advantage
of certain other kinds of material opportunities. Several university
faculties try to enable their students to do practical work within
industry, particularly when they are preparing theses. As stated
above, the national engineering school and the faculty of veterinary
surgery arrange practical work periods for their students during
the holidays, and in the case of veterinary students this is
so arranged as to relieve them of the expense of maintaining themselves. Also, the national engineering school organises study trips
during vacations, abroad when possible. For that purpose, the
school's annual budget includes a credit amounting to approximately
10,000 soles for each section, with the result that the amount paid
to each student to cover a part of his travel expenses varies according to the number receiving such grants. The school also helps
its students to obtain the aid offered by foreign Governments.
I n one case, for instance, a study trip to Brazil was made possible
by the Brazilian Government sending a military aeroplane to transport the students. As a result of measures to enable engineering
students to take advantage of study grants abroad, 25 such grants
were awarded in 1948. Most of these were awarded by the United
States Government, but four or five were awarded by Prance and
some by Spain. Others were given by industrial undertakings.
The grants awarded by the International Petroleum Company under
its technical training scheme have already been mentioned. I n
1948, the Bemberg Company of Switzerland made a grant to a
Peruvian student.
Four Peruvian students also received grants from the United
States for agricultural study in 1947 and 1948.
TRAINING AND EETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Training and Upgrading Courses
Industrial

Training.

Official schools.
Both boys' and girls' industrial colleges and institutes run training and upgrading courses for adults. The I.L.O. Mission was
unable to obtain precise data on the organisation and attendance
of those courses in the country as a whole and therefore had to be
satisfied with the partial information supplied by the schools which
it could visit. 1
The two official industrial schools at Lima, the national institute
for industrial education and the principal polytechnic institute,
may be cited as examples of establishments providing such facilities
for adult workers. The first has 100 vacancies in its evening courses
for adults, and admits employed workers who have completed elementary schooling or its equivalent. Two-hour classes are given
five times a week comprising basic tuition in mathematics and
1

Information collected by the Pan American Union in 1950 shows that industrial courses for adult workers were then attended by 244 men and 224 women.

APPENDIX I : PERU

277

mechanical drawing and practical workshop exercises in carpentry,
mechanics and electricity.
The principal polytechnic institute offers two kinds of courses
for adults. The first, given in the late hours of the afternoon, are
called industrial training courses because their special purpose is
to train young persons for a trade, although they may also serve
as upgrading courses for workers who are already in employment
and are able to attend at that hour of the day. In 1948, those
courses were followed by 126 students, 71 of whom were awarded
certificates of competence. Most courses dealt with semi-artistic
occupations and were largely co-educational, for instance courses
in ceramics, art leather work and decorative drawing. Courses
of the second type are given at night and are called workers' upgrading courses. They deal with industrial trades such as mechanics,
electricity, radio, metal forging and smelting. I n 1948, 137 students
followed these courses.
The 1947 regulations on women's industrial colleges provide
for the organisation of practical upgrading or qualifying courses
for female workers and apprentices in each school. The schools
visited by the I.L.O. Mission generally had such courses, some
of them very well attended. The adult courses given at the institute
of domestic science were attended by no fewer than 285 persons
in 1948. The timetable of the courses varies according to the
premises available. The regulations state that the courses for
women may be given during the day provided they do not interfere
with those for girls. The regulations also provide that classes shall
be given for four hours a day, but special arrangements are made
for each course according to circumstances. These courses obviously
interest two types of people, women wanting to train for a trade and
housewives wanting to acquire some training in domestic pursuits.
Courses at two levels are provided for in the regulations. The
more elementary courses, called A courses, are intended for illiterates
or for persons who attended elementary school for less than three
years, and train efficient workers. The B courses are intended for
persons who attended elementary school for at least three years,
and the technical education provided is more thorough. However,
the total length of the courses is not definitely fixed, each student
being free to attend for as long as is necessary to acquire the skill
she has in view.
Half the curriculum is devoted to technical courses and the other
half to general education. Pupils must devote five hours a week
to general education as a condition of attending technical courses.
In the case of illiterates, reading and writing are the primary aim
of the tuition provided during the general education period. However,
the regulations provide for a three-year syllabus in subjects of
general education, among which is included, in all three years, a
course in domestic arts and science (health, child welfare, dietetics,
cooking and sewing).
The same method is applied in teaching technical subjects as
in the courses for young persons, namely drawing up a plan of the
work and then carrying out the plan within a given time.
A certificate is awarded at the end of the A course. B courses
are considered to be equivalent to those given in industrial colleges
and the certificate awarded allows its holder to attend women's
industrial institutes and to train as a forewoman or to enrol in an
institute with a view to obtaining the certificate of skilled worker.

278

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

Since the programme of courses for adults is still under consideration,
these advanced courses are given in few schools at the moment.
The final section in the regulations on women's industrial colleges brings out one of the organisational problems that arise,
namely irregular attendance. Teachers are required to give the
course even if only one student attends.
The official organisations concerned with the development of
domestic handicrafts, particularly a special department within the
Ministry of Public Works and the domestic handicrafts guild, which
is under the unemployment benefits board, also offer adult women
an opportunity of learning various handicrafts in their work centres,
including such handicrafts as hand-weaving, toymaking and dressmaking ; they later provide them with opportunities to work in
those trades. Centres for this purpose have been set up at Lima
and its surroundings, including Callao.
In addition to the facilities offered to adult workers in official
institutions, there are also those provided by private undertakings
for their own personnel. For example, the technical training school
run by the Panagra Aviation Company at Lima for the workshop
staff of its western airline, organises various types of training
schemes. An instructors' training scheme is at the basis of the
whole system. This is not run in Peru, but in the United States,
to which sufficiently qualified mechanics are sent to obtain the
civil aeronautics administration licence and to train as instructors.
Those instructors then give courses lasting six weeks for the personnel in Lima ; 10 trainees being placed under one instructor.
They are either beginners' or upgrading courses. The main purpose
of the latter is to facilitate the promotion of the staff, since technical
tests must be passed for all promotion. Both theoretical and
practical instruction is given. Work in the theoretical classes is
assisted by such visual aids as films borrowed from the U.S. Bureau
of Education. The fact that the captions are in English while the
courses are given in Spanish is said to raise no great difficulty.
Another example may be drawn from the training scheme of the
International Petroleum. Company which, in addition to its training
programme for young engineers also offers upgrading courses of
various kinds for staff already in employment ; according to the
rules governing promotion, ability is the primary consideration,
seniority only counting when two candidates are equally able.
In the technical departments (drilling, oil-production and refining), classes of two hours a day twice a week were started in 1948
and were fully in operation in 1949 ; 495, 422 and 215 workers followed
the courses in the three sections respectively. Other short technical
courses are intended for the staff of various subsidiary services ;
for instance courses in lubrification, lasting six hours, were organised
by teams and were followed by 800 persons in 1948. Another sixhour course was given to truck drivers and was followed by 150 persons. A 12-hour course, followed by 300 persons, dealt with pump
maintenance. A six-hour course, attended by 19 persons, was
intended for telephone operators. A successful measure was the
award of efficiency prizes in some of these courses, and particularly
in the truck drivers' course, as an added incentive. Considerable
use is made of visual aid methods, especially in courses for manual
workers who have little general education. Other courses are
intended to train the staff at the central office at Lima and at the
oüfield installations.

APPENDIX I : PERU

279

Commerce.
The syllabuses for commercial secondary education given either
in the evening (cursos vespertinos) or at night (cursos nocturnos)
in official and private schools were laid down in Presidential Order
No. 472 of 12 April 1950 which followed on the Decree of 10 November 1949 mentioned above. Those courses last a total of six years
divided into two three-year phases, each with 24 hours of work
per week. 1
Agriculture.
Like the industrial schools, agricultural schools play a part in
adult education, mainly because of their influence on and close
contact with the rural population, as was pointed out when the
organisation of those schools was described earlier. The part played
"by the rural primary schools is particularly important, especially
when the schools are organised in groups in areas with an Indian
population. Indeed, the educational influence of the central school
and its satellite schools on the local adult population is considered
as important as the education of the children. Another feature of
adult education is the technical assistance to farmers in the area
beyond the Andes provided by the experimental station at Tingo
María and by the other organisations of the Co-operative InterAmerican Pood Production Service (S.C.I.P.A.) as well as by the
extension services and veterinary services of the Ministry of Agriculture, which S.C.I.P.A. assists.
Training of Instructors and Supervisors.
As was said with reference to the training of juveniles, the
principal polytechnic institute has a training section for the staff
of technical schools and, more particularly, for practical workshop
instructors. Reference has already been made to courses held in
1948 and 1949 to train instructors in sanitary plumbing and automobile mechanics. Twelve instructors were trained during the
former course. For the technical staff of women's industrial colleges
there is a teachers' school in the national institute of domestic
science. In the Presidential Order of 22 March 1949, it was laid
down that the maximum number of women students to be trained
yearly at the technical teachers' course was to be 35.
So far it has only been possible to train a part of the staff of
the technical schools in this way. The problem of improving the
technical and teaching ability of teachers in all types of technical
schools is a serious one which the directorate of technical education
has tried, with the help of S.C.P.N.E., to solve in the three years
1946-1948 by running short summer courses at the principal polytechnic institute for teachers who already hold appointments. The
courses lasted about six weeks each and covered a wide variety
of industrial and agricultural subjects. Principals, their assistants
and foremen from all industrial, agricultural, handicrafts and
domestic training institutions were urged to attend ; some 500 did
1

El Peruano, 19 May 1950. According to information collected by the Pan
American Union these courses were attended by 150 persons in 1950.

280

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

so in 1946 and 205 in 1948. 1 They were organised with the dual
purpose, first, of providing the staff of schools and those controlling
technical education with an opportunity to meet and to exchange
views, particularly in order to familiarise the staff with the
Government's plans for reorganisation, and secondly of trainingpractical instructors in modern teaching methods. They are
organised in sections for principals, instructors in mechanics,
carpentry and electricity, instructors in women's trades (dressmaking, toy making, fine linen work, embroidery, etc.), instructors in domestic science and various handicrafts such as braiding
and plaiting, hand loom weaving, pottery, and wood, silver and
leather work, and practical agriculture instructors. The courses
in agriculture were given at the national agricultural school at
La Molina with the co-operation of S.C.I.P.A. experts from the
Ministry of Agriculture, and the staff of the experimental station
at Tingo Maria.
There were plans for starting a short finishing course at the
end of 1949 for newly trained instructors in sanitary plumbing.
The ability acquired in finishing or upgrading courses for
instructors helps the trainee to get promotion in technical schools.
Under a Decree of 22 March 1949 which standardised promotion
regulations for technical teaching staff in boys' and girls' schools,
three factors are to be considered for promotion : (1) minimum
length of service, (2) personal merit, and (3) ability. In establishing
merit, consideration is given to the marks obtained in the teachers'
upgrading or finishing courses run by the directorate of technical
education. The test of ability consists of a theoretical and practical
exhibition in the candidate's subject, for which the ability he has
acquired in the finishing or upgrading courses will certainly be
of use.
In some cases, facilities for finishing study abroad have been
made available to the staff of technical schools. In 1948, a fashion
teacher went to Argentina to undertake such work and received
her full salary while she was away.
Some private undertakings have made arrangements to train
instructors for their employees. These arrangements have been
described earlier with reference to in-plant training.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Up to 1949, the Government of Peru had not attempted to
organise the employment market. There was no public employment
service. Workers were recruited freely on a private basis, to such
an extent indeed that the over-all resources and requirements of
the employment market were little known. The usefulness of some
control is beginning to be realised, and the Government has recently
decided to undertake, with the technical assistance of an I.L.O.
expert, the necessary initial study leading to the organisation of
an official employment service.
1
Cf. Inter-American Educational Foundation : " Escuela de Verano para
Directores y Maestros ", in El Nuevo Educador (special edition) ; and Revista
del Politécnico del Perú, Dec. 1948, pp. 54-55.

