COURIER

PUBLICATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL ; SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANISATION

Volume 1.-,,"0. 2. Price : 10 Cents (U. S.), 6 Pence (U. K.), or 12 Francs (in France only). MARCH 194L

Executive Board

Convenes

THE UNESCO Executive Board, meetmg for the first time sincethe Mexico City General Conference, took important decisions

during its four-day sessions at Unesco House, February 12-15. Amongthese were approval for top-flight appointments to the Secretariat,

preparations for the Third Session of the General Conference, andthe establishement of priorities for the 1948 world programme of

Unesco.

A series of eight meetings was

held under the chairmanship of

Dr. E. Ronald Wa) ker (Australie).

Vice-Chairmen included Sir Sar-

vepalli Radhakrishnan (India)and Professor Alf Sommerfelt

(Norway).Fifteen of the eighteen mem-

bers of tie Board were present

at the sessions with three alter-

nates for members unable to at-

tend. Observers included repres-

entatives of the United Nations,

the I. L. O., the W. H. O. and the

F. A. O. Present also at the meet-

ings were Dr. Julian Huxley, Dir-ector-General of Unesco, Mr. Wal-

ter H. C. Laves, Deputy Director-

General, and M. Jean Thomas,

Assistant Director-General.

Held in a newly-prepared con-

ference hall on the ground floor

of Unesco House, the sessions were

regularly attended by visitors,members of the Unesco Secre-

tariat and representatives of the

French and international press in

Paris.

Early in the first meeting, Dr.Walker keynoted the purpose of

the work ahead when he referred

to"the absolute necessity of en-

suring that the money which thetax payers of the Member-States

contribute towards the noble pur-

pose of Unesco is anent to thebest advantage..."

Yew Secretariat

Appointments

The Executive Board approved

five important nominations to the

Unesco Secretariat. These in-

cluded the creation of a new post,

that of another Assistant Direc-

tor-General, to be fuled by Dr.

Clarence E. Beeby, Director of

Education of the government of

New Zealand and twice head of

his nation's delegation to the

Unesco General Conference. Dr.

Beebv will have special responsi-

bilities in the field of education.

Theatre Institute

The International Theatre

institute (I. T. !.) W'ZZ hold its

Constituent Congress in Mala

strana, Prague, at the Palace

of the Natzonal CounÔI from

May 31 to June 5, 1948. It is

expected that distinguishedtheatre artists, craftsmen and

admi11lstrators from about

t ! t ; eK-/tt ; e coM ? ztr : es M) : H ? ? : eettwenty-fzz ; e countries will meetunder the co-sponsorship of

Unesco and the Czechosloz ; a-

kian Goz ; ernment. Over fif

teen countries are now active-

sly engaged in fonning Na-t ; 07 ! ( ! Ce ? : tre aKd seet : ! ?tional Centres and selecting

delegations to attend the FirstInternatIOnal Theatre Con-

gress.

Tie latter is to be opened

by J. B. Priestley (United King-

dom), who is Chaznnan of theProvisional Executivé Com-

mittee of the I. T. !. It will

co7 : M' { ! er <t (top< ! 0 ? t o/a Charterconsider adoption of a Charter

and how best to movie forward

in its purpose, as set forth

in the Final Draft Clwrter :

"to promote international ex-

charge of knowledge and

practice in theatre arts".

Professor Pierre Auger, eminent

French scientist and member of

the Atomic Energy Commission,

will join Unesco as head of the

Natural Sciences Section, replac-

ing Dr. Joseph Needham F. R. S.(United Kingdom) who is retur-

ning to his work at Cambridge

University after two Years

pioneer work with Unesco.

Dr. Hadley Cantril, eminent

American social psychologist and

Professor of Social Psychology at

Princeton University, will direct

the important Unesco project of

Enquiries into the Tensions Af-

fecting International Understan-

ding.Professor Pedro Bosch Gimpera,

leading Mexican archeologist andformer Dean of the Philosophy

Department of the University of

(Continued on Page 2)

Huxley Reviews

1948 Progress

In a report to the Executive

Board on February 12, Dr. Julian

Huxley, Director-General ofUnesco, reviewed the progress

made by the Organisation in the

first six weeks of the year to get

the new programme under way.

"Important measures have beentaken since the beginning of

1948,"he declared,"to give effect

to the resolutions adopted by the

Conference in Mexico."The Exe-

cutive Board then heard a state-

ment which gave details of several

activities already in progress.

Dr. Huxley referred to the ad-

vances made this year in the field

of educational scientific and cul-

tural reconstruction, deemed most

urgent of all Unesco's activities.He also stressed the importance of

the preparatory work for the

impending organising meeting forthe creation of an International

Institute of the Hvlean Amazon

In the field of Exchange of

Persons, thirteen further scholar-

ships ten donated by the French

government and three by theAmerican Chemical Society-had

so far been awarded through

Unesco itself, is in preparation.

he reported. Moreover, the gov-

ernment of New Zealand had

offered a fund of Job15, 000 for the

financing of further fellowships.

The creation of an Educational.

Scientific and Cultural'Produc-

tion Bureau is well under way,

the Director-General continued.

Such a bureau will stimulate the

publicising and dramatising of

examples of co-operation be : weannations and make better known

the ways of life of peoples to

their neighbors. Within this fra-

mework, a scheme is shortly to be

launched whereby twenty nations

vm be invited to participate in I

preparing a series of 48 specialdocumentary films.

Concluding his report, theDirector-General stressed that

though the year was but six weeks

old"I have been able to observe

very encouraging sigrs of a dy-namic and effective activity in alII

. fields of the new programme."

