CHAPTER XI
EDUCATION AND THE ARTS
The educational facilities in Brazil are not of the best in the republic as a whole. In some of the states, such as São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and a part of Minas Geraes, the provisions are fairly good, but in none of them has the work been systematized in the same way that it has in our own land. Until the establishment of the republic the instruction was almost entirely in the hands of the church, but the duty now rests upon the various states and municipalities. Statistics upon education in Brazil are very unreliable, just as are their census reports, so that whatever or whosesoever figures are followed there will be errors. It is perhaps safe to say that not over twenty-five per cent. of the total population are able to read and write.
The government has issued a volume which gives the figures of school enrolment of the various states, which is the first attempt on the part of the federal government to give educational statistics. In a few of the states, so the official report says, the estimates of school enrolment are not complete, since it was impossible to secure complete returns from some of the rural districts, but in the main they may serve to give a fairly adequate idea of the educational facilities in the republic; at any rate, they are the best figures that are obtainable. The figures include all schools, whether of public or private character, state or municipal. The total number of primary schools reported is eleven thousand one hundred and forty-seven, of which one thousand eight hundred and fifteen are public municipal schools, seven thousand and eighty nine public schools under state control, and mostly in the smaller towns and villages, and two thousand two hundred and forty-five private schools, most of which are in the larger towns and cities. The state schools, which are improperly designated as rural schools, have an enrolment of three hundred and forty thousand six hundred and ninety-seven, and an attendance of two hundred and forty thousand six hundred and ninety. The municipal schools have an enrolment of one hundred and six thousand seven hundred and fifty-four, and an attendance of sixty-nine thousand four hundred and thirty-two. Private primary schools have an enrolment of one hundred and ten thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and an attendance of eighty-one thousand and sixty-six. Of the three hundred and twenty-seven secondary institutions twenty-nine are public and two hundred and ninety-eight under private control, the former having an enrolment of four thousand and the latter of twenty-six thousand two hundred and fifty-eight. No figures of the actual attendance at these institutions were given, but it would probably not be much less than the enrolment. If these government figures are correct, and the population is twenty million five hundred and fifteen thousand as claimed, in that same report, then scarcely three per cent. of the population may be regarded as enjoying school privileges. This estimate takes on new significance when one considers that the proportion of rural population is very high, as compared with the entire population, and shows how much less the facilities are in those sections. In the Federal District, for instance, which includes the city of Rio de Janeiro, and where the population is almost entirely urban, there is an estimated population of eight hundred and fifty-eight thousand, and a school enrolment of sixty-one thousand nine hundred and thirty-three. In the state of Alagoas, on the other hand, with an almost equal population, and where it is altogether rural with the exception of a few coast towns, there is a school enrolment of only fourteen thousand and ninety-two. The state of Pernambuco, with only one town of any size, and that the capital, has a school enrolment of only twenty-two thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in a reported population of one million three hundred and ten thousand. More comparisons might be made, but with these explanations the reader can figure them out from the table.[2]
A SCHOOL FOR BOYS IN SÃO PAULO.
The school instruction, except in the Federal District and the professional schools, is in the hands of the various states. In none of them does a compulsory educational law exist, and, if it did, the facilities do not exist to take care of those of school age who would thus be obliged to attend. As will be seen by the comparisons the provisions for instruction and the illiteracy vary much in the different states. Some of the states are richer than others, and can afford to spend more money for public requirements, and others are naturally more progressive. All of the schools in the various states are modelled on the same general plan. I have chosen those of São Paulo for illustration, because that state has made better progress along educational lines than the others, and because I made a special study of the school system of that state.
A SCHOOL FOR GIRLS IN SÃO PAULO.