APPENDIX I : PERU

281

Vocational Guidance
Under the conditions which prevailed so far, it was difficult
to undertake any rationalised and efficient vocational guidance
for workers as a whole. However, the authorities have been concerned with the problem for several years, and various measures
have been taken to try to provide some guidance for at least a
part of the country's youth.
One of these measures was the setting up in 1942 of the national
psycho-pedagogical institute under the Ministry of Education, which
has six departments, one being the department of vocational guidance. 1 That department has been instructed—(1) to make enquiries
with a view to solving the concrete educational problems that are
linked to vocational guidance ; (2) to study the best methods for
the guidance of youth ; (3) to organise and run publicity for vocational guidance both within and outside the schools, and to train
the specialist staff for the vocational guidance offices to be set up
in the country ; (4) to set up the best possible model guidance
laboratory at Lima ; (5) to study the characteristic features of the
occupational structure of the country and to set up a consulting
office for vocational guidance.
Those five points form a plan which has not yet been brought
completely into effect. However, in seven years of experiment,
the institute has acquired valuable experience in vocational guidance work. I t has been concerned primarily with the question of
the methods to be used ; it has also acquired the necessary basic
information on the general situation in Peru by psychological and
psycho-technical study in the schools, particularly in secondary
schools. I t has also trained a certain number of students in the
universities and teachers' colleges in the use of intelligence and
psycho-technical tests, thus initiating the younger generation of
teachers in the use of these methods. A bulletin is published by
the institute giving t h e results of its work. The institute has even
made some attempt at collective guidance by studying the resources
and requirements of some of the occupations, since it could not
undertake that type of work for manual trades, lacking, as it did,
the necessary information for such study.
Another measure taken was the introduction of psycho-technical
tests in the entrance examinations for several secondary technical
schools (as a rule such tests should be introduced in all these schools),
and, in some cases, even for more advanced schools, as for instance
the national engineering school. The methods have been described
in an earlier section of this report.
I t seems that psycho-technical tests are being applied more and
more in State-owned or private undertakings. Most of the undertakings visited by the I.L.O. Mission, where some technical skill
was required, had instituted such tests either as selective examinations when hiring new staff, or in order to ensure that the best use
was made of staff already in employment. In several schools and
undertakings, experienced American or German experts were
employed to set the tests. Some psycho-technical laboratories,
including that of the national aircraft works, were particularly
well-equipped.
1
Cf. Boletín del Instituto Psicopedagógico Nacional, Vol. IV, 1945, No. 1,
pp. 123-135.

282

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The introduction of pre-vocational education in elementary and
secondary schools has helped pupils to become interested in the
choice of a career. Although students have some choice between
the various practical subjects taught in each school, they are, under
the curriculum, taught the essentials of a number of different processes and trades, and the scope of their future choice of a trade is
thereby widened. Obviously, the number of different subjects that
can be taught in each school is limited by practical difficulties such
as the problem of providing the necessary tools and equipment.
However, the fact that the number of applicants for vacancies in
vocational schools is increasing more rapidly than the capacity of
these schools would seem to indicate that this introduction to
various manual trades has made the younger generation in Peru
more interested in technical training.
A general vocational guidance measure was introduced into all
elementary schools for the first time at the end of the scholastic
year 1949. A Presidential Order of 14 September 1949 states that,
starting in that year, guidance tests will be given in November, the
end of the school year in Peru, to sixth grade pupils who are about
to finish their elementary schooling. The psycho-pedagogical institute was made responsible for preparing those tests. The preamble
of the Presidential Order states that it was issued as a part of the
Government's campaign to make children and parents acquainted
with the prospects offered by secondary technical education. The
guidance tests are intended to throw light on the technical ability
of school children so that the children may be directed to the industrial, commercial or agricultural training schools which are most
suitable, instead of going on to ordinary secondary schools, as they
usually do.
Vocational guidance lectures are now being given in some schools,
both general and technical, in order to awaken the pupils' interest
in the various occupations in which technical workers are most
needed. For instance, fairly general lectures of this type are given
at the secondary military college for students in their last year,
as well as at the national engineering school, where the purpose
of the lectures is to help first-year students to decide what to specialise in during their second year.
Employment

Services

Since there is no public employment service, the technical schools
do their best to ensure that students who are finishing their vocational training will find employment. As has been stated, several
schools arrange periods of practical work for their students who thus
have an opportunity to display their ability to employers who might
hire them. Some schools, and particularly the principal polytechnic
institute at Lima, also send to a certain number of undertakings
with which they correspond regularly a list of students who are
about to finish their training, the names being grouped according
to the trade studied. I n view of Peruvian industry's pressing need
for manpower, there is apparently no great difficulty in finding
employment for students who have finished their training.

URUGUAY
The organisation of vocational training is comparatively recent
in Uruguay as compared with neighbouring countries. An outstanding feature is the fact that it began at the top, the first steps
in this direction having been the opening of a faculty of engineering (j'acuidad de ingeniería) and of a faculty of architecture (facuidad
de arquitectura).
I t was not until 1916 that the first official
decision was taken to train skilled manual workers. An Act of
16 July 1916 set up a higher council of industrial education together
with a system of national inspection. One of the first vocational
training institutions, the school of arts and crafts (escuela de artes
y oficios), had come to be used as a reformatory ; and it would
seem that, in its early stages, vocational training suffered to some
extent from the associations thus established between vocational
industrial training and moral re-education, with their corollary in
the shape of a prejudice on the part of public opinion against
vocational manual training as a whole.
Nevertheless, thanks to the tenacious efforts of some enlightened
people who realised that the economic development of the country
depended on the sound training of its workers, the main lines of a
system placing the vocational institutions at the service of the
national economy rapidly took shape. An Act of 9 May 1919
reorganised the council of industrial education, adding to its members a representative of the chamber of industries. Prom then
onwards a variety of institutions were set up, including in 1922
a school of mechanics and electricity and in 1927 a school of dairy
farming, which established a direct Hnk between vocational training
on the one hand and the principal producing industry of the
country, namely cattle-raising, on the other. The school of
dairy farming is to be the prototype of a number of vocational
schools to be set up in the provinces, where the population has
direct contacts with the processes of primary production. The
idea of these agricultural-industrial schools is to link up training
in the secondary industries with instruction in the best methods
of obtaining good basic products.
The same conception of vocational training is reflected in the
machinery of its administration. After a period of initial experiment with different forms, in the course of which a general
directorate of industrial education was set up, the administration
of vocational training was unified in its present form in 1942 in
the university of labour (universidad del trabajo).
The university of labour, which was given the status of an
autonomous organisation by a Presidential Decree of 3 February
1943, is responsible for all forms of vocational training of a practical
character. Its very name is significant of the intention to place
training for manual labour on the same social footing as training for
intellectual professions. The same psychological effect may be
obtained by placing under the same administrative authority, and
often even under the same roof, industrial training shops and art

284

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

studios, and by the organisation of courses of industrial and agricultural technology side by side with courses of administrative and
commercial practice. When the university of labour was set up,
all industrial schools, agricultural schools, schools of rural handicrafts and domestic economy, together with commercial schools and
courses and schools of applied art were placed under its authority.
The university is responsible for organising in all its institutions the
training of young persons and supplementary courses and schools for
workers. I t is further responsible for technical and cultural teaching
calculated to raise the intellectual level of the worker. The charter
constituting the university contains in addition provisions (Article 12
(f)) for enquiries into the structure and operation of the national
economy with a view (Article 12 (e)) to fostering improvements in
existing, and encouraging the development of new, industries. Another
function of the university (Article 5 (k)) is vocational guidance,
inasmuch as the university is required as far as possible to test the
technical ability of its students. Such, at any rate, is the programme,
which has not, as yet, been fully applied.
TRAINING OP JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
The main lines of the administrative organisation are the same
for all the subjects taught.
The head of the university of labour is known as the directorgeneral, and is assisted by a council of ten members. The council
replaces the former council of technical education, and its wider
membership reflects the broader activities of the new organisation.
I n addition to representatives of its own teaching staff and of the
various educational bodies with which the university has to work,
the membership of the council includes a representative of the
Chamber of Industries, a representative appointed jointly by the
rural federation and the rural association, a representative of the
national commission for the promotion of rural activities, and p,
representative of the national commission of the fine arts.
It
further includes two members appointed by the Government, who
are to be chosen " from persons known for their acquaintance with
industrial questions ". The council has power to set up, for the various
schools or branches of education, committees consisting of representatives of the various bodies or organisations connected with
the industries in question. The purpose of these committees is
to stimulate, advise and inform the schools.
Owing to the unitary character of training in Uruguay, it is
impossible to make an exact analysis by branches of the existing
facilities for training juveniles. The information placed at the
disposal of the I.L.O. Mission by the university of labour shows
primarily the geographical distribution of the existing institutions,
and only partially their distribution between the different branches
of economic activity. 1
1

In addition to the vocational schools of the university of labour there
are the different vocational centres, which the children's council maintains in
order to provide vocational training for young people of either sex who are in
special need of social protection ; 17 homes of this kind, urban and rural, were
educating in 1949 a total of 610 boys and 238 girls.

APPENDIX I : URUGUAY

285

I n the Capital there are eight schools of vocational training,
six of which are specialised, viz. a school of mechanics and electricity, a school of building industries, a school of naval industries,
a school of plastic arts, a school of printing trades, and a school
of commerce. The two non-specialised schools are an industrial
school dealing with different forms of technical training and a
school of feminine industries, which gives instruction in the specifically feminine arts, although as a rule the other schools are all
open to women. For instance, there are many women attending
the courses for designers at the school of building industries and
the courses of the school of commerce.
In 1949 the number of pupils in all these eight schools was
4,515 (male and female).
The data available with regard to the institutions in the interior
of the country fall under two headings—the industrial schools
(including the courses of feminine arts and the courses of commerce)
and the agrarian schools. I n 1949 the number of schools in the
interior classified as industrial (escuelas industriales del Interior)
was 22 with eight courses in addition and four domestic economy
schools (escuelas de hogar), and the number of their pupils was
1,960 (male and female). The number of agrarian schools was 13
with a total of 390 pupils. Six other agrarian schools were in
process of organisation.
I t appears, however, from information published in recent years
about the activities of the university of labour 1 , giving details of
the organisation of the work in the various schools, that the
distinction between the two groups is not based on an absolute
separation of functions. Some of the schools classified as industrial
on the list given to the I.L.O. Mission in 1949 include an agricultural section, while the schools classified as agricultural give
courses resembling to some extent those given by the industrial schools,
e.g., on technical subjects for boys such as carpentry and mechanics
or on feminine industries such as dressmaking, linen work, weaving,
cookery and food preserving. These mixed agricultural-industrial
schools are found in connection with the processing of certain
rural products, in which they specialise, e.g., dairying (Colonia
Suiza), wine (Las Piedras), forestry (Maldonado), citric and other
fruits (Salto Èivera and Melón), but also in connection with agricultural training in general in application of the idea that agricultural progress, like industrial progress, must be based on the
use of mechanical and technical processes.
One of the interesting features of training for women in Uruguay
is the effort which is being made to spread among the rural population a knowledge of domestic economy and of rural handicrafts,
with a view to improved use of the products of the soil, whether
vegetable or animal. Almost all the agricultural schools have
courses of domestic economy.
1
José F . ARIAS : Una nueva enseñanza en marcha. Leyes — Reglamentos —
Programas — Antecedentes — Informaciones (Montevideo, Feb., 1943).
Nueva Enseñanza y Organización en Marcha. Memorias de la Dirección General,
Inspecciones, Escuelas, Secciones, Cursos, Asociaciones y Centros de la Universidad
del Trabajo del Uruguay correspondientes a 1945 (Montevideo, Apr. 1946).
Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay, Exposición Síntesis : Voluntad, Vol. V I I I ,
No. 8 (Montevideo, Nov. 1947).