Delegates to the forthcoming ;Hylean Amazon Conference in IPeru will probably see scenessimilar to one shown be ! ow :Inca ruins at Macchu Picchu,in region of the Source of

* she Amazon River.

amazon Meeting 0 pen

In Peru April 30 th

Own April 30 of this year a Con-Brazil and of Unesco, to considerference of interested member the establishment of the Internal

nations of Unesco wilt be con-

vened upon the joint invitation

of the governments of Peru and

Trn man Addresses

National Commission

pRESIDENT TRUMAN, ad-dressing members of the

U. S. National Commission for

Unesco in Washington, declar-

ed on February 16 that the

realisation of Unesco's pro-

gramme"will mean peace in

the world."

Convening at their fourth

meeting, the one hundred

members of the U. S. National

Commission and some 150 ob-

servers also heard addresses

by Secretary of State George

Marshall and Howland Sar-

genat, Deputy Assistant Secre-

tary of State for Public Af-

fairs. The convention was

called to study the 1943 Unesco

world programme and to take

steps to implement it within

the United States.

President Truman received

the delegates at the White

House and told them :"I sin-

cerely hope that you will con-

tinue what you have started ;

that you will work at it hard

enough so that nine-tenths of

the decisions I now have to

make will never come to this

desk. You can do that. That

will mean peace in the world."

Secretary Marshall told the

opening session of the meet-

ing that the work of Unesco

was of"tremendous impor-

tance to world peace."He ad-

ded :"My heart is in what you

are trying to do."

Dr. Milton Eisenhower, Pre-

sident of Kansas State Col

lege and Chairman of the

U. S. National Commission for

Unesco. appealed to the dele-

gates to carry the Unesco pro-

gramme to the"grass roots"

of the nation and to continue

to reach as many people as

possible."Unesco's high-level

scholarly attack on the prob-

lem of peace mus be supple-

mented by activities in which

great masses of people can

take part. and through which

they can make definite con-

tributions to peace and inter-

national understanding."

tional Institute of the Hylean

Amazon (IIHA). The United Nar

tions, its Specialised Agencies,

and several interested interna-

tional organisations have been

invited to participate in the deli

berations of the Conference.

Unesco's activities'in connection

with this meeting stem from

resolutions passed by its General

Conference at the recent Second

Session in Mexico City. The Direc-

tor-General was instructed to take

steps to bring this Institute,which was originally proposed by

the Government of Brazil, into

being m 1948.None of the projects sponsored

by Unesco has attracted more

interest than this proposed cream

tion of the IIHA, for behind this

designation is a broad programmefor the study oh a huge, but very

little known area of the world.

Extending from the Andes tothe Atlantic and from the River

Orinoco to the Mountains of Boli-

via, the Hylean Amazon-the vast

wooded region of the Amazon Ri-

ver basin is some 7, 000, 000 square

kilometres in area. Except for a

few settlements mainly along

river banks, the only inhabitants

of this region are about three

hundred thousand Indians, whose

conditions of life in many cases

are extremely primitive. The

density of population of the re-

gion is one of the lowest in theworld.

Ails of institute

The purpose of the Institute

would be to encourage and con-

duct scientific studies in the re-

gion, directed towards the greater

understanding of tropical natureand of man's relation thereto, the

practical development of the re-

gion by the Governments con-cerned and towards the further-

ance of international co-operation

and understanding.

The project for the creation of

an international research institute

in the Hylean Amazon has been

inspired by the past history ofthe region. Since the discovery of

Amazonia, it has been continu-

ously explored by scientific mis-sions of many nationalities with

the aim of drawing up its bo-

tanical and zoological inventory,

of becoming acquainted with the

state of social development and

organisation of its native tribes,of determining the essential cha-

racteristics of its climate and soil,

of carrying out archaelogical ex-

cavations and finally of opening

up the economic wealth and ex-

ploring the demographic possibil-ities of its vast area.

These long and difficult taskshave too often remained fruitless

for want. of a permanent centre

or body to co-ordinate them.

follow them up and pass them On

to succeeding generations. Fur-

thermore. the materials collected

b\ various expeditions were often

lost, and their reports, although

still extremely valuable docu-

menus, are largely scattered and

forgotten. One it the primarytasks is to bring to life all that

exists in archives, libraries and

museums concernmg Amazonia,

and further to renew, with con-

(Continued on Page 8)

Gandhi

and Unesco

See Page 2.

2 UNESCO COURIER

Unesco Bep) ores Beath of Gandhi

Rad'hakrishnan

Pays Tribute

To Mahatma

By Prof. Sir Sarvepalli

Radlurkrishnan,

Vice Chairman of UnescoExecutiv Board

On February 13, Professor

Sir Sarve : palli Radhakrishnan,

Vice-Chairman oj Unesco's

Executive Boord was in-

vited to address a large

audience at Unesco House in

Paris on the subject of Mahat-

ttMt Gandhi, whose tragic

death shocked the world on

Friday, January 30. Thereader will find below signifi.

cattt passages from this mov-

ing extempore speech.

LADIES and Gentlemen : I amhonoured by the invitation to

speak to you en Mahatma Gandhi.I know from the tributes that

have been received how much his

death has been deplored through-

out the world.

There are many famous men,

many important men, big in theirowt. way, big in their own space

and time, but they are small in

stature compared to Mahatma

Gandhi. His mastery over himself,

his courage and consistency of

life, his profound sincerity of

spirit, his abounding, all-embra-

cling charity and that strongconviction that he hand. and

shared with other great ones of

history, that martyrdom of the

body is nothing compared to therefinement of the souL All these

great qualities shew. if I may sayso. his essentiatiy religious genius :

the impact of religion on life, the

impact of the value of eternityon the shifting problems of the

world of time.

When we use the word religion,

many of us in our time are moreor less sceptical about it. But the

kind of religion Mahatma Gandhi

professed is one to which eventhe most sceptical, even the most

: intellectual highbrows could pay

allegiance to. Fifteen years ago Iedited a book on Contemporary

Indian Philosophy. 6e sent me a

page. and in that page he said :"There are people who ca ! I Godtruth. I say truth is God There

are men in the world who naVE'

denied God. but there are no men

who have denied truth. I am a

believer in truth. That is God for

me.

