The schools are divided into three classes: primary, secondary and superior. The primary schools are again divided into preliminary and complementary instruction. The preliminary instruction is given in ungraded schools, and the law requires the establishment of an ungraded school in every community where there are from twenty to forty pupils of school age, although this has not always been done. Where there are six or more of these schools, a “school group” may be established, in which teaching is graded. In this state there are about eighty of these school groups. In addition there are a number of night schools where similar instruction is given to those who are unable to attend the day schools, or who have passed the school age and lacked the opportunity for an education in their youthful days. Of these there are thirty-four in the state at the present time. A few free kindergarten schools are also maintained in the capital, but this feature of instruction has not been developed much as yet.
The secondary instruction is given in what are termed gymnasiums. All of these schools, whether public or private, in order to be recognized over the country, must conform to the regulations laid down by the National Gymnasium at Rio de Janeiro. They must observe the programmes and courses of study laid down by that institution, and the student in one of these gymnasiums is given the degree of bachelor of letters, or science, after a course of study covering six years. In the state of São Paulo, there are three of these schools: one in São Paulo, one in Campinas and one in Riberão Preto. The course of study is about equal to that of the average high school in the United States, and prepares the student to matriculate in the schools for superior instruction. The so-called superior schools are those devoted to technical and professional education. For superior instruction there are in this state two institutions: the Law School and the Polytechnic School, of which the former is a federal institution, and has graduated some of the brightest lawyers and statesmen of the republic. The Polytechnic School is devoted, as its name indicates, to the teaching of the practical sciences, and is fitted with the necessary apparatus for such instruction. The school year in the public schools is generally from the first of February, or March, to the end of the following November, but the professional schools do not begin as a rule until the first of April. A model school, the Braz Grupo, is maintained in São Paulo, which is used as the name would indicate, as an example for the other schools.
One school of which this state is very proud is the Normal School, which has departments for all grades from the kindergarten up. Its primary object is to prepare teachers for the work in the other schools, and in this respect it is doing an admirable work. As its accommodation is limited the students are only admitted upon special recommendation, and it is sometimes difficult for a boy or girl to secure admittance, as it is always full. The normal course extends over a period of four years, and covers a wide range of subjects. It is fitted up with a good library, a chemical laboratory, gymnasium, modelling rooms and apparatus for manual work. It has turned out several hundred graduates, of whom the proportion of women exceeds that of men in about the same proportion as they do in our own land.
The director of public instruction in this state is a progressive man, and is making many improvements in the work. He made a trip to the United States in order to study the system there, and brought back a great many practical ideas. He is arranging the courses of study and method of instruction in the schools of this state after the system in use in the United States. It cannot be done all at once as there are certain prejudices in the minds of some that must first be overcome. This process has been in operation for several years, and one can see the good results. The building was originally planned by an American lady teacher, who was brought down for that purpose. The only two modern languages taught, except the Portuguese, are French and English. This is a compliment to our tongue to have it chosen in preference to the German and Spanish, as is generally the rule. Their method of teaching the English is very practical too. This means that in the course of a few years the English language will be much more common than it is to-day. I found that the people were anxious to learn English, and those who did know it were proud of the accomplishment. Formerly they desired to know only French, in addition to Portuguese, for that was the polite language; but, as commerce has developed, the desire to know English has increased in proportion, until now all those who are able to go to the higher institutions of learning are taking up the study of English.
There are a number of other institutions of learning in this state, most of them under the auspices of the various Roman Catholic orders. Some of these schools are of a very high order and are doing their share in the work of raising the standard of education. One of the best of their institutions is a large convent school for the education of girls. The most important non-Catholic institution is the Mackenzie College, which was founded by Presbyterian missionaries, but is now undenominational. At its head is the venerable Dr. Horace M. Lane, a scholarly and able man, whom I am glad to enrol as a friend. Dr. Lane first came to Brazil in 1857 as a physician, and has lived there continuously since that time, except for a period of fourteen years, during which he practised medicine in the United States. When the college was endowed with $50,000 by John T. Mackenzie, of New York, whose name it now bears, Dr. Lane was chosen president and has remained at the head ever since. The will of the above benefactor left the college a large additional sum of money. Dr. Lane understands the Brazilians as few Americans do. He is a very kindly and generous critic, and frankly tells them their faults without flattery. His candour and frankness have won him friends and the respect of all, and even of the Catholic clergy. Mackenzie College is unique in that it has never asked recognition of the government, but is affiliated with the University of the State of New York. This institution has been in existence a number of years, and its instructors have had the pleasure of seeing many of its graduates reach positions of the greatest importance, both at home and abroad. The resident foreigners send their children there, and the Brazilians do likewise. A graduate of Mackenzie College has a recognized standing all over the republic even though it has not asked for government recognition, and placed itself under the necessity of maintaining an official inspector on its pay roll.
STUDENTS AT THE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, PIRACICABA.
The O Granberry College, at Juiz de Fora, in the state of Minas Geraes, is another progressive North American college, under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, that is making a reputation in Brazil. I had the privilege of attending the commencement exercises at this college, in company with the American Ambassador and his military attaché. The festa exercises, as they term it in Brazil, were attended by a very large audience. Representative citizens of the community, including the mayor of the city and the president of the Camara, which is a sort of county council, were present on the platform. This shows a truly liberal spirit, for perhaps only a very small proportion of the audience were other than Roman Catholics. This school maintains, in addition to the regular academic courses, schools of pharmacy, dentistry and theology. Their schools of pharmacy and dentistry are among the very best in the republic. A government military instructor is also kept to drill the boys and young men in military tactics, much the same as in the colleges of our own land. I was surprised to find a number of young women taking up the study of pharmacy and dentistry, for it seemed a wide departure in this land of conservativeness and tradition, which has heretofore denied to woman that larger field granted to the sex in Anglo-Saxon countries. The generous spirit and encouragement shown to these institutions, conducted by aliens and Protestants, and the wider field granted to women, are good omens, I believe, for the future of the land.
A number of states have established agricultural schools, which promise much for the future. The best one of these schools is the Escola Agricola, at Piracicaba, which is maintained by the state of São Paulo. The site for this college was presented to the state by one of its progressive citizens. The Secretary of Agriculture of that state travelled widely throughout the United States and Europe, studying places and methods, and finally decided to establish the school on the American system. He then engaged Dr. Clinton D. Smith, an American, who had been at the head of a prominent agricultural college in the United States, to take charge of the work. The faculty also include two Frenchmen, one Belgian, one Bulgarian, one Portuguese and a number of Brazilians, making quite a cosmopolitan board of instructors.
The institution is housed in a large, beautiful building, and its equipment is equal to our own best institutions. The student is instructed in the analysis of soils, and the introduction of modern machinery for their cultivation; in botany, and a good course in stock raising; and in physics, even to measuring the force of a waterfall, or winding a dynamo. There is also a course in physiology, hygiene and medicine for emergencies, as well as much-needed instruction in political economy. The most practical feature is the actual work on the farm which every student is obliged to do. He must work for two hours each day in the actual occupation of handling a plow, rigging a harrow, managing a mower or reaper, and learn how to repair any of the common machines on the plantation. Students from a number of states attend the school, and many of them are sons of wealthy Brazilians. As the able director told me: “It is a good and much-needed training for a set of boys born where slavery was in existence, and in a land where to work with the hands is a sign of inferiority. The hope of the college is to exert a fundamental influence on agriculture, where monoculture is the rule and polyculture ought to be.” It will do more than that, for such instruction will have an important bearing in developing the character of these young men as well.