286

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

I t appears, however, from the documents cited, as also from
the very small number of pupils shown in the official statistics for
1949, that the vocational schools in the provinces, whether agricultural or industrial, had been somewhat seriously hindered in
their development by the difficulty of procuring an adequate teaching staff or proper materials and tools. There are exceptions in
the case of some of these provincial institutions, e.g., the industrial
school at Paysandu and the agricultural-industrial school at Eocha.
I n smaller schools these defects appear to have led to a falling-off
in the number of pupils even in the course of the scholastic year.
Elementary and Secondary Standards.
The university of labour is still in process of transformation.
Programmes have been drawn up and approved by the council^
and are being put into effect as far as possible.
Provision is made for the admission to some of the industrial
courses of children of 12 years old for periods of one to two years.
These preparatory courses are intended to give effect to the prerocational training for which the university programme provides.
I t would seem that they have not hitherto been organised except
in rare cases. The actual vocational courses admit children of
not less than 13 years of age, who (apart from exceptional cases)
must have been to an elementary school for six years.
The length of the studies varies according to the branch of
activity concerned, and within the branch according to the technical nature of the subject studied. I n the case of the printing
trades, the programme provides for a course of apprenticeship of
three years with 15 hours a week of lectures on theory and 15 hours
of practical work in workshops for students of linotype, typography,
lithography and photogravure respectively. In the building schools
there are two sections with a programme of three years comprising
24 hours a week of courses and practical work such as designing.
These sections are the section of professional designers, with a
special branch for the lay-out of gardens, and the sections of
assistant technicians and constructional workers and foremen. The
sections dealing with the training of superintendents and quantity
surveyors in the building trade have courses of two years of 18 hours
a week. Courses of wood and iron working, heating, sanitary plumbing, masonry, ceramics, house-painting, zinc working, blacksmith's
work, and cabinet-making are projected with three-year programmes.
The period of carpentry apprenticeship under the 1949 programme
was two years.
The school of mechanics and electricity has two kinds of
programmes :
(a) Por elementary school pupils there are three-year courses
of turning, müling, casting and founding, motor mechanics, locksmith's work, preparation of moulds, and electric windings and
fittings, with 15 hours a week of lectures on theory (including
designing) and 15 hours of practical work in workshops. Many
of these courses have a first year in common for the work in the
workshops (turning, milling, motor mechanics and the preparation
of moulds), the two following years being devoted to specialisation.
(b) Por secondary school pupils the programmes provide four
kinds of courses, also of three years ; but they start from a more

APPENDIX I : URUGUAY

287

advanced base of theory. These four courses are for electricians,
machine and motor mechanics, precision instrument workers, and
wireless operators.
All the programmes of industrial courses include courses of a
fairly advanced character on accident prevention, industrial health,
and the elements of social legislation.
The programmes for feminine industries are also three-year
programmes, whether the pupil is from an elementary or a secondary
school, the only difference being that in the latter case the pupil
is exempted from the general culture classes. The timetable is
similar to that of the boys, viz. 15 hours a week of theory and
15 hours of practical work. The specialised branches are as follows
—tailoring, dressmaking, linen work, embroidery and trimming,
artificial flower making, fashions, decorative plastic work, and
domestic economy.
There are two kinds of commercial courses, open to pupils of
13 years of age, which arrive at the same results—namely two-year
day courses of 15 hours a week the first year and 13 hours a week
in the second year, and three-year night courses with three lessons
of two and a half hours each per week. The programme includes
instruction in grammar and handwriting, commercial reckoning,
accounting, notions of law, economic and political geography and
legislation, English, typing and multicopying, including the use of
calculating machines ; but in 1949 the last item of the programme
could not be put into effect owing to lack of equipment even in the
central school in the Capital. The programmes provide for a supplementary course of one year in preparation for secretarial duties.
This course is also open to pupils who have attended secondary
schools for four years and who wish to acquire administrative experience quickly without going through the whole series of commercial
studies.
There are also evening courses three times a week for pupils of
not less than 15 years of age, who have completed six years' attendance at elementary schools. These courses qualify for the title of
skilled commercial employee in three years, and may be followed
up by supplementary courses, to which reference will be made
below.
The agricultural training plan comprises a three-year programme of 12 hours a week of classes on theory and 10 hours a week
of practice in workshops or on the land. There are four hours of
general education in the first year. All the other courses deal with
specific subjects, namely botany, zoology, agriculture in general,
aviculture, apiculture, horticulture, fruit-growing and forestry,
cattle-raising, the subsidiary industries including dairying, and also
agricultural accounting. The practical work comprises rural carpentry, rural mechanics, and the various forms of work involved
in the operation of an agricultural undertaking.
The specialised schools have their own programmes. The winegrowing schools, for instance, have a basic course of three years for
pupils from secondary schools, with a timetable of 30 hours a week
and openings for voluntary practical work outside the timetable.
This course is followed by a two-year course of expert wine-growing,
which is also open to pupils who have studied for six years in urban
schools or three years in agricultural schools. I t has a programme
of 24 hours of theory or practice per week.
19*

288

University

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Standard.

In general, access to the faculties of the university presupposes
the completion of secondary school studies (four years) and two
years of preparatory studies ending in matriculation.
The faculty of engineering, which had 376 pupils in 1947 and
awarded 62 diplomas, gives courses of six years, entitling the student
to the title of civil engineer or of industrial engineer. The first
three years are the same for both courses, the programme comprising
all the basic sciences without specialisation. Specialisation begins
in the fourth year, when the civil engineer directs his attention to
the sciences relating to the building industry, while the industrial
engineer concerns himself with the physical sciences, chemistry,
electro-technics and mechanics. The faculty also has a two-year
course for surveyors.
Seven institutes affording facilities for scientific research by
students are attached to the faculty of engineering, namely the
materials testing institute, the institute of physics, the institute of
mechanics, the institute of electro-technics, the institute of industrial
technology and a statistical institute.
The faculty of architecture, which had 317 pupils in 1947 and
awarded 26 diplomas, has a course of three years. A town planning
institute and an institute of archaeology are attached to it.
The faculty of chemistry has two courses, one of pharmaceutical
chemistry of four years and the other of industrial chemistry of
five years : the numbers of pupils taking the two courses in 1947
were 695 and 837 respectively. The title of doctor of chemistry
may be obtained on presentation of a thesis. An institute of chemistry is attached to the faculty.
The faculty of agronomy, which is situated in an extensive State
property in the neighbourhood of Montevideo, has had a substantial
increase in the number of its students in the last three years. Prom
139 students in 1947 the total rose to 187 in 1948, and to 209 in 1949.
Some twenty diplomas are awarded each year. There are four full
years of studies followed by a fifth year of specialisation. The title
of agronomist is awarded on completion of the course. A shorter
course enables students to obtain the title of agricultural expert
(perito agronomo). The faculty has also a school of practical work
at Colón, and three experimental stations of 1,200 hectares each in
the departments of Paysandu, Salto and Cerro-Largo. I t is interesting to note that the staff, which at the outset consisted mainly of
foreigners (German and Belgian), is now almost entirely Uruguayan
in so far as the standing courses are concerned, though foreign
teachers are frequently invited to give courses of a few weeks.
The veterinary faculty has a four-year course, enabling students
to obtain the title of doctor of veterinary surgery. Eight research
institutes are attached to the veterinary faculty, dealing with the
following subjects—normal anatomy, phytology, bacteriology, pathological anatomy, animal industries, zootechnics, therapeutics, and
experimental and clinical medicine.
In the field of commercial and administrative technology, the
faculty of economic and administrative sciences has a four-year
course, enabling students to obtain the title of chartered accountant.
On obtaining this title, pupils may take a further course of two
years, leading up to the title of doctor of economic and administrative sciences.

APPENDIX I : URUGUAY

289

Aid for Technical Study
Within the Country.
The problem is greatly simplified by the fact that study is free
of charge at all stages up to and including the university degree. In
addition, most of the institutions in the interior have organised
boarding facilities, which are also free, for some of the pupils. Grants
of boarding f acuities are based on the marks obtained at the entrance
examinations, and priority is also given to students whose homes
are too far from the school to enable the student to return there
every day.
Articles 133-134 of the university regulations provide that the
schools may accept orders from individuals or offices, if the work
involved is of interest for teaching purposes, and any profits earned
are distributed as bonuses to the students. But the university of
labour does not as a rule accept outside orders : in general the schools
confine themselves to the execution of orders of public offices.
Foreigners who wish to study in Uruguay may also do so free of
charge. The facilities of admission vary however with the different
countries. There are agreements between the Government of
Uruguay and Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and
Peru, under which students from any of these countries can be
admitted immediately on presentation of legalised scholastic certificates corresponding to those required from Uruguayans on admission. Nationals of other countries have to substantiate the value
of their certificates.
Studies Abroad.
Each faculty of the university has a credit at its disposal for the
grant of scholarships for studies in foreign countries ; and these
scholarships are supplemented by the facilities accorded to Uruguayans by certain foreign Governments, in particular by the
Government of the United States.
In-Plant

Training

The Children's Code (1934) in the section headed " Youth and
Employment " contains certain provisions on the engagement of
young persons as apprentices or workers ; but these provisions are
for the purpose of social protection, and not for the organisation of
technical training in the course of the young persons' employment.
There is a regulation which more directly affects the question of
apprenticeship in the Legislative Decree of 10 August 1938. Under
this regulation shipbuilding yards are required every three years to
engage apprentices to the extent of 10 per cent of the total of their
workers, with a view to training them in the trade. But the young
persons to be engaged are exclusively children of poor parents ; and
the primarily humanitarian purpose of the regulation is apparent.
At the same time it has a technical side, inasmuch as the apprentices
so engaged are required to follow supplementary courses in the
State industrial schools.
In the meat industry the number of apprentices who may be
engaged by business enterprises has been fixed at a maximum of

290

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

2 per cent, of the total number of workers employed. This regulation
is a supplementary provision in connection with the control of
employment in this particular industry.
Speaking generally, therefore, it may be said that there has been
no real organisation of apprenticeship as a method of vocational
training.
TRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

The constituent Act of 1942 made the university of labour,
responsible for providing the workers with the means of cultural
education and technical training.
To give effect to this provision, evening courses enabling adults
to acquire or develop a knowledge of their trade have been organised
in the majority of schools in the capital, and in certain institutions
in the interior of the country.
The duration of the courses varies according to the technical
branch concerned. I n 1949 in the case of the printing trades
there was a programme of three years for each of four specialised courses—linotyping, typography, binding and photogravure.
There is a double series of courses each week, one consisting of
three courses from 6 to 8 p.m. and the other of two courses from
6 to 8.25 p.m.
Similarly in the building industry there are apprenticeship
courses and upgrading courses of three years in the case of decorative
sculpture, ceramics, masonry, lay-out, sanitary plumbing, zincworking, etc. Courses of two years were being held for general
constructional design.
In the case of mechanics and electricity the courses are usually
intensive ones ; they last six months or one year and are limited
to particular subjects such as soldering and welding, milling, windings, etc.
Evening courses are also held in the women's industries. The
1949 programmes, extending over a period of three years, provided
in general for three classes a week.
The programmes of the schools are however fluid, as the instructions given by the directorate of the university to the schools
organising the courses lay emphasis on the need of adapting the
teaching as far as possible to the particular requirements in the
matter of supplementary education of each worker following the
courses.
As regards rural activities, the supplementary courses for adults
are usually short, lasting two to four weeks. They are organised mainly in the specialised schools to meet the requirements of
producers, viz. as courses of dairying, wine-growing, citric or
other fruit cultures, or forestry. The object of the agricultural
schools is in the 9 first instance to help the producers constantly
with advice, and also, on occasion, by lending them mechanical
equipment.
Apart from the schools, the Ministry of Agriculture itself maintains extension services for the assistance of producers. A national
agricultural expert is attached to these services in each of the
19 departments. The experimental stations of the faculty of agronomy play a similar part.