You may always take it that

the prophets of the spirit, by

simply standing outside history,mould history. They leave the

greatest impression on history

simply because they have this

quality of detachment from anykind of allegiance to earthly pos-

sessions themselves. Gandhi be-

longed to that type. He had noattraction for the material tings

of life so far as his personal life

was concerned, though he was

anxious to make the material con-

dittons of life better for largenumbers of men.

Freedom

Freedom for him was not merely

a political fact, it was a social

reality. He was anxious that Indiashould be converted from social

corruption and from communal

strife, and that the people raise

themselves in their own esteem,

discover their own dignity in

their own conscience, in the

depths of their own souls.

He felt that while August 15th

was a day of triumph so far as

political problems were concerned,it was a day of humiliation be-

cause the country was then

enslaved by petty communal pas-

sions.

He, therefore, kept away fromthe celebrations of political in-

dependence and went walking inthe villages of Bengal, lonely,

barefooted, taking his sustenancein the homes of small and

humble peasants, asking their

forgiveness and entreating them

'Ju) Julian Huxley

Cables Sorrow

To Pandit leer.

FOllowing the assassination. oJMahatma Gandhi on FridGy

January 30, 1948, Dr. Julion

Huxley, Director-General of

Unesco, forwarded the followi1l/1

telegram to bandit Jawakarih. Nehru, Prime Minister of India :TVehrM, Pr : mg M : Mtster o/77t< ! t<t :

PLEASE PERMIT ME CONVEY

MY PERSONAL PROFOUND

SYMPATHY WITH YOU AND

PEOPLES OF INDIA IN TRA-

GIC DEATH OF MAHATMA

GANDHI. STOP. HE WILL SUR-

VIVE AS AN IMMORTAL SYM-

BOL 01'UNDERSTANDING

BETWEEN MEN IN A WORLD

TORN WITH MISUNDERSTAN-

DING. STOP.

Julian HUXLEY.

Director-General-Un2S4.'e Paris.

tn 1947 Unesco undertook an examination of the philosophical

basis of human rights. It asked a number of thinkers and phMo-

sophers all over the world for their thoughts and opinions on thesubject. We reproduce the original letter which Mahatma Gandhi

sent to Unesco, in reply to this questionnaire, prior to his death

to remove from their hearts every

trace of bitterness, resentment or

ill-wI. That is what he was

doing. His advice to the newGoverninent was that the propos-

ed division of the country should

not be accepted. Until two days

before it was actuary accepted

he was arguing against it, but

the leaders were caught in a mo-

ment of great frustration. They

were tired of communal killings

which had disgraced the country

for the past few months. They

were eager and anxious to give

some kind of relief or security to

the harassed multitudes of the

country. So against their better

judgment, against the advice of

Gandtu. they accepted the parti-

tion of the country.

."... or I die."

I met him early in December,

and when I was discussing the

political situation with him, hesaid :"Either I heal the differen-

ces or I dire in the proc') ss :' He

died in the process.

He was not able to achieve that

communal peace and unity. He

fought for a free and unitedIndia. Free, in the political sense

of the term. India is. but united

she is not. That social freedom,

that communal amity, he has notbeen able to achieve.

And yet if there is any message

that he has left behind, it is the

message that we can cure theseills only by the methods of peace

and reconciliation. If communal

peace is to be established in India,the only thing that is open to us

is to adapt his methods : that is,

to refrain from anger, to refrain

from any kind of intemperance of

thought, word or deed, and not to

indulge in any expressions of vio-lence or any kind of hatred

knowmg that it is likely to accen-tuate animosity. That is the only

way in which we can build up atrue memorial for him.

Whatever we may think abüu.

Gandhi's part in the liberation of

India, his essential object was not

so much the liberation of India as

the liberation of the world. He

was trying to use India as an

experiment by which he would beable to suggest to the world other

ways by which differences couldbe adjusted and settled.

There are people who tell us :

non-violence is the dream of the

wise, violence is the history ofman, We know the results which

EXECMDWE BOARED COIVEIES

such battles have achieved. But

there is another battle steadily

going on in the hearts of men : abattle for human decency, for

human dignity, for the removal

of physical strife which constricts

human life, for preparing the

world for a condition of warless-

ness. That is the battle which is

going on, and so far as that battleis concerned there has not been

a greater tighter than Gandhi

himself.

He tells us again and again :

"Take care of the darkness in

your soul, of the savage intole-

rance, of misunderstanding, of

fear, suspicion, resentment and

all such factors which are the

breeding ground of wars, and if

you have to battle for a worldthat is to be free from wars, you

must expose the darkness which

is there entrenched in your soul.

You must try to bring some light

to bear upon it and make people

believe that the world is one in

its deepest roots and in its highest

aspirations.

Unity of Peoples

Until we are able to liberate

ourselves from this feeling of

resentment and selfishness it wilynot be possible for us to establish

a world on the lines of peace,

human sanctity and generosity. It

is one thing to bring about chan-

ges in the social architecture ofthe world. We can go abou

establishing world organisations,but no world organisation can

thrive unless that spirit is there :

that spirit, that love is strangerthan hate ; that understanding is

much better than lack of under-

standing ; and if Gar. dhi stood ourfor any ideal, it was for this ideal

of developing unity of religion,

unity of peoples, unity of cul-tural thought, and for preparing

the world for a world culture, a

world conscience. This world

conscience is the spiritual coun-

terpart of the material world

community. These world organi-sations cannot be established

unless the spirit for which Gan-

dhi stood is t. here to inspire

them.

He has met with the fate

which awaits all those who are

ahead of their time ; the victimof misunderstanding, reaction,

hatred and violent death."A

light shineth in the darkness andthe darkness comprehendeth it

(Contmued from Page 1)

Barcelona, was named to head the

Philosophy and Humanistic Stu-dies Section.

