For this branch of education the National Educational Association in 1917 recommended that there be established by law a Council of Industrial Education composed of a director and 12 members, four of whom shall be professors of the fundamental technical branches, one a woman inspector of vocational schools for women, one an inspector general of primary education, one the director general of railroads, and one a director and inspector of army munitions. Their duties should be to exercise superintendency over the entire system of technical and industrial education to be organized in the Republic, over the national school of arts and trades, and over such industrial schools for girls and women as might be established. On this board should be likewise all inspectors and officials of such branches as might be later established. A bill embodying these provisions was introduced in the Congress but has not as yet been acted upon.
Steady progress in all branches of technical education has been shown. The schools of higher primary grade offering technical courses number 288, with physical training and gymnastics compulsory in all grades. There were also in operation 29 technical colegios for women; 6 agricultural colegios; 10 commercial schools, controlled by the commission upon commercial education; and 3 schools of mines.
The department of industrial promotion has urged upon the Congress the establishment of a chain of industrial and agricultural schools.
With the establishment by law of the Industrial University of Valparaiso there will be completed the full cycle of industrial education in Chile, consisting of: (1) Elementary industrial training in two schools already established and in six more to be established; (2) secondary industrial training in the School of Arts and Crafts; and (3) higher industrial training in the Technical School of Valparaiso.
In November, 1918, met the first National Congress of Dairying, organized under the auspices of the Agronomic Society of Chile. It urged the legal organization of instruction in this branch in (1) special schools of dairying in northern and central Chile; (2) courses annexed to already established schools of agriculture; (3) in establishments of secondary education for youths of both sexes in popular meetings and public traveling courses; (4) in rural primary schools for illiterate adults.
It is appropriate to mention just here the comprehensive project of the board of missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States for the establishment of an agricultural and industrial system of education in southern Chile. It has been approved by the Government of Chile as a potent aid in the uplift of the peon class. A ranch of nearly 4,000 acres has been purchased along the Malleco River, on which it is purposed to train the native population in the rudimentary subjects of instruction, and especially in modern agricultural methods. The management will employ the best available experts in horticulture, agriculture, and domestic arts to be found in the South American countries who may be acquainted with the needs of Chilean rural life.
THE NATIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILE.
This body plays a larger part in educational thought and leadership than the corresponding body in any other Latin American State. Its activities are planned for close articulation of the social and educational needs of the nation. One of the furthest reaching is the public-extension work in subjects of university and secondary instruction. In 1917, its eleventh year of operation, it held 14 conferences at the University of Chile, with an attendance of 15,000, an increase of 50 per cent over the previous year. The subjects treated were patriotic, historical, literary, artistic, sociological, commercial, and medico-therapeutic.
In secondary extension during 1917 there were held in provincial capitals 19 conferences on subjects more popular and more exclusively educational and sociological.
The department of university extension has also for three years devoted itself to collecting international data upon immigration and naturalization laws, and has cooperated with all the labor organizations of the Republic to hinder the passage of premature and unscientific laws in this field.