APPENDIX I : URUGUAY

291

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE AND EMPLOYMENT SERVICES

Vocational Guidance
The constituent charter required the university of labour to
check the health of its pupils on their admission and to examine
as far as possible their technical capacities. The university has
therefore established at its headquarters in Montevideo a medicopedagogic section, which carries out psycho-technical investigations.
Some 800 pupils are examined yearly by this section, mainly cases
reported by the teachers as doubtful.
The psycho-technical examination is carried out in several
stages. First, a social index card is drawn up, giving particulars
of the family background of the young person, the mode of life
of his or her family, the personal situation of his or her near relations, and the social and economic conditions of the group. A
personal inventory is filled up to determine the character of the
individual on the basis of a series of 125 questions, which the
student has to answer by " Yes " or " No ". A confidential questionnaire is attached, the answers to which are kept secret from
all except the examining doctor. A biotypical examination is based
on a number of different tests. Finally a development index card
comprises the observations made yearly by the examiner as to
the behaviour of the pupil in his various activities, the results
achieved, and the characteristic features of his memory, intelligence,
imagination and judgment as revealed in the course of the year.
A further column contains final observations made two years after
the pupil has left the school, and affords an interesting check on
the results of the training as tested by practice.
The person entrusted with the conduct of the psycho-technical
examination is called the examining doctor and not the vocational
counsellor. The circumstances and the moment of the examination
are such that the examiner is not usually called upon to offer advice
as to the initial decision of the student, but rather to assist students
to modify their decisions when the line they have chosen does not
suit their temperament.
Pupils, who have not yet undergone the psycho-technical examination, are in a position nevertheless to test their aptitudes and
inclinations during their first year of technical studies, since they
are free under Article 117 of the university regulations, subject
to the approval of the principal of the school, to change their
section for another, if their first choice does not suit them.
Employment

Services

There is no general employment service in Uruguay, Chapter V
of Act 9,196 of 1934, which provided for employment exchanges,
not having yet been put into force. Nevertheless the employment
market is strictly organised in accordance with a system of centralised registration of workers in a number of branches of industry
of special importance for the national economy.
Two industries—the meat industry and the wool and leather
warehousing industry—have an unemployment insurance fund run
by a tripartite board ; as part of the system there is a labour
exchange for insured workers. The labour exchange is also administered by a tripartite committee.

292

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

The system requires the keeping of registers of regular workers
and second-priority workers. Eegular workers have a prior right
to vacancies for their own trade and in some cases to other
vacancies in the undertakings. As vacancies are filled, secondpriority workers are automatically placed on the waiting list of
regular workers to bring this list up to full complement, and
" candidate " workers from a third list are placed on the secondpriority list.
A system of registration on a more or less similar basis, but
without unemployment insurance, has been in force since 1930
for dockers, and has been extended gradually to cover other port
workers and also sailors. In 1944 a similar system (Tablada
nacional) was established in the livestock trade for the men who
bring the animals to the slaughter-houses and for those who take
them over there.
In other trades, placement is effected in a variety of ways.
Certain trade unions, especially those of the hotel industry, have
made their own arrangements. In the case of public works, committees have been set up in each of the departments (19 in number),
to which the official administrative authorities are required to apply
for the manpower they need. Though confined to public undertakings, this system enables the public authorities to get a fair idea
of manpower requirements and availabilities in the building industry.
I t was estimated in May 1949 that the manpower shortage in this
industry was acute, particularly in the reinforced concrete branch.
According to estimates based on less exact data it would seem
that the textile industry, after a marked shortage of labour in the
first few years after the war, had more workers than it could employ
in 1949. There was still, however, a shortage of technicians, due
partly to the fact that there is still no specialised course in the
technology of the textile industry, so that the employment of
foreigners in such posts is common.
Another body concerned with the requirements of the employment market is the advisory committee on immigration (Comisión
asesora de Inmigración), which was set up by Decree of 28 April
1947. In the absence of adequate or exact statistics on which to
base an estimate of the probable requirements of the national
economy in foreign labour, the committee began to make a series
of enquiries among the different organisations, public or private, in
touch with the employment market. In the conclusions of its first
report the committee recommended the establishment of a central
register of applications for foreign labour, and submitted drafts of
forms for use in applying for agricultural and industrial labour
respectively.
I n the matter of the employment of young persons it must be
borne in mind that under a provision of the Children's Code young
persons of less than 18 years of age may not enter into a contract
of employment or apprenticeship without the permission of the
children's council or of one of its departmental delegations. The
action of the council and of its delegations in the matter of employment is confined, however, to checking the admissibility to employment of the young workers and the conditions of their employment,
and registering this information in a labour booklet.
The employment of pupils of the technical schools is frequently
arranged unofficially by the schools themselves. Attention should
further be drawn in that connection to a provision in Article 124 of

APPENDIX I : TTRUGUAY

293

the regulations of the university of labour, which gives pupils leaving
one of the schools of the university a prior claim to posts in the
public service for which their knowledge and capacities fit them.
Article 66 of the Act of 1934, which established the children's
council, made the latter responsible for finding employment for
those young persons without family support for whose education it
is responsible. There is even a provision giving this category of
young persons a prior claim in workshops and labour undertakings
under the national and municipal authorities ; but there appears
to have been some practical difficulty in applying this provision.

VENEZUELA
TRAINING OP JUVENILES

Technical Education in Schools
During the last ten years, there has been a thorough reorganisation both of technical and of primary and secondary education, and
literacy campaigns 1 have also been undertaken with the assistance
of pupils from State schools.
Principles for the organisation of all categories of vocational
training were laid down by the Education Act of 1940 (in the chapter
devoted to special instruction) and the administration of supervision
of vocational training facilities of all kinds were made the responsibility of the Minister of National Education. 2
In 1948, a committee was set up to foster the development of
technical, commercial, industrial and handicraft training.
Industry.
At the elementary school level there are the so-called handicraft
schools (escuelas artisanales), where the courses are devoted primarily to industrial and farm mechanics. I n 1946-1947, sufficient
credits were allotted for the number of these schools to be increased
to eight, including the Ciudad Bolivar mining technology school
and the Juan-Griego fishery school. The instruction given is
essentially of a practical nature, with a minimum of theory.
The standard of education provided by the Caracas industrial
technical school, founded in 1913, is slightly higher but still essentially practical. I t accepts pupils between 13 and 18 years of age
who have a certificate of higher elementary education and have
passed the school entrance examination. The classes last four years
and give specialised instruction for mechanics, electricians, blacksmiths and locksmiths, plumbers, brassworkers and cabinet-makers.
Classroom instruction gives a grounding in mathematics, physics,
chemistry and machine drawing, as well as an introduction to the
technical aspects of the specialist branch chosen by the pupil (engineering, electricity, etc.), which is kept closely related to his practical
work. General education is also provided and there are extra courses
in such subjects as labour legislation. The classes held during the
first two years are attended by all the pupils, whatever specialist
branch they intend to study, and they go to each workshop in turn
before finally deciding on their branch. The last two years are
devoted to specialist study, and in their final year pupils are encouraged to produce objects of practical value. At the end of their
1
The annual report of the Minister of Education for 1944 gives the average
percentage of illiteracy for the whole of the population as 55.9 per cent. The
age-group with the least illiteracy (15-19 years) still had 52.7 per cent.
2
Compilación legislativa de Venezuela, Vol. I, p. 1871.

APPENDIX I : VENEZUELA

295

second year, students are offered opportunities of practical training
in undertakings during the holidays. The school also runs a twoyear course in printing and associated arts.
Some of the industrial schools, such as the San Cristóbal arts
and crafts school, are co-educational, and there are others of the
same standard which have special classes in domestic science and
other women's occupations. One, in Caracas, is maintained by the
Ministry of Education ; others are run by the various States and
others again are the result of private enterprise. The Ministry of
Education school x provides a two-year course in domestic science,
for which applicants need no more than a certificate of elementary
education, and also a three-year course, for which a certificate of
higher elementary education is required and which leads to a schoolteacher's diploma in domestic science and manual work in elementary
schools. Three-year vocational courses, with day and evening
classes, prepare girls for careers in dressmaking, linen work, tailoring
and hairdressing.
All technical training of this standard is provided free.
The universities are independent bodies, but their rectors,
vice-rectors and secretaries are appointed by the President of the
Eepublic. They provide various courses in which students can be
trained for industrial careers.
The central university of Caracas has a faculty of physical and
mathematical sciences and another of pharmacy and chemistry.
The same facilities are offered by the university of the Andes.
The university of Zulia has a faculty of physical and mathematical
sciences.
In general, students applying for admission must hold a matriculation certificate or a diploma from a teachers' training college.
An entrance fee of 10 bolivars is all that students are required
to pay.
A school of engineering, whose statutes appear in Decree
No. 221 of 1944 2 , is affiliated to the faculty of physical and mathematical sciences of the university of Caracas. I t trains pupils to be
civil, hydraulic, industrial, petroleum and mining engineers, geologists and surveyors.
The minimum period of study is four years (or eight terms of
six months each), though it may be longer, depending on the
subjects in the general syllabus which the pupils choose each year.
To complete their course, all engineering students, in whatever
branch, must have 144 units of classroom or workshop instruction
to their credit, three hours of class or laboratory work counting as
one unit. Students in employment are entitled to choose whatever
subjects on the programme suit them best each year, provided
they eventually cover the full course of study in their specialised
branch.
The assignment of the 144 units comprising an engineering
course varies from one branch to another. For careers in industrial
engineering, for example, 19 units are allotted to chemistry, 14 to
mechanics, nine to drawing, eight to electrical technology, five
to metallurgy and mining and so on. Por a career in mining
engineering, on the other hand, only 10 units are assigned to
1
See the regulations dated 14 Feb. 1940 appearing in Compilación legislativa
de Venezuela, Vol. II, p. 922.
2
Gaceta oficial, 21 Oct. 1944, No. 105 (supplement).

296

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

chemistry, 10 to mechanics and four to electrical technology,
whereas 16 are allotted to geology, 12 to mineralogy, 10 to metallurgy and mining administration, two to mining legislation and
so on.
For the first year, or first two terms of six months each, all
engineering students follow the same course, and it is only afterwards that they take up their various specialist studies.
A course in architecture lasts at least five years.
There is a system whereby the degrees held by students from
foreign universities can be recognised. The granting of such recognition is the responsibility of the university council.
The statutes of the school provide that the director and secretary
of each of the departments shall be Venezuelans. As a general
principle, the teaching staff must also be of Venezuelan nationality,
though this rule may be waived with the consent of the federal
Government.
Commerce.
The first official commercial school was founded in 1912, but
it is only in the last 10 years that this branch of education has
been developed and syllabuses prepared. Legislation covering commercial training appeared in a Decree dated 16 December 1940. 1
At the elementary and intermediate levels, the official commercial
schools offer a two-year course, at the end of which a certificate
of competence in elementary commercial studies is granted. These
classes are open to young people who have finished their primary
studies and have passed an entrance examination. On completing
the course, pupils can follow either a one-year secretarial course or
a two-year course leading to a diploma in commercial administration.
The syllabus of the elementary classes includes Spanish and
English language and literature, commercial arithmetic, shorthand,
typing and handwriting, commercial correspondence and general
instruction in history and geography, including elementary economic
geography.
The secretarial course gives advanced training in shorthandtyping, commercial correspondence, Spanish and English and also
includes a training in practical secretarial work.
The commercial administration course also gives a grounding
in economics, finance, financial legislation and commercial practice
and some knowledge of statistics.
At the university level, the central university at Caracas has
a faculty of economic and social sciences running courses of at
least four years' duration, leading up to examination for a degree
in economic and social sciences, an advanced diploma in commerce
and administration or a diploma in accountancy. A further year
leads to a doctorate in economic and social sciences, requiring
work in a selected branch of study—industrial technology and
organisation, agricultural economy, currency and banking or public
finance. Normally, to be admitted to university courses, students
must have passed their matriculation examination or possess a
secondary education certificate. An exception is made in the case
of advanced commercial and administrative courses, which admit
graduates from intermediate commercial classes. As in the case
Compilación

legislativa de Venezuela, Vol. I I , p. 922.