M. Gordon Men ies, an exper-

ienced Australian administrator

and former U. N. R. R. A. Director

for Manchuria, joined the Sec-

retariat as head of General Ad-

ministrative Services.

Testifying to the importance ofthe new appointments, Dr. Hux-

ley said they indicated the greatstrides forward Unesco had al-

ready taken that it could attractto it men of such distinction.

The Board unanimously voted

that M. Roger Seydoux (France)

replace Professor Auger as mem-ber of the Executive Board. Pro-

fessor Auger had resigned from

the Board shortly before the an-

nouncement of his appointment

to the Secretariat.

Considering the programme for1948, the Board noted that finan-cial and staff considerations limit-

ed the rabid, development of all

the projects simultaneously. It

therefore affirmed the principle

not."The whole cosmic process is

a perpetual struggle between

reason and unreason, between love

and hate, between light and dark-

ness, and those who fought for

light, for love, for reason, have

to meet with their opposites of

darkness, of hate, of unreason,and they have sometimes, more

often when they are sincere, suc-

cumbed to these forces.

We made Socra drink death.

we nailed Jesus to the cross, we

sighted the faggots which burnedthe martyrs, and Gandhi has not

escaped that fate. And yet his lifehas a kind of classical comple-

teness about it.

Here he was, laying down his

life, facmg unreason, hatred.

anger, dissension, and at the lastmoment with the name of God

on his lips, and w ! th love and

forgiveness in his heart. Thus ashe crumpled down, with blood

streaming from his lips, he lifted

up both his hands and greetedthe murderer who was there

facing him. You cannot conceiveof a death more noble, less

hateful than that.

Here was Gandhi, who pre-

sented to this unbelieving world

everything good that human na-ture is capable of, the very

highest ideals which we can pos-

sibly possess. He belongs to a type

that redeems the whole human

race, which invests it with super-

human glory.

His body is 5 reduced to ashes,

which are scattered on the

waters, but the spirit in him jsa light from above which will

penetrate far into space and time,and inspire countless generations.

that the most urgent activities

should be the subject of"intensive

prosecution during 1948,"awhilethe remainder should be the sub-

ject of"limited preparatory work,

looking towards a more intensive

prosecution after 1948."On the question of a fourth.

"Pilot Project"in Fundamental

Education, the Board agreed that

it would be initiated this year if

Unesco were invited by the Per-

uvian government. It had been

tentatively considered that sucha project might be developed

among the Indians in the regionof Cuzco, ancient capital of the

Incas.

Third Session of the General

Conference

Important also during the Exe-cutive Board discussions was the

subject of the Third Session ofthe General Conference, to be

held in Beirut, the Lebanon, next

October.

Presenting a report on condi-tions and material facilities avail-

able in that city, offered by the

Lebanese government as site for

the Third Session, Dr. Huxley

spoke highly of the efforts beingmade there to prepare adequate

arrangements for such an inter-national conference.

The Lebanese government ; he

declared, was constructing twosarge halls for the conference ses-

sions. Ample hotel accommodar

tion would be available for dele-

gates and Secretariat Members.Dr. Hux ! ey adc that the local

authorities were most anxious that

the conference should take place

in Beirut, and that it should be

a success. Distinguished foreign

residents in the Lebanon, he con-

cluded, had emphasized the political importance of holding the

conference there"as it would give

Unesco an opportunity to make

a very concrete contribution

towards international understan-

ding."The Executive Board decided

that the Third Session of the

General Conference was tentati-

vely scheduled to open on October14, 1948 and, was to last aboutthree weeks and a half.

The Board also considered prob-

lems of administration, of finance

and of Unesco's external relations

during its four-day meetings.

Special sub-committees of theExecutive Board had met for sev-

eral days prior to the plenary ses-

sions. These groups considered

Unesco's relations with non-gov-

emmental organisations, a ten-

tative agenda, for the Third Sea-

sion of the General Conferenee.

Unesco's work in the field of eul-

tural reconstruction and questiÒDs

of the status and responsabi1itieB

of members of the Executive

Board.

UNESCO C-otfRIEIl

SAVE THE CHILDREN !

Says Report To Unesco on Educational

Problems of Child War Victims

THIS IS A WORLD TRAGEDY

ONE OF the tasks assigned tothe Secretari {J.. t of Unesco in

'1947 was a study of the effects of

the late war on children.

As a preliminary measure to

this study, Dr. Simone Marcus, a

Frenchwoman with a distl7lguish-

end record for work amonst child

war-utcttms, was invited by theSecretariat to prepare an in-

terim report.

On the basis oaf this report the

Second Session of the General

Conference voted to izstruct theSecretariat to continue its work

Ott war-handicapped children,

stressing the importance of spe-cial emphasis on the educational

roblems of these children.

The Director-General was ins-

tructed to"draw up a ! plan of

study and action on the educatio-nal problems of war-handicapped

children, in collaboration with therational and international orga-

tt ! Sd : o ? : s co ? tcerKe< !'' ttTtt !"tonisations concerned"and"to

obtain from experts in different

counties information and fac-

tual reports, and to institute a

field surve1J of the most sign-

! ìcant experiments made in that

yteM."

Therefore, new educational

survey will be undertaken this

year on this problem and it is

hoped that a complete report willbe ready for submission to the

Third Session of the General

Conference in Beirut.

The interim survey, reported

below, thus constitueS the first

step in the study of a situationwhich will probably require at-

tentzon for many years to come.

It M useful because it shows the

urgency of the problem and therole that Unesco can p ! ay, cs-

rpe. ciaZly in the field of education.

