The old and the new Peru

by Marie Robinson Wright

DR. MANUEL BARRIOS, DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE, LIMA.

The University of San Marcos is to-day a thoroughly modern institution, representative of the liberal spirit of progress which pervades all classes in Peru,—a country that has passed through greater and more vital changes than fall to the lot of most nations. What transformations have been wrought in education in Peru since the amauttas imparted knowledge to the sons of the Sun, holding its precious truths too sacred to be communicated to any but noble princes! The attitude of the Spanish teachers was less openly restrictive, though, in effect, the system of education was little broader than it had been under the monarchs of Cuzco. The lessons of the temple were replaced by those of the convent, and the benefits of knowledge were still chiefly confined to the nobility. With the evolution of ideas that modern civilization encouraged, conditions gradually improved during nearly three hundred years of Spanish rule, and the eighteenth century witnessed the phenomenon of independent thought, the awakening of the individual in society. With the inauguration of the republic, the progress of Peru entered a new channel, and though, at first, the stream of liberal ideas had to force a narrow passage between walls of tradition, to surmount rocks and boulders of obstructing prejudice, carrying in its flow an accumulated driftwood of sentiment from the ancient groves of worship, yet its course has been always toward the sea of universal good, and its channel, deepened and widened by the growing force of the current, now forms the bed of a mighty tide of worthy endeavor.

The university leads in promoting the interests of a broad and liberal education in Peru, and, under the present administration, important reforms have been introduced, in accord with the progressive ideals of the twentieth century. The government of the university is in the hands of a council, composed of the rector, vice-rector, and secretary of the institution, with the dean and a delegate from each of the faculties. It is practically independent in the conduct of its affairs, the state having only the economic interest which rests on a pecuniary grant, and even this is disposed of according to the discretion of the University Council. Although all education in Peru is under the immediate protection and solicitude of the supreme government, the intervention of the executive is used only for the improvement of educational advantages and the extension of public instruction. In all that relates to the internal régime of the university, the rector and his advisers constitute the supreme authority. Dr. Don Luis F. Villarán succeeded the lamented Dr. Francisco Garcia Calderon as head of the university in 1905, and has continued the progressive methods of that learned statesman. The past three years have been marked by several important reforms.

The closing ceremonies of the university year of 1907 took place March 15, 1908, instead of the 24th of December, 1907, in consequence of the students having been called away in November for military manœuvres, obedient to the new law of forced military service. The occasion was one of solemn ceremony, President Pardo attending, with his cabinet. The address of the rector included a résumé of the year’s events in the university, showing that its influence and usefulness had been increased, and notable advancement made in its affairs. The prestige of the university was enhanced last year through the brilliant record of its delegates at the congress of students in Montevideo, when this institution was shown to be in the first rank among Spanish-American institutions in culture and progress.

THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE, LIMA.

The curriculum of studies is under the direction of six faculties: Jurisprudence, which confers the degree of lawyers and ministers on the completion of a five years’ course, the dean of the faculty being Dr. Lizardo Alzamora; Medicine, granting the title of “Physician and Surgeon” to graduates who complete its six years’ course, Dr. Manuel Barrios, a statesman of distinction, now president of the Senate, being dean of this faculty; and the Faculties of Theology, Mathematics and Physical and Natural Sciences, Philosophy, Letters and Administrative and Political Economy, which do not confer professional degrees. In order to be eligible to the Faculty of Medicine, the student must have completed two years of the course in Natural Science and the obligatory course of the first and second years of Mathematical Science and Physics. The Faculty of Letters, presided over by the dean, Dr. Javier Prado y Ugarteche, renders especial services and performs double duty by preparing students to follow the career of the law and training professors to teach in the higher public schools and colleges. It is thus the meeting ground between the university and the primary school, its graduates being afterward represented both in the highest classes of the Faculty of Jurisprudence and among superintendents of primary schools. Only recently a law was introduced in the Senate through the efforts of university professors, to establish complementary courses in the Faculties of Letters and Sciences for the special training of professors to direct the national colleges of secondary instruction. The law makes professorship a public career sufficiently attractive to induce students of ability to devote themselves exclusively to this pursuit. A four years’ term of preparation is required, practical teaching in the College of Guadalupe being included in the last two years’ course.

DR. JAVIER PRADO Y UGARTECHE, DEAN OF THE LITERARY FACULTY, UNIVERSITY OF SAN MARCOS.

The Faculty of Administrative and Political Economy, which, as elsewhere stated, was founded by President Manuel Pardo, was first organized by the eminent scholar, Dr. Pradier Fodéré. The object of this faculty is to give special instruction to those who are preparing to follow a diplomatic career or to direct administrative offices. The degree of doctor is conferred after a three years’ course in constitutional, international, administrative, diplomatic and maritime law, political economy, economical legislation of Peru, science of finance, financial legislation of Peru, and statistics. The present dean of the faculty is Dr. Ramón Ribeyro, a noted authority on international affairs and a member of the supreme court of justice. The Faculty of Theology gives a theological education, the course covering six years. In the Faculty of Sciences, the student is allowed to enter the School of Engineers after completing the obligatory courses of the first and second years of mathematical sciences and physics. The University of Lima is destined to achieve greater distinction during the present century through its liberal and democratic ideals than was gained in the three centuries of existence under the influence of aristocratic exclusiveness. The new edifice of the Faculty of Medicine is one of the signs of material progress evident in many features of the institution. A University Review is published monthly, replacing the annual volume founded in 1862 as the Annals of the University. Although the ancient University of San Marcos stands at the head of the educational institutions of Peru, the universities of Arequipa, Cuzco, and Trujillo are important centres of learning, having Faculties of Jurisprudence, Literature, and Political and Natural Sciences. The rector of the University of Arequipa, Dr. Jorge Polar, was Minister of Public Instruction during the first two years of President Pardo’s administration, and is an eminent authority on educational matters. Dr. Eliseo Araujo, rector of Cuzco University, is also a distinguished statesman as well as an experienced educator. Trujillo University is under the direction of Dr. Pedro M. Ureña, who succeeded Dr. Carlos Washburn as rector, when that statesman was called to the cabinet of President Pardo.