APPENDIX I : VENEZUELA

297

of the industrial courses referred to above, the programme is
flexible enough to allow students to suit their own convenience
to a certain extent in the arrangement of their annual syllabuses.
The courses are not, therefore, of the same duration for all
students.
Agriculture.
A kind of preliminary training in agriculture is given even in
the rural schools, which were instituted by a Presidential Decree
of 21 December 1935 providing for 100 rural schools to be established. A committee of enquiry was then sent to Mexico to study
its systems of primary rural education, which were already in full
operation.
I n 1937, the system of rural schools in Venezuela was further
developed by the dispatch to outlying parts of the country of
" rural missions " with a staff of four, including one agricultural
instructor, who were responsible for directing the introduction of
the system. The rural teachers' training college was also opened
at this time and it was here that the members of the rural missions
received their special preliminary training.
At the same time, the Ministry of Education began an economic
survey of the various areas to prepare a curriculum for rural
schools in keeping with their purpose, namely, to assist the children
and adult country population to play a greater part in the social
and economic life of the country.
One of the rural schools was organised on an experimental
basis, and by 1940 it was possible to draw up a programme of primary rural education (Education Act), under which the fifth and
sixth primary classes of the rural schools, known as advanced
primary classes, were to be run as farm schools.
" Complete " schools are those having all six classes. They
are divided into four sections, each with its own teacher, and the
children move in rotation from one section to another, being
instructed in turn in general subjects, manual work, agriculture
and domestic science. The teacher in the agricultural section also
takes classes in natural science and supervises practical work in
the school garden, bee-keeping and the care of farmyard animals
such as rabbits, pigs and chickens.
The co-operative movement forms an important branch of education in the rural schools, the school co-operative selling their
produce, such as vegetables, as well as the animals they raise
In the " incomplete " schools, which have only two instructors,
the principal is responsible for that part of the training concerned
with manual work and agriculture, which goes to show the importance attached to these two subjects.
At the intermediate level, a practical agriculture school was
opened in 1936, and this admits pupils aged 15 years and over who
have a certificate of elementary education. The principal of the
school can require a candidate to sit for an entrance examination.
The course lasts two years and leads to a diploma certifying that
the pupil is qualified in agriculture and stockbreeding (práctico
agro pecuario). There are no boarders, and instruction is free.
Maintenance grants are made to the best pupils and the holders of
such grants must pass an examination at the end of their first year
of study and obtain at least 14 marks out of 20 in each subject to

298

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

retain their grant. Some individual work, like a minor thesis, is
required at the end of the course.
There are at least eight hours of class and practical work per
day ; the practical work is done either on school land or at farms
or stockbreeding centres in the area.
The syllabus, which is covered in the first two terms, each of
six months, includes general instruction in agriculture and stockbreeding, farm machinery, crops, plant reproduction, prevention
and cure of animal and plant diseases, pest control, practical work
on the preparation and conservation of soil, animal care and elementary farm administration. The second year is devoted to practical
outdoor work and the study of a subject which each pupil is free
to choose.
I n addition, the agricultural education section of the Ministry
of Agriculture and Stockbreeding runs a training course for " demonstrators in rural communities ". These are women rural welfare
workers, whose purpose is to raise the standard of living of the
country population. The course is open to girls over 18 having a
certificate of advanced primary education. I t lasts a year and a
half, with 30 hours of instruction per week, and includes a training
in health, social and teaching work, infant welfare and dietetics as
well as practical work in vegetable and flower growing, cooking,
food preserving, needlework, weaving, woodwork and other minor
handicrafts, making 8 % hours of classwork and 2 1 % hours of practical work per week.
At the university level, the central university has a faculty of
agriculture which is situated in a farming area, and in the same
region (Sosa el Valle) there are research centres for veterinary medicine, agriculture and animal care. I t was previously an agricultural
college and was made a faculty in 1946. The courses last five years,
each year being divided into two terms lasting six months. Diplomas
certifying that the pupils are agricultural experts are awarded at
the end of the course. The first two years of study are concerned
with theory and practice, and the last two are purely scientific, in
preparation for agricultural research in the laboratories of the
Ministry of Agriculture.
During the holidays between each of the first four years of
study, the students are given practical training in the services of
the Ministry of Agriculture or in private undertakings. These
training periods are spent under the direction of experts and are
supervised by the faculty.
Maintenance grants are awarded to the best pupils ; they are
brought up for review every six months, when the standard of each
holder's work is considered.
Pre-apprentice Training and Vocational

Guidance

A " pre-guidance " centre was opened in 1943 at Los Teques
and it now has 250 pupils and a staff of 30.
In addition, the two years of practical training given to all
technical students and the one year of study followed by all university engineering students help to acquaint them with the various
kinds of work available and enable them to make a well-considered
choice between the various specialist branches of training offered
by the school or university they attend. The universities also hold
lectures to help the pupils in their choice.

APPENDIX I : VENEZUELA

299

Aid for Technical Study
Within the Country.
The Ministry of National Education has a number of scholarships
which it awards to the best pupils under specified conditions. The
special statutes of the Caracas industrial technical school and the
school of agriculture make specific provision for scholarships to be
given to deserving pupils.
The Shell Oil Company maintains 45 scholarships a year to
university centres in the area, most of which are for the training of
doctors and nurses. Five industrial scholarships are awarded for
the Caracas industrial technical school, and there are five in engineering and one in geology at the national universities.
Study Abroad.
The statutes of the Caracas industrial technical school provide for
the maintenance of a fund from which two of the pupils graduating each
year are awarded scholarships for specialist education abroad. The two
pupils are chosen from those who have been classified as " excellent "
(sobresaliente) by the board of teachers at the school. On their return,
they are obliged to serve the State for à period of at least three years.
Seven scholarships a year are granted for the training of technicians by Canadian or American universities. They include tuition
fees, books, travelling expenses and a maintenance allowance.
In-Plant

Training

There is no apprenticeship legislation in Venezuela.
Some of the large concerns have introduced training systems of
various standards on their own initiative. The Shell Oil Company
has organised a vocational training programme which is run by a
specialist official called a " training co-ordinator " ; he is assisted
by a committee consisting of the operating departmental heads.
The system works as follows :
(a) Practical training centres have been organised in four oil
fields and 75 to 80 trainees, called " apprentices ", are enrolled for
a period of three months. If they show any ability, they can continue with the more comprehensive programme outlined under (b) ;
(b) A vocational artisan training school has now been opened
in one of the branches at Lagunillas for the sons of workers employed
by the Company or young men already in the shops. The courses
last two years and are in two parts, one theoretical and one practical.
The pupils work in groups of 11 per instructor in the workshops,
and 20 to 25 in the theoretical classes. Specialist training is given
in electricity, petroleum equipment and plant mechanics, vehicles
and Diesel engines, turning and welding. Though the number of
unsuccessful apprentices is high, about 100 complete their training
«ach year in the four practical centres and the vocational school.
Those who finish their studies are regarded as capable of taking on
supervisory or foremen's jobs in the future.
Pupils following the two training schemes are paid a small wage
amounting to between 11 and 14 bolivars per day for programme (a)
a n d 350 bolivars per month for programme (b).1
1

Information supplied by the Shell Oil Company of the Shell Group, Venezuela.

300

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

TRAINING AND EETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

Under the Education Act of 1940, industrial technical schools
can organise evening classes of two kinds, basic courses or specialist
classes arranged to meet the objectives of the school. The Caracasindustrial technical school has organised two-hour evening classes
three times a week. Workers are automatically eligible for admission. Attendance or proficiency (suficiencia)
certificates are'
awarded as appropriate on completion of the course.
For commercial training, the Education Act also provides for
evening classes to be run in commercial schools, with a special
programme prepared by the Ministry of Education ; it further
stipulates that pupils shall receive a certificate (constancia) on
completion of their studies. Several of the official commercial
schools have organised evening classes in shorthand and typing,
and these are open to persons over 16 years of age who have a certificate of elementary education. The course lasts two years and the
classes are held for 45 minutes three times a week.
As regards agricultural training, the rural schools try to spread
a knowledge of modern farming methods in the families of pupils.
The intermediate practical agriculture school acts as an experimental
centre for local crops and the production of selected seeds which
are sent to the genetics department of the Ministry of Agriculture
for storage and distribution. The pupils' practical work on farms
around the school also provides them with an opportunity to meet
the rural population and help them to improve their farming methods.
As has been seen above, special agents are trained in a school run
by the Ministry of Agriculture and Stockbreeding to help them to
improve their standard of living.

APPENDIX I I

RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY CONFERENCES
OF AMERICAN STATES MEMBERS OF T H E I.L.O.
TRIED

CONFERENCE (MEXICO CITY, APRIL 1946)
Resolution concerning Vocational Training

Whereas the organisation of vocational and technical training
is one of the measures which were stated by the Preamble to the
Constitution of the International Labour Organisation in 1919 to
be urgently required ;
Whereas in 1938 and 1939 the International Labour Conference
in Geneva gave detailed consideration to the problem, and, in the
latter year, adopted two Eecommendations concerning vocational
training and apprenticeship respectively, which have already formed
the basis of the structure of vocational training and apprenticeship
in the American countries ;
Whereas in the Declaration of Philadelphia, in 1944, the Conference recognised the solemn obligation of the Organisation to further,
among the nations of the world, programmes which will achieve
the assurance of equality of educational and vocational opportunity ;
Whereas, although these Eecommendations have a universal
character, some of their provisions are of particular interest to the
American countries, especially to those in which industrialisation
programmes are being, or will be, undertaken, and which require
an adequate supply of skilled labour ;
Whereas the number of skilled workers can be increased only
if facilities are provided for systematic vocational guidance and
training of workers in these countries and if their placement in
employment is assured ;
Whereas the Governments and bodies concerned in the American
countries have already given careful consideration to the principles
laid down in the aforesaid Eecommendations in the revision and
improvement of their vocational training systems, which proves that
the time has come to prepare an inter-American plan of action on
vocational training ;
For these reasons, the Third Conference of the American States
Members of the International Labour Organisation adopts the
following resolution :
ORGANISATIONAL BASIS

1. (1) Vocational training should be developed on the basis
of a comprehensive national plan, integrated with industrial and
agricultural policy.

302

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

(2) I t is desirable to define the social and economic objectives
of the national vocational training programme with a view to—
(a) meeting the immediate and prospective labour requirements
of industry and agriculture in each area and in the country
as a whole ;
(b) providing opportunities for developing the full capacities
of the young persons and men and women in each area and
in the country as a whole ;
(c) ensuring that the training programme is directed towards
the general well-being, by helping to develop national human
and material resources with a view to raising living standards throughout the country.
2. (1) Administrative responsibilities for the development of
vocational training facilities should be defined, and measures should
be adopted to ensure the systematic co-ordination of vocational
training activities and of the work of the authorities concerned with
their development, at the national, regional and local levels.
(2) Machinery should be established for enlisting the full technical assistance and co-operation, at the national, regional and local
levels, of—
(a) representative organisations of management and labour in
industry and agriculture ;
(b) public agencies whose work affects education and planning
of production and employment, respectively ; and
(c) other organisations in a position to advance the development
of vocational training, including vocational guidance, vocational education and youth organisations.
VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

3. (1) Measures should be adopted to link vocational guidance
with all forms of vocational training, and for relating the choice of
training to prospective employment opportunities.
(2) I t is desirable to provide, free of charge, technical vocational
guidance tests, including any vocational selection or general aptitude
tests, and a medical examination for every person about to enter a
course of vocational training.
(3) In accordance with these purposes, measures should be
adopted to train qualified vocational guidance staff and to select
such technical staff, if already available.
(4) Special arrangements should be made for travelling qualified
vocational guidance personnel, able to provide assistance to young
people in rural areas.
PRE-VOCATIONAL TRAINING

4. In order to relate education closely to national social and
economic policy, it is desirable to provide for a vocational bias in
the last years of primary and secondary education, and to differentiate the courses offered in urban and rural schools, but without
sacrificing general cultural subjects.