Quoting the statement ofLard Horder :"Let us take care

of the children, for they are al]

tha. t we have for to-morrow",

Dr. Marcus points out that

amongst the 20, 000, 000 peoplewho lost their lives during thE

Second World War, 3, 000, 00 ('

were children (more than a mil-

hon children perished in Poland

alone), and that the children

who survived had, in countless

cases, been orphaned and hadtheir health permanently affect-

ed. After a survey of the purely

physical harm done by the war,Dr. Marcus discusses the psycho-

logical effects, starting with thedislocation or destruction of fa-

mily life, and the social changes

brought about by war.In the meanwhile, juvenile

delinquency has increased to an

alarming extent. Dr. Marcus iscareful to point out that this de-

linquency shows itself in twoforms-one the ordinary variety,

which she-'eels is more of a

concern for the psychiatrist than

. for the social worker, and the

other, of a different sort, whichis much more common at pre-

sent and which springs from a

abate of insecurity to be attribut-

ed to the conditions of the times.

Under enemy occupation that in-

security was part of a state ofaffairs in which it became the

duty of the individual to dowhat he could to set at nought

whatever laws were imposed by

the occupant.

Educatin Disrupted

The physical and psychological

difficulties outlined above, to-

gether with the damage done byiinvasion and occupation of the

war devastated countries of Eu-

rope and Asia, have had as oneoj their results, the complete dis-

location, if not destruction ofthe educational system of the

countries concerned. The effects

of this, in turn, on the general

behavior and future prospects

"oaf the children concerned can be'easily imagined. At the best,

Yet despite all this, there has

been a real hunger for learning

made manifest by the older stu-

dents, at least, young men andwomen who during the war

yearns ran great risks and work-ed with unbounded energy to try

and make up for what they

knew that they were missing as

the result of war and occupa-

tion.

With this note of encourage-

ment, Dr. Marcus turns in her

report from the ham done bywar to a description of the ef-

forts which are being made by

devoted people throughout the

world to alleviate that harm.

Two mternational consultative

enterprises described by Dr. Mar-cus are the International Study

Weeks at Zurich and the ad-

vanced course in medicine and

teaching at Lausanne ; the In-ternational Weeks at Zurich

have been able to help in France,Poland. Austria and Greece with

gifts of books, etc., and in addi-tion have held meetings in Ger-

many and Italy, the former hav-

ing taken place at Heidelberg.In stressing the need for the

greatest possible help for chil-

dren, Dr. Marcus makes the

point that the help almost im-

mediately begins to give results,as soon as it is forthcoming, so

elastic are the recuperative

powers, both mental and physic-

al, of children.

"C hildren's Villages"

Chapter III of this report dealswith the effect of the war on

schools and education, and the

measures taken to deal with the

shortage of trained personnel,books and equipment and acco-

modation, as well as the educa-

tion of orphan and homeless

children. Among the most in-

teresting development in thisfield which are described by Dr.

Marcus are the children's vil-

lages set up in France, Switzer-

land, Poland, Hungary and else-where ; of these, perhaps the

Pestalozzi Village in Canton Ap-

penzell, in Switzerland, is themost striking example, grouping

as it does some three hundred

children of ten or more nation-

alities-all refugee orphans.

Efforts of War-Hit Nations

Hungary, with 200, 000 orphansis beginning to 'eal with the

problem which they present inthe same way, and in Yugoslavia

villages are being constructed for

88, 000 orphans ; the work of this

sort which has been done in

Italy since the end of the warhas attracted great attention all

over the world.

Dr. Marcus, in her report, re-

cords that this idea is not a

novel one, instancing the"Chil-

dren's Republics"created in Pa-

lestine by the Zionist organisa-

tions for Jewish orphans arriv-

ing from Europe, the home for

Basque children at Carshalton in

Surrey and the famous experi-ment of Father Flanagan in the

United States ; all these ventures,

shoe comments have served to

show the efficacy of the idea

which, however, is not to be re-

garded as a"cure all."As stated above, Dr. Marcus'

report is only the first step. This

year Unesco will extend its workon war-handicapped children by

stressing the educational prob-lems that must be met to aid

these unfortunate children.

Á AR-DEYASTATED COUIVTRY

Hungarian Delegate Views

Nation's Role in Unesco

By

FOR HUNGARY, participation- *-in the work of Unesco does

not mean quite the same thing as

it does for most other countries.

For it is not merely a matter

of renewing cultural and scientific

contacts interrupted by the war.

It is not simply a matter of

bindmg up, with Unesco's aId, he,

smartmg war wounds, so that shecan resume her,. traditional place

among the civilised nations."No. For Hungary, the war was

not just a break in continuity, an

unhappy interlude or now for-

gotten nightmare, but the com-

plete transformation of her socialstructure and of the elements of

her cultural life-a transforma-

tion for which her best thinkers

and poets had prepared the way.

When the war ended, Hungary

found her agricultural and in-

dustrial population eager for

knowledge, but without teachers,schools or methods. Added to

this was the tragic

and imperious ne-

cessity of carry-

ing out, quicklyand effectively, a

big programme of

social, economic ana cultural re-

form.

Revolutionary means had to be

called upon, since cultural dev-

elopment was the condition of

public safety. Before the war

Budapest had a people's college.the Gyorffy College, where young

peasants found, besides their un-

iversity studies, lodging, extratui.tion and teaching in languages.

At the liberation this College be-

came a prototype, and later the

headquarters of a vast movementof people's colleges, which after

only 3 years now numbers morethan 130 institutions and almost

18, 000 pupils.

Coupled with this amazing ef-

fort, are the projects of the Min-

istry of Education, which form

part of the"Three Year Plan."This Plan aims, in spite of losses

and destruction, at giving the

Hungarian nation a higher stan-dard of living and a fuller cul-

ture than in 1938.

Energetic steps are being taken

to increase the number of schools

of all grades, to swell the ranks

of the teachers and improve their

social standing, to standardise

teaching methods, develop adult

Edmond FERENCZI

Permanent Delegate

of Hungary to Unesco

education, organist leisure, ex-

pand libraries, salvage works ofart and build playgrounds.