APPENDIX n

303

VOCATIONAL AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING IN SPECIALISED
SCHOOLS

5. (1) At least one industrial training school should be set up
in each region, and this basic network should be supplemented as
rapidly as possible by more specialised facilities for technical training for particular industries and occupations (including public and
social service occupations) and by additional facilities for higher
technical and professional training for industry, from the secondary
level to the highest professional level.
(2) In order to improve the standard of training offered in
commercial schools there should be adequate officiai supervision,
and special efforts should be made to relate the training provided
more closely to the requirements of the national economy.
(3) I t is desirable that, in drawing up public works and development projects, Governments should, without detriment to general
education, grant special facilities for—
(a) the building of vocational schools and the allocation of
funds, materials and labour needed for the execution of
such projects ; and
(b) the equipment of vocational training schools with an adequate quantity of modern and good quality tools, machine
tools, machinery and other supplies.
6. (1) A staff of instructors, adequate in number, skilled in
technique and qualified in teaching, should be trained for the vocational schools.
(2) For this purpose, a special instructors' training centre or
institute, at which vocational school teachers can receive a preparation for their work and to which they can return at periodic intervals to refresh and modernise their knowledge and techniques,
should be set up.
(3) I n order to facilitate recruitment of vocational school instructors, measures should be adopted to improve their status and
conditions of employment, thus preventing their migration to other
more attractive occupations.
(4) Steps should be taken to train administrative staff for vocational schools and centres, by such means as special courses in
public administration and co-operation.
7. Access to vocational schools should be facilitated by such
measures as—
(a) free attendance and free provision of work clothes, shoes
and protective equipment, necessary tools and supplies of
all kinds ;
(b) free or low-cost midday meals and free health care through
the schools, as national circumstances permit ;
(c) special public transport arrangements aimed at widening
the geographic area covered by any school and ensuring
that trainees are able to get to the schools and return home
without undue loss of time, energy or health ;
(d) organisation, on a basis of tripartite co-operation, of residential boarding units for young persons of both sexes
who live beyond daily commuting distance of vocational
training, and payment of maintenance allowances to those
forced to live away from home ;

304

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

(e) payment of vocational training allowances to young persons
undergoing a course of training lasting for six months or
more, the allowances being granted subject to proof of merit,
and, on equality of merit, preference being given to the
neediest trainees ;
(f) extension of scholarship facilities to promote access to
higher technical training.
8. Eepresentatives of employers, trade unions and associations
of graduates and alumni should be included in the administrative
machinery of vocational schools, the advisory and executive functions of which should be defined locally by special regulations. These
representatives should be freely chosen by the organisations most
concerned with the curricula offered by the school.
9. I t is desirable to encourage industrial research and experimentation in the vocational schools, especially those providing higher technical training, with a view to promoting national industrial development,
overcoming technical obstacles, and perfecting methods of training.
10. Measures should be adopted to interrelate the training provided in vocational schools and technical mstitutes of various kinds
so that the available facilities make up a co-ordinated network
through which persons in training may move upwards to the highest
forms of training within their capacity.
APPRENTICESHIP

11. (1) I t is desirable to establish national State or provincial
and municipal apprenticeship committees, composed of equal numbers of employers' and workers' representatives and representatives
of the Government departments most closely concerned with industrial development and vocational training, and charged with encouraging the development and carrying out of apprenticeship programmes.
(2) I t is desirable to organise a Government service specially
equipped with a field staff of experts able to provide technical assistance in the development of apprenticeship programmes in the various
trades and occupations and within the different undertakings.
(3) Full employer and trade union representation should be
ensured throughout each apprenticeship programme, by, for example,
joint trade and plant apprenticeship committees.
12. (1) I t is advisable to formulate a set of uniform basic
minimum standards to which every apprenticeship contract must
conform.
(2) The application of such standards should be supervised and
the standards should be revised to meet changing needs.
13. (1) Measures should be adopted—
(a) To investigate in which trades it would be useful to establish
apprenticeship programmes ;
(b) To expand apprenticeship trades for young workers in relation to needs ; and
(e) To spread knowledge of these opportunities and to promote
public understanding of the role of apprenticeship in the
process of industrialisation.

APPENDIX II

305

(2) The responsibilities of the State and of the employers' and
workers' organisations in these activities should be defined.
(3) There should be official supervision to ensure that for each
foreign technician employed in industry preference is given to the
engagement of at least one native or naturalised apprentice, qualified to receive technical or vocational training ; methods should be
adopted establishing the respective responsibilities of the State and
of the employers' and workers' organisations in these matters.
IN-PLANT TEAINING

14. (1) I t is desirable to plan a systematic expansion of in-plant
training programmes, in addition to apprenticeship programmes,
aimed at enabling each new worker to secure the training essential
for the most efficient performance of his own job and to obtain
some understanding of the productive operations of the undertaking
as a whole.
(2) I t is advisable to develop a system of learnership, organised
on the same basic principles as apprenticeship but of shorter duration, and aimed at training specialised workers under contract and
according to defined standards.
(3) I t is desirable to include in any in-plant training plan systematic provision for upgrading and promotion training, aimed
at enabling each worker to move into highly skilled work and to
develop his technical skill to the limits of his own ability and of
the prospective employment openings within the undertaking.
(4) I t is desirable to co-ordinate in-plant training programmes
within any industry with a view to developing greater uniformity
of method and to setting standards of technical achievement for the
training of the various categories of workers within the industry
as a whole.
15. In-plant training programmes should be organised with the
co-operation and participation of the workers' representatives in the
undertaking or of the trade union concerned.
16. (1) I t is desirable that the Governments should make efforts
to promote the organisation of in-plant training schemes and to
provide the technical assistance needed for this development, as for
example by means of experts and instructors to analyse the training requirements of the various undertakings and to help in getting
suitable programmes started and running smoothly.
(2) Other methods (including propaganda and public financial
assistance) should be adopted to induce employers to offer suitable
facilities for the vocational training of a reasonable quota of young
workers.
P A E T - T I M E STJPPLEMENTAEY TEAINING

17. (1) Systematic supplementary training should be provided
under public auspices, in co-operation with employers' and workers'
organisations, for apprentices and all young workers entering industrial or commercial undertakings without prior vocational training.
(2) I t is desirable to equip specialised vocational schools to
provide this form of training on a part-time basis, and, in addition,
20

306

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

to set up special half-time schools for the various industries, offices
or undertakings, maintained with the support of the employers concerned, but with public subsidy granted under conditions guaranteeing adequate and well-rounded training, and working in co-operation
with the trade unions concerned.
(3) I t is desirable to promote greater national uniformity in
the methods and curricula of the supplementary training provided
in the various industries, occupations and undertakings.
(4) I t is desirable to encourage attendance at such courses of
all young workers under 18 years of age employed in any undertaking, and, in addition, to require employers to give such persons
free time during working hours, and without reduction of wages,
in which to take the courses, and to increase the wages of young
workers who make particularly meritorious efforts and who prove
by their records that they have increased their capacity by their
supplementary training.
AGRICULTURAL TRAINING

18. (1) The number of specialised agricultural schools, including schools of stockbreeding atid fishing, at the secondary school
level, organised on a productive basis, should be increased to ensure
that young people in all rural areas have access to such schools by,
for example—
(a) adequate transport arrangements ; and
(b) setting up residential units near to each of these schools,
and providing for the maintenance of the pupils at State
expense and where necessary for the payment of allowances
to their families.
(2) I t is desirable to ensure constant improvement in higher
technical training for agricultural experts and instructors for agricultural schools, and to provide greater access to this type of school
through an extensive system of fellowships for qualified pupils of
the specialised agricultural schools.
(3) I t is desirable to equip these institutes to provide short
courses for agricultural technicians and refresher courses for teachers
of agricultural education and for teachers in all rural primary schools.
19. I t is advisable to establish a service of travelling agricultural
experts and instructors, paid by the Government, and qualified to
spread knowledge of modern methods of agriculture and develop
the necessary training programmes in each region.
20. In formulating and carrying out programmes of agricultural
education, it is advisable to secure the collaboration of agricultural
enterprises, of agricultural workers, and, in appropriate cases, of
local official councils, and their representation in any advisory
machinery set up in this connection.
TRAINING AND BETRAINING OF ADULT WORKERS

21. Special provision for the training and retraining of adults
should be included in all vocational training programmes.

307

APPENDIX n

22. (1) Training facilities should be adapted to the use of adult
workers, as for example by special daytime courses and classes in
vocational or apprenticeship schools, by evening classes in vocational
schools, by admitting adult workers freely to in-plant training
schemes, or by organising special centres.
(2) Measures should be adopted to promote the continued technical training and upgrading of adult workers.
23. (1) Measures should be adopted to encourage the expansion
and use of training facilities for adults, such as public subsidies to
be used for organising supplementary courses (either during or
outside working hours), adequate allowances to adults in full-time
training, and for other purposes, and the enlisting of employer and
trade union support and co-operation.
(2) Machinery should be set up for special investigation and
research, undertaken in co-operation with employers' and workers'
organisations, into the need for training facilities for adults, the
type and method of training which would be most practical and
suitable for the various industries, and the measures needed to promote the organisation of suitable facilities to the extent found
necessary.
SPECIAL PROBLEMS OP TRAINING

Women
24. (1) Measures, including the orientation of general education towards vocational aims, and vocational guidance, should be
adopted to assure women complete access to all forms of training.
(2) I t is desirable to investigate women's training requirements
for the purpose of determining adequate methods of improving
existing training facilities.
Disabled Persons
25. I t is desirable to set up machinery for investigating the
special training needs of disabled persons and for ensuring that
such persons have equal access to all training facilities suited to
their capacity. Moreover, organisations and institutions should be
established where necessary to undertake the vocational retraining
of the disabled, and further developed where they already exist.
Special Indigenous

Groups

26. Special machinery should be established within the framework of the various vocational training schemes to investigate the
vocational training needs of the indigenous population, with a view
to incorporating throughout the country, as may be found necessary,
suitable and adequate provision for their training for industrial,
agricultural and handicraft pursuits, appropriate to their requirements and to those of their country.
Handicapped

Children

27. Separate specialised vocational schools should be set up for
children with retarded mental development and children with special
physical defects.

308

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

Homeless Children
28. Measures should be adopted to protect minors who are
socially and economically handicapped so that they may enjoy the
same vocational training opportunities as other young persons.
METHODS OF EEGIONAL CO-OPERATION

Exchange of

Information

29. Systematic arrangements should be made to ensure and
promote regular interchange among Governments and employers'
and workers' organisations of all information useful in developing
and improving vocational training facilities.
Procurement of Equipment
30. I t is recommended that Governments should enter into
arrangements for making available, so far as national circumstances
permit and on as favourable terms as possible, the machinery and
other supplies (including materials) needed for increasing the number
and the activities of vocational training schools and workshops.
Co-operative Training

Facilities

31. I t is desirable to organise, in collaboration with employers'
and workers' organisations, co-operative training facilities among
groups of American countries, or on a regional basis, for such purposes as establishing centres for the advanced training of selected
vocational training instructors to serve as a nucleus for the expansion of specialised training for the various trades and occupations.
In order to carry through the regional co-operation of the American
countries in vocational training, a body should be set up to promote
and co-ordinate courses for the training of skilled workers to be
held successively in the different countries, taking into account the
degree of technical development achieved in each branch of industrial or agricultural activity in the countries of the continent.
Exchange of Apprentices and Trainees
32. I t is desirable to expand and develop arrangements for an
interchange' of apprentices and other persons who are undergoing
extended training for which facilities are especially limited, or who
have completed the training available in their own country, and for
the organisation, on a tripartite basis, of a broad network on interAmerican vocational training fellowships for this purpose.
Co-ordinating

Machinery

33. The Conference invites the Governing Body of the International Labour Office to create a subcommittee of the Employment
Committee, consisting of the American members, together with
additional members if necessary, with the duties of intensifying
inter-American co-operation on vocational training and of coordinating adequately the activities of the various American countries.