It will readily be seen that.

under these difficult conditions

Hungary's membership in Unescohas nothing"idyllic"about it.

A country like Hungary, in the

process of reconstruction. cannotlook upon internationalism as

an end in itself.

Hungary, then, looks for three

things from Unesco :I.-The possibility of breaking

away from a certain scientific,cultural and educational isolation

and of maintaining fruitful rela-

tions in these fields with all

Member States, in accordance

with the most ancient traditions

of our country.

n.-An indirect means of mak-

ing contact with the United Na-tions, of which she is not yet a

Member, in the conviction, in-

creasingly backed buy experience,V 11 a. Lt L1UUe ; i : : 11'y ;.)

particular four mparticutarformof democracy C9n

strengthen thecomity of na-

tions.

III.-Certain forms of material

assistance. for which Hungary

has urgent need, although she is

aware of the limited resources

available to. the Organisation.

In return, Hungary brings to

Unesco the support of her thou-

sand-year-old civilisation, which

in the three realms of educa-

tion, science and culture, and

despite the small size of her ter-

ritory and the barrier of her

language, has made note-

worthy contributions to world ci-vilisation.

She also brings her new ex-

periments. bold and often im-

provised (all the more surprisingin a people crushed by the feel-

ing of fatalism and now victimof a"heroic defeat"complex), but

which, outside controversial fields,

can open new paths to Unesco

and add a certain philosophy of

men and things almost unrepre-

sented within the Organisation.

The liberation of Hungary not

only drove out the Nazis, but by

overcoming the sense of an in-

escapable doom, has taken on uni-versal significance, since it leads

towards the liberation of all

mankind.

After wandering for a. long time he s ! eeps in a Children's Home.

"THE BOZO/ OF NEEDY"

"HE BOOK of Needs is- *-Unesco's first account of

post-war educational and cultu-ral losses and needs. It is a

bird's-eye-view of the preset cri-tical situation of education, scion-

ce and culture in fifteen war-

devastated countries."

With these words Dr. Julian

Huxley, Director-General of

Unesco, begins his foreword to

this book published by the Orga-

nisation at the end of last year.

Dr. Huxley goes on to say :

"There is much repetition in

this report. The same story is

told agam and again with only

some variety in the differed :

settings. The tragedy presented

is indeed the tragedy of repeti-

tion : in every country there are

ruins. lack of equipment, over-

worked teachers, white faced

children.

"It is perhaps through the fUll

realisation of this repetition tha

the enormous extent of the harm

done by the invader can best be

appreciated and the immensityof the problems which still con-

front the world."

But the Book of Needs is I10t

only a survey of the widespreaddestruction of material resources

in school buildings and scho :) !

equipment. In preparing this re-

port it was felt that additionaldata concerning the ravages to

the health standards of children

and adults, as a direct result of

the war, were worthy of inclu-

sion.

As Br. Huxley says in his

foreword :

"I hope that this first attempt

to set forth a picture of losses.

achievement and needs in coun-

tries still lying in the shadow of

the rum of war will reach a

wide public. The reconstruction

of educational, scientific and

cultural life in these war-devas-

tated countries makes a world-

wide call for help which cannot

be ignored by anyone who cares

for the preservation of real va-

lues in tomorrow's generations."

The majority of the schools

throughout the country are ei-ther totally destroyed or only the

shells of the buildings remain.

The loss of equipment is almos :

total. The report declares :

"There is no reliable evidence

that there is any village school

completely undamaged, with fur-niture intact and adequate equip

ment."

In Greece, for example, the

report states that the country.

always poor, is now practicallvdestitute :

In the case of Poland, six mil-

lion citizens perished and the

whole country was devastated.

500, 000 children lost both their

parents. 3, 000, 000 children areundernourished ; two-thirds of all

books in libraries were destroyed

and sixty per cent of the coun-

try's educational structure was

wiped out.The same tragic pattern of

misery and want is repeated

throughout the war-ravaged

countries of Europe and the Far

East.

The situation is not, however,

one of unrelieved gloom. The

fifteen countries whose problems

are discussed in the Book of

Needs have not been idle ; norare they passively waiting for

foreign help. Governments andnational volun : ary organis : 1. tionß

are exerting evel'Y possILlp effort

towards the reconstruction and

rehabilitation of Lheir own coun-

tries. But wiLhout outside hlp

they'cannot hope to accomp : ishall that still remains to be done.

The book closes on a note of

urgency, with the followingwords :

"Much has been done, much is

being done to help the war-devastated countries in their im-

mense task of educational, scien-

tific and cultural reconstruction.

Much remains to be done. It is

now two yea. rs since the war

ended, but so great was thehavoc wrought by the most ter-

rible war in history that no

country can yet be said to bewithin sight of real and totf'. 1

rehabilitation."(The Book of Needs. Unesco,

Paris 1947. 112 pp. $1. 00 or 5 s.)

School Pamphlet

To Be Reprinted

A reprint is being made of th

booklet"Going to School in War-Devastated Countries", published

jointly by Unesco and the Corm-misszon for International Educa-

tional Reconstruction (C. !. E. R.).

The brooklet was written by Mr.

Leonard S. Kenworthy, American

educator MOM or the Unesco Se-

cretariat.

First pUblzshed In 1947,"Going

to School tun War-devastated

Countrzes"met with immediate

success. It shows the difficulties

under 7t education is beingMftder : ( ; : c/t edMca< ! o ? t M be ! Kgr

carried out in devastated coun-

tries because of the lack of such.

simple tools as pens, pencil,

chalk, notebooks and ink.

But the type oaf assistance

needed ranges far beyond theife

elementary supplies. It includestechnical bOOks and equipment

/or science teaching, dental and

agricultural schools, fellowshipsand study grants for work in less

handicapped nations of the world,as well as the need four exchang-

ins educational missions withother countries.