APPENDIX H

309

APPLICATION OP THE EESOLTJTION

34. I t is desirable that all American States Members of the
International Labour Organisation should adopt legislation to apply
this resolution and to prevent any interference with its application,
and particularly to provide all those who have acquired technical
skill with real opportunities for employment in the occupations for
which they have been trained.

Resolution concerning the Organisation of Regular Inter-Ameriean
Technical Training Courses for Workers
Whereas paragraphs 29, 30, 31, 32 and 33 of the resolution
concerning vocational training adopted by the Third Conference of
the American States Members of the International Labour Organisation refer to methods of establishing inter-American collaboration
in the field of vocational training ;
Whereas in the diversified production of America, depending
on geographical conditions, many natural resources and enterprises
are the same in various countries, which may be grouped in zones
of similar production ;
Whereas within these zones of similar production, certain countries attain a higher level of technical development in certain types
of industries because preference is given to those industries ;
Whereas advantages would accrue, both to the whole continent
by bringing together the workers of various American countries,
and to each nation because the country of origin of the worker who
attends courses will thus obtain a worker highly skilled in his particular occupation ;
The Third Conference of the American States Members of the
International Labour Organisation considers that it would be useful :
(1) That in any country which has reached a relatively high
level of technical development in a particular branch of agriculture, stockbreeding, or industry, practical and theoretical
courses should be organised with the participation of the
workers of those countries which are interested, even though
to a small extent, in the activity concerned ;
(2) That the courses should be given either in rotation or concurrently in various American countries, taking into account
exclusively their position in a given industrial branch and
the value of training workers in that branch to the other
American countries which are engaged in similar industrial
operations ;
(3) That the number of annual courses and of workers attending
them from each country of the production zone concerned
should be determined by the Vocational Training Subcommittee of the Employment Committee of the I.L.O. recommended to be established as the inter-American co-ordinating
body by paragraph 33 of the resolution concerning vocational training ; this body would operate in agreement with
the participating countries and the country in which the
courses are given;

310

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

(4) That the organisation of the courses, the programme of
technical training and the facilities for further development
should be the responsibility of the country in which the
courses are given ;
(5) That the travel and maintenance expenses of the workers
attending any particular course should be borne by the
country of their origin, these costs being covered by contributions from the Government or from the employers who
send workers.
The Conference suggests as examples of possible courses in one
year :
(a) Training of workers in the cane-sugar and derivative industries in Cuba ;
(b) Training of workers in the wine industry in Chile ;
(c) Training of railway workers in the United States ;
(d) Training of workers in the meat industry in Argentina.

FOUBTH CONFERENCE (MONTEVIDEO, APRIL-MAY

1949)

Resolution concerning the Social Aspects of the Economic
Development of the American Continent
The Fourth Conference of American States Members of the
International Labour Organisation,
(a) Bequests the Governing Body of the International Labour
Office to study the present document, the amendments proposed
to it, and the record of proceedings of the Conference and take such
action on the matter as it may deem appropriate ;
(b) Urges the Governing Body to take the necessary measures
to enable the International Labour Organisation to make a practical
contribution to the solution of the social problems involved in
economic development of the Americas on the general lines indicated
in Parts I I and I I I of this resolution ;
(c) Urges the Governments and the employers' and workers'
organisations of the American continent to give every possible
assistance to the International Labour Organisation in the implementation of the practical measures adopted on the basis of Parts I I
and I I I of this resolution, notably by participating in the proposed
comprehensive plan of technical assistance for economic development
and by affording every possible facility for the field work envisaged
by Parts I I and I I I of this resolution ;
(d) Bequests the Governing Body of the International Labour
Office to take the necessary steps to ensure co-operation with other
international organisations, including the United Nations, the
Organization of American States and the International Trade
Organisation, in carrying out the programme outlined in this resolution in order to avoid duplication of effort and to ensure the most
effective employment of their combined faculties.
The Declaration of Philadelphia reaffirms that poverty anywhere constitutes a danger to prosperity everywhere. Poverty is a
basic factor retarding social progress in the majority of American

APPENDIX H

311

countries and such progress cannot be achieved without the adoption
of economic policies designed to secure greater production and a
fairer distribution of wealth with the aim of improving the moral
and material conditions of mankind.
More intensive development of the resources of Latin America
by means of industrialisation and the development of agriculture
is therefore desirable in order to add to the world's wealth and help
to raise the standard of living of all peoples, to raise national production and income in the Latin American countries, to secure
greater equilibrium in the national economies of the Latin American
countries by developing the national processing of raw materials, to
improve their balance of payments position and to reduce the extent
to which their economies are dependent on the proceeds from a
limited range of exports.
To this end measures should be taken to promote the expansion
of markets by the development of international trade and to secure
greater stability in the prices of primary and processed products so
as to bring about an equilibrium in the balance of payments position
of the Latin American countries and permit these countries to
increase their supplies of hard currency, thus making possible in
the economic field the industrialisation which they seek ; the International Labour Organisation should give its full co-operation for
this purpose to the Economic Commission for Latin America and to
the International Trade Organisation, when established.
In order that large-scale schemes of economic development may
produce the economic and political benefits with a view to which
they are undertaken, such development should be accompanied,
in all its stages, by general social progress.
I.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

1. The application of comprehensive schemes of industrialisation and development would be facilitated by the creation of appropriate national and international machinery capable of weighing
all the factors involved ; of making policy recommendations concerning such matters as industries the development of which should
be encouraged, the conditions necessary to attract national and
foreign capital investment and, where necessary, the allocation of
foreign exchange resources ; and of taking steps to ensure that the
policies adopted are effectively carried out.
2. The effectiveness of such machinery would be enhanced by
the inclusion of arrangements for consulting employers' and workers'
organisations and for enlisting the co-operation of such organisations
in the execution of measures of industrialisation.
3. The preparation of national schemes of industrialisation and
development should be supplemented by international surveys of
the progress of development schemes and by regular consultation
among the countries concerned on the common problems and opportunities which such surveys may be expected to bring to light.
4. The need to expand the market for the goods to be produced
by the industries under development involves the raising of standards
of consumption of the people by appropriate income policies and
appropriate general economic, fiscal and monetary policies, to

312

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

maintain national income and expenditure at levels which will
sustain employment and markets without leading to inflation.
5. The need to increase the productivity of the workers involves
the provision of the necessary tools and equipment, the improvement
of general education and vocational training, the adoption of vigorous public health programmes and acceptable conditions of employment : in this regard it is desirable to adopt measures to facilitate
consultation between employers and workers both in individual
establishments and at the industrial and national levels. Access
to more advanced technical processes should be facilitated by the
countries where these processes are already in use and by international organisations.
6. Measures should be taken to ensure that industrial development benefits the population as a whole and promotes a more equitable distribution of income and wealth. With this object in view,
and also in order to encourage the accumulation of capital for production purposes, the habit of investing savings in industrial activities should be stimulated.
7. Every effort should be made to ensure that the resources of
the community are properly allocated between the immediate satisfaction of consumer wants, the provision of capital equipment and
other production goods and social facilities.
II.

MANPOWER

8. A constructive manpower programme is important in order
to furnish the Latin American countries with the supplies of technicians and skilled workers essential for economic development. An
increase in the number of skilled workers available to these countries
will directly further the social objectives of economic development,
promote conditions of full employment for unskilled and semi-skilled
workers and raise standards of living for the whole population.
9. The International Labour Conference has adopted and has
before it for consideration general international standards in regard
to employment, training and migration. These standards are contained in particular in the Becommendations concerning vocational
training and concerning apprenticeship, 1939, and the Convention
concerning employment service organisation, 1948. The revision
of the Convention and related Eecommendations concerning the
recruitment, placing and conditions of labour of migrants for employment, 1939, and the revision of the Fee-Charging Employment
Agencies Convention, 1933, are at present before the International
Labour Conference. The International Labour Conference also has
before it the question of adopting Recommendations concerning
vocational guidance and concerning vocational training of adults
(including disabled persons).
10. The Third Conference of American States Members of the
International Labour Organisation adopted resolutions concerning
training and migration. These resolutions set forth an inter-American
plan of action for the application of the Eecommendations concerning vocational training and concerning apprenticeship, 1939, having
regard to the special needs of American countries ; urged the necessity
of promoting technical and vocational orgamsation as a basis for

APPENDIX n

313

industrial development ; and emphasised the great importance of
the systematic organisation of migration with a view to assisting
the agricultural and industrial development of the American countries, believing that the unilateral regulation of migration should be
supplemented by bilateral and multilateral agreements.
11. The decisions taken on these questions by the International
Labour Conference and the Conferences of American States Members
of the International Labour Organisation contain a plan of action
for the solution of the major manpower problems of economic
development in Latin America. Operational activities are now
needed to furnish technical assistance to the countries of Latin
America to enable them to apply these general and regional decisions
most effectively.
12. The manpower programme adopted by the Governing Body
of the International Labour Office provides the machinery through
which such technical assistance can be placed at the disposal of the
Latin American countries. The activities undertaken under this
programme should be extended in Latin America and adapted to
meet Latin American needs.
13. Such a manpower programme should be designed to secure
full utilisation of national labour resources and, where appropriate,
include provision for effective use of foreign technicians and other
workers.
14. In the development of its work in the field of manpower,
the International Labour Organisation should work in co-operation
with the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Organization of American States. In this connection, the economic survey
of Latin America which is being prepared by the Economic
Commission for Latin America should prove of great value to
the International Labour Organisation in planning its manpower
programme.
National

Manpower

15. Vocational and technical training and supplementary
training should be regarded as an essential obligation on Governments, but it is also incumbent on organisations of employers and
workers to make every effort to provide supplementary training
programmes.
16. Technical and vocational training programmes in the Latin
American countries can produce the maximum of effectiveness only
if they are closely integrated with specific projects for agricultural
and industrial development and take into account the detailed manpower requirements of these projects. I t is the responsibility of
Governments to formulate such specific plans. In so doing they
should, wherever appropriate, make use of the assistance which is
available to them from the various international organisations. The
International Labour Organisation should develop its operating
programme in such a manner as to give the greatest possible assistance in the formulation and implementation of such plans.
17. In order to lay the groundwork for the development of an
operating manpower programme in Latin America the following
measures should be taken :

314

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

(a) a Latin American manpower field office and such field
missions as may be necessary should be established ;
(b) the functions of this office and these missions should be—
(i) to furnish information on employment organisation,
vocational training and apprenticeship ;
(ii) to provide technical assistance at the request of Governments, and, through Governments, of organisations of
employers and workers, in organising and improving
employment and training systems ;
(iii) to carry out other practical operations to obtain an
adequate supply of trained workers in Latin America ;
(iv) to establish a programme for training, including the
training of supervisors and instructors ;
(v) to promote the organisation of employment services and
provide arrangements for the training of employment
service staff ; and
(vi) to promote national, regional and international
exchanges of trainees, student employees and instructors which is one of the most useful methods of encouraging a general improvement in skills ;
(c) meetings of experts on training, employment organisation
and related questions should be convened.
18. In the development of the operating manpower programme
special attention should be given to—
(a) the spread of general basic education for the masses, which
is the fundamental basis for effective technical and vocational training ;
(b) the development of vocational guidance facilities so as to
relate the individual's qualifications and preferences to the
economic and social needs of the community in such a
manner as to promote maximum individual work satisfaction and the best use of manpower in developing the productive resources of the economy ;
(c) the establishment of programmes for the training of personnel
in managerial, administrative and planning capacities which
forms an essential element in the provision of the technical
personnel necessary to the effective implementation of economic development programmes.
19. Appropriate action should be taken by Governments and
by the International Labour Organisation, in co-operation where
appropriate with other international organisations, towards the
solution of the problems indicated in the above paragraphs.
Foreign

Manpower

20. Migration based on carefully prepared plans can assist in
the provision of an adequate supply of skuled manpower. I t should
be co-ordinated with the employment and training programmes for
national workers. Deficits in Latin America may be met to a large
extent from the European countries which have a surplus of persons
whose skills cannot be utilised fully in their own countries. Such
deficits may also, in some cases, be met from certain other American
countries which have overpopulated areas.