Pointing out that"the vervbasis oaf internatzonal under-

standing and world peace is edu-cational opportunity"and that

"the heroic teachers and students

in tom countries ravaged by the

war need your help", the palm-

phlet concludes with a plan foraid either through contrièutions

of goods, services and money t ()

existing iProjects or though the! a « M< ; 7t : K6' o/KeM act ! t) ! t : es &. V or-launching of new activitis by or-

ganisations or schools large

enough to make this practicable.

.

UNESCO IN ACTION Tt

V. S. A.

Rational Commission

nlgnllgnl : i

Reconstruction

ON TEE occasion oaf the meetingoaf the U. S. Notional Commies-

simon in Washington on February

16 the entice membership oaf that

body lumbering approximatly100 wars receive ant. the White

Hose, bey Resident Truman, andlatter addresses bey Mar George

Marshal, the Secretary oaf Statue.

These two function swerved to

marl the important plaice which

hand already bees worn four itself by

the U. S. Notional Commission

daring a lire oaf a tittle morse than.a yea. The rapid growth oaf this

body in prestige ant in influenceins the morse stricking bey treason of

the facet that when it wars created

"'he Notional Commission wars a

compete novelty in America lire,four a body oaf thins snort, within

which the U, S. government, and

primate group ant individualsinterested in education, science

ant vulture could wall work to-

ether, hand sever before exited. IIn its official retort tao the

Medico Conference, the United

Statues relegation observe :

"the Notional Commission for

Unesco ins ain innovation in Amber-

scan lire. Tao halve simulated the

cremation oaf the Commission may

bye teemed the first significant

achievement oaf Unesco in its rye-

'latins witch the Unite Statues.",

Processional organizations in

education, science ant vulture are

wifely represented in the Corm-

emission, bust representatroíÍ ins alto 1947 ; sunder the auspices oaf the Notional Commies-

gives tao manly pother group in-sion in P. philadelphia ; it wars. attended bey th rye-terested in the objective oaf presentatlVes oaf morse than five hundred natIOnal

Uñesco-such as women's organi-yoluntay oranisatior. w ant served tao dissem-

stations, south organizations, Ja-mate Widely informatIOn concermng Unesco. Atboar unisons ant religions group. the ame tri ! lie, tao a pertain exit, : t, it wars possib. le

A Secretarial four the Commis-to gIVe adVIce tao loyal commurntles as tao wars III

simon ins furnishes bey the Dooart-, which they night beset help in the carryin out

meant oaf Statue ; thins ins knows as oaf Unesco's programme.

the Unesco Relation Stuff ant Tao fallow up thai ! J meting, tao which delegates

the Director oaf, the Stuff rves hand combe from wall rover the Unite Statues, it was

as Executive Secretary oaf the Na-decided tao holed ain experimental regional meeting

tonal Commission. in Denier, Colorado from Mary 15 tao 17 ; this... bought together approximately

The Notional Commission 1, 900 personas from the Mountain-A,'''7 RIA

ant Work Pains legion oaf the Unite Statues, V Jrepresenting organizations, collie-

T1 ?-e Notional Commission, the gens, school ant civil group. The N M b

Chairman oaf which ins Mar Milton Conference organized itself intoS. EIsenhower, hats, since its insti-committees dialing witch the ew-em er

tuition, advise the Government'various subject on Unesco's pro-S 1... C. It ail E

oaf th Unite Statues on the for-gram me eeAS u our. 4

I mulatlOn ant development oaf the Since the, amongst manly localunesco Programme ant on pother meeting herd there arse particu-

Imporn maters cmcerning the early wort-hy f note these herd ONCE OF the first auctions oaf the the Austrian educational sy

orglsatIon-mcludmg. the com-at Milwaukee 011 April 30, ant ant sew Austria governmeIt a Unesco flld worked touredpositIOn oaf the delegation tao the Sawn Francisco on Jane 10. The rafter liberation wars the reconstl-country durmg ; 1947. tao evalanneal meetmg oaf the General farmer wars plaid four bey a loyal tuition oaf the wold Notional Com-the moist pressmg seeds ;'pan,

Conferen.. deportment stone, ant brought mitten oaf Intellectual Co-oper- ! hie 1948 programme oaf Urn.! n. addiction, the NatIOnal Corm-. together once thousand represen-ation, marlin the beginning/ : oaf mclues a fall purvey. o.

mLS. S. (m hats. assume, as a tusk natives oaf carious organizations, a largo stale effort tao restore the tchmcal seeds f Austria m..

partlCuarly Its town, the dusty. oaf awhile the later, wars sponsored bey cultal relate ? ins oaf Austria wth field. oaf ress, flm ant. radIc

romotmg a grater understand-the Sawn Francisco Museum oaf Ant. foreign countrIes-relations WhICh Awhile lmks width foreign iÅmag oaf the general purpose oaf... hand bees completely broke du-international bodiés'Were . Unesco on the pant oaf the people Educational Reconstruction ruing weight yearns oaf Merman occu-refor&commat;d, Austria surveyed

Oaf. the. United. statues, ad, witch Participation bey U. S. voluntary patio ant wan. statue oaf science ant educãthJS am In Vie, eslished a organizations in Unesco's pro-Indeed, Unesco ins leased within heir town boarders ; here,

Commltt oaf formatlOn. gramme oaf educational, scientific tat, in spit. oaf maternal ant elsewhere,. th wan hand left mThe Fist NatIOnal < ? <&gt;nference'an cultural reconstruction ins co-teChnical. difficulties, Austria hats problem III Its wale..

. on Unesco wars herd III Mach, ordmated bey a body closely relat-taken th"initiative tao publish the In a resort on thai ! ; \' < : l1h'

Highlights

Reconstruction

ON THE occasion of the meetingof the U. S. National Commis-

sion in Washington on February

16 the entire membership of that

body numbering approximately100 was received at the White

House, by President Truman, andlater addressed by Mr George

Marshall, the Secretary of State.