APPENDIX II

315

21. Large-scale migration should be preceded by specific plans
for agricultural and industrial development, and preliminary enquiries should be undertaken by the Governments concerned in
order to draw up such plans.
22. The action of the Governments concerned and of international organisations in regard to the various problems of economic
development, migration and land settlement should be co-ordinated.
23. The American States should co-operate actively with the
International Labour Organisation in formulating working solutions
to current migration problems, including the conclusion of precise
governmental agreements on migration, through the medium of the
preliminary conference and the international conference on this
question to be convened by the Governing Body of the International
Labour Office, and through other appropriate means.
24. The Latin American field office for employment and technical training and the Latin American field missions should work in
conjunction with the field missions being established in emigration
countries to facilitate satisfactory recruitment and reception, adaptation and training, placement and settlement of migrants.
The field office and field missions should be prepared to give
practical assistance to Governments of immigration countries
requesting aid in the formulation and implementation of their
migration plans.
25. The International Labour Office should undertake enquiries,
in close co-operation with the Governments and international
organisations concerned, as to the capacity of the immigration
countries to absorb immigrants and as to methods for facilitating
international mobility of labour and the elimination of obstacles
which today hinder such mobility. Studies should also be made of
the surplus labour in certain other American countries. The result
of such enquiries should be made available for use in carrying out
plans for migration. In this regard it 'would be useful if migration
problems were solved through an international conference at which
the countries of emigration and immigration were represented.
III.

TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

26. Technical assistance based upon the experience of other
countries can be of great value for the economic development of
the underdeveloped countries and can be made most effective in so
far as it is applied to concrete and detailed plans based upon the
needs and resources of the countries concerned.
27. Technical assistance directed to the social aspects of economic
development should form an integral part of any programme of technical assistance to be furnished through the international organisations.
28. The International Labour Organisation should be equipped
with the resources and facilities necessary to enable it to give the
full benefit of its experience to the countries of Latin America
desiring to develop their national economies by furnishing technical
assistance to those countries at their request and on the basis of a
plan co-ordinated with the work of other international organisations
in related fields.

316

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA

29. In applying a co-ordinated programme of technical assistance through international organisations, account should be taken
of the special problems of the Latin American countries and of the
action which the International Labour Organisation, in co-operation,
where appropriate, with the other international organisations
concerned, can take towards their solution.
30. The co-ordinated programme of. technical assistance for
economic development should be framed in the light of the fundamental objective set forth in the Declaration of Philadelphia, that
the attainment of conditions in which all human beings, irrespective
of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material
well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom
and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity must
constitute the central aim of national and international policy, and
that all national and international policies and measures, and particularly those of an economic and financial character, should be
judged in the light of this fundamental objective.
31. The social objectives of economic development include full
and steady employment and rising standards of living which ensure
equality of treatment of national and foreign manpower.
32. Shortages of skilled labour in all of the underdeveloped
countries and the need of large numbers of workers for employment
in industry and agriculture in the sparsely populated areas represent
a major bottleneck in the development of resources, which can be
overcome through improved employment market organisation,
technical and vocational training and migration organisation,
integrated with the requirements of development schemes ; the
technical assistance envisaged in Part I I (manpower) of this resolution can be of outstanding value in this connection.
33. The increasing of production involves collaboration between
employers, technicians and workers and can best be secured through
an adequate system of industrial relations and collective bargaining.
I t is therefore desirable that the International Labour Organisation
should be equipped to give advice and practical assistance on an
expanded scale to Governments and, with the approval of the
Governments concerned, to employers' and workers' organisations
in connection with problems of industrial relations, including methods
of settling industrial disputes. Such advice might usefully include
advice to Governments concerning the preparation of draft legislation and regulations, establishment of machinery for ensuring the
application of these regulations, the organisation of conciliation
services and the methods of procedure to be followed in settling
disputes and in investigating complaints, and advice to employers'
and workers' organisations concerning methods of collective bargaining and the best use of collective bargaining machinery.
34. Wage policies should be conducive to sustained economic
development ; the International Labour Organisation should therefore be equipped to provide technical assistance and advice on an
expanded scale in the establishment and operation of wage-determining machinery appropriate to the needs of particular underdeveloped countries and the design and introduction of appropriate
systems of wage payment.
35. The increasing of productive efficiency and the interests of
the workers concerned depend upon measures to improve industrial

APPENDIX II

317

safety and occupational health which will reduce losses in manpower
and in production, reduce absenteeism and labour turnover and the
frequency of occupational diseases and accidents, and contribute to
better industrial relations. The International Labour Organisation
should therefore be equipped to give technical assistance and advice
to Governments on an expanded scale in regard to the development
of safety legislation and regulations based on internationally approved
standards and taking into account the specific conditions that may
exist in each particular country ; the development of labour inspection services competent to supervise the enforcement of legislation
on industrial accident prevention ; the promotion of voluntary
safety movements, in which Governments, employers and workers
would take an active part ; and the promotion of instruction in
industrial safety in technical and trade schools and, where such
schools do not exist, the organisation of training courses in methods
of preventing occupational accidents. The International Labour
Organisation should also be equipped to give, in co-operation with
the World Health Organisation and the Pan American Sanitary
Bureau as the Regional Office of the World Health Organisation for
the Americas, advice to Governments on the framing and administration of occupational health organisation covering conditions in
workplaces, methods of preventing occupational diseases, systems
of compensation and methods of inspection and enforcement. I t
should also be equipped to give assistance in the establishment and
initial operation of schemes for the training of the personnel necessary for the application of industrial health measures, and should
be prepared to undertake the preparation and publication, in appropriate languages, of monographs on the principal types of industrial
health hazards likely to be encountered in the countries concerned
and the methods of dealing with them.
36. Labour laws and regulations necessary for sound industrial
development cannot make their full contribution towards promoting
and maintaining the necessary productivity of industrial workers
unless they are effectively administered and applied. The International Labour Organisation should be equipped to give advice and
assistance to Governments on an expanded scale in the organisation
of labour inspection services and the technical training of labour
inspectors ; for this purpose it should organise regional training
centres for inspectors, technical advisory missions to advise national
inspection services on their organisational and technical problems,
brief seminars on technical problems for senior inspection officials
and arrangements for the international exchange of inspection
officials ; it should compile and publish a basic inspection manual
for the use and guidance of labour inspection officials, and compile
a roster of experts in the field of labour inspection upon whose
services Governments requiring assistance for substantial periods
of time could call.
37. The establishment of statistical services necessary to furnish
adequate information bearing upon the progress, future course and
results of development plans is an indispensable adjunct to the
economic development of underdeveloped areas. The International
Labour Organisation should therefore be equipped to give technical
advice and assistance to Governments on an expanded scale in
regard to the organisation, development and technical improvement
of the collection, tabulation and analysis of labour statistics, includ-

318

VOCATIONAL TRAINING IN LATIN AMEBICA

ing, in particular, statistics of employment and unemployment,.
wages, cost of living and family living studies, and should organise^
and promote training courses for labour statisticians and the interchange of personnel between countries. In carrying out this programme, it should work in collaboration with the United Nations,
the Inter-American Statistical Institute and other appropriateinternational agencies.
38. Social security systems constitute a necessary accompaniment to any programme of economic development. The industrial.
wage earner, much more than the rural worker, is menaced by
destitution in case of sickness, unemployment or old age, and in.
order to attract underemployed workers from rural areas into industrial employment, at least a minimum programme of social security
must be afforded. At a later stage it will become necessary tointroduce into the rural areas also appropriate measures of social
security in order to check an unduly heavy migration into the towns.
Adequate medical care services will contribute to maintaining the<
health and productive capacity of the workers both in industry and
in agriculture. The International Labour Organisation should
therefore be equipped to furnish technical advice and assistance to
Governments on an expanded scale in regard to the framing and
administration of all branches of social security legislation, including"
employment injury, sickness, maternity, invalidity, old age, death,
unemployment and family allowances. Such advice and assistanceshould include specialist advice and assistance in connection with
the actuarial and general administration of social insurance, theorganisation of preventive and curative medical care services and
the medical aspects of the rehabilitation of disabled workers. In
addition to continuing to organise field missions to advise Governments concerning social security legislation and administration, theInternational Labour Organisation should organise training courses
to be attended by officials of countries introducing social security
schemes or desiring to improve their social security administration
in such fields as accounting, medical care organisation, collection of
contributions, filing systems, statistics ; and should prepare monographs on administrative practice of social security in selected
countries with typical systems, reproducing forms, registration
cards, medical cards, insurance cards, etc., to assist national authorities in drawing up regulations for the operation of social securityschemes and in the establishment of administrative services required ;
and should prepare handbooks on technical problems of social
security.
39. In all underdeveloped countries the great majority of t h e
population is engaged in agriculture. Measures in regard to the
employment, wages and conditions of work of agricultural workers
designed to increase the mobility, adaptability, skill and productivity
of the agricultural labour force, to provide greater incentives to
workers and to stimulate management to introduce labour-saving
methods would accordingly raise the output, earnings and living
standards of the workers concerned, would enable the labour requirements for expanding agricultural production to be met by the
fuller and more continuous employment of fewer workers, and would
release labour needed for the development of new industries. The
International Labour Organisation should therefore be equipped t o
furnish technical assistance and advice to Governments on an

APPENDIX EC

319

expanded scale, in co-operation, where appropriate, with the Food
and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, on methods of
affording security of employment and livelihood to agricultural
workers ; the effects on work incentives and opportunities for job
advancement of different systems of land tenure, ownership and
remuneration ; wage policy and methods of wage regulation ; and
such matters as hours of work, rest periods and holidays, the protection of young workers and the conditions of accommodation and
other facilities required for health and efficiency.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE

Vocational Training of Adults . . .
The preparation of a series of monographs on vocational
training and retraining in different countries forms part of a
special programme of work on manpower problems which the
Governing Body of the International Labour Office authorised
in March 1948 for the purpose of assisting Governments,
employers and trade unions on problems of vocational guidance,
training and retraining, collecting information on manpower
surpluses and deficits in relation to international migration,
and establishing an international nomenclature.

. . . in tlie United Kingdom
The first study in this series deals with a particular aspect of
the subject in the United Kingdom—namely, the action of the
Government in organising special training centres for adult workers
to ensure an adequate supply of skilled labour for essential industries.
88 pages, illustrated.
Price : 50 cents ; 2s.

. . . in the United States
Gives an account of the development of training programmes for
adults in the United States. Special attention is paid to the FederalState vocational education programme, apprentice training, in-plant
training conducted by private undertakings, training-withinindustry programmes for supervisory workmen, and training of
veterans, women and disabled persons.
223 pages, illustrated.
Price : $1.25; 6s. 3d.

. . . in Belgium
Describes the action taken by the Government of Belgium for
the retraining of unemployed workers and the systems which have
been developed for the training of two important groups : railwaymen, in view of the importance of training in the transport industry,
and foremen, because of their role in relation to output, safety and
peace.
79 pages, illustrated.
Price : 50 cents : 2s. 6d.
Monographs describing vocational training and retraining
in several other countries are in preparation.