These two functions served to

mark the important place which

had already been won for itself by

the U. S. National Commission

during a life of a little more than.a year. The rapid growth of this

body in prestige and in influenceis the more striking by reason of

the fact that when it was created

"'she National Commission was a.

complete novelty in American life,for a body of this sort, within

which the U. S. government, and

private groups and individualsinterested in education, science

and culture could all work to-

gether, had never before existed.In its official report to the

Mexico Conference, the United

States delegation observed :

"The National Commission for

Unesco is an innovation in Amer-

ican life. To have stimulated the

creation of the Commission may

be deemed the first significant

achievement of Unesco in its re-

latins with the United States."

Professional organisations in

education, science and culture are

widely represented in the Com-

mission, but representation is also

given to many other groups in-terested in the objectives of

Unesco-such as women's organi-

sations, youth organisations, la-bour unions and religious groups.

A Secretariat for the Commis-

sion is furnished by the Depart-

ment of State ; this is known as

the Unesco Relations Staff, and

the Director of, the Staff serves

as Executive Secretary of the Na-

tional Commission.

The National Commission

at Work

The National Commission, the

Chairman of which is Mr MiltonS. Eisenhower, has, since its insti-

tution, advised the Government

of the United States on the for-

mulation and development of the

Unesco Programme and on other

important matters concerning the

organisation-including the com-position of the delegation to theannual meeting of the General

Conference.

In addition, the National Com-

mission has assumed, as a task

particularly its own, the duty of

promoting a greater understand-

ing of the general purposes ofUnesco on the part of the people

of the United States, and, with

this aim in view, established a

Committee of Information.

The First National Conference

on Unesco was held in March,

1947 ; under the auspices of the National Commis-

sion in Philadelphia ; it was attended by the re-

presentatives of more than five hundred nationaJ

voluntary organisations and served to dissem-inate widely information concerning Unesco. At

the same time, to a certain extent, it was possible

to give advice to local communities as to ways in

. which they might best help in the carrying out

of Unesco's programme.

To follow up this meeting, to which delegate. !

had come from all over the United States, it ways

decided to hold an experimental regional meeting

in Denver, Colorado from May 15 to 17 ; this

brought together approximately I

1, 900 persons from the Mountain-

Plains region of the United States,

representing organisations, colle-

ges, schools and civic groups. TheConference organised itself into

committees dealing with the

'various subjects on Unesco's pro-

gramme

Since then, amongst many local

meetings held, there are particu-

larly worthy of note those heldat Milwaukee on April 30, and atSan Francisco on June 10. The

former was paid for by a local

department store, and brought

together one thousand represen-tatives of various organisations,

while the latter. was sponsored by

the San Francisco Museum of Art.

Educational'Reconstruction

Participation by U. S. voluntary

organisations in Unesco's pro-

gramme of educational, scientificand cultural reconstruction is co-

ordinated by a body closely relat-

ed to the Nations1 Commission.

This is CIER (Commission fo In-

ternational Educational Recon-

struction). Its functions are to

stimulate action by voluntary

organisations in the field of

educational reconstruction, to

make known needs in that field

and to serve as a clearing house

in the field.

American voluntary organisa-

tions during 1946 contributed

nearly $62, 000, 000 for educational

reconstruction, and more than

$42, 000, 000 during the first sixmonths of 1947. Of this amount

approximately 80 per cent wascontributed to Unesco countries.

Evidence of great growth of

interest on the part of the Amer-

ican public in the educational

reconstruction of. war devastated

countries is provided by the fact

that more than 300 voluntary

organisations are now participat-

ing in this, work, as against fewerthan 40 a year ago.

AUS7RIA.

New Member

Seeks Cultural E I

ONE OF the first actions of thenew Austrian government

after liberation was the reconsti-

tution of the old National Com-

mittee of Intellectual Co-oper-

ation, marking the beginning of

a large scale effort to restore the

cultural relations of Austria with

foreign countries-relations whichhad been completely broken du-

ring eight years of German occu-

pation and war.

Indeed, Unesco is pleased

that, in spite. of material andtechnical difficulties, Austria has

taken the initiative to publish thefirst German-language magazine

devoted exclusively to the acti-

vities and aims of the Organisa-

tion. This periodical, entitled

"Unesco-Bulletin", produced its

first issue in January of this

year, less than a month afterAustria's application for member-

ship in Unesco was accepted by

the General Conference in Mexico

City.Under the auspices of the

National Committee a great

many societies have been formedfor the maintenance of cultural

relations with foreign countries.

Typical examples, selected from alist of twenty such bodies, are

the Society for the Maintenance

of Cultural and Economic Rela-

tions with the U. S. S. R., a Franco-

Austrian Society, an Austro-

British Society, an Austro-Amer-

ican Society, an Austro-Iranian

Cultural Federation and an

Austro-Argentine Society.To aid in the reconstruction of

the Austrian educational SYi

a Unesco field worker toured.

country during 1947. to evalthe most pressing needs ; pay

the 1948 programme of Un

includes a full survey of

technical needs of Austria in.

fields of press, film and radK

While links with foreign

international bodices'were

reforged. Austria surveyedstate of science and educã

. within her own borders ; here,

elsewhere, the war had left m

problems in its wake.

In a report on this subj'

made to Unesco just prior to

admission of Austria to mem

ship of the organisation,from which the details inclu

in this article are taken,

Austrian government gives

account of some of the sbfl

taken, and pays tribute to

help received from the relevsections of the Allied Comm'

at present in the country.

the tasks successfully undert

by the National Committee sithe end of the war was i'

publication of new books ontrian history.'.

Contacts between Austrian

foreign youth have been ea :

sought ; student exchanges'

already taking place with Szerland, France and the U. S-and International Universf

Weeks have been held at 8ft

burg and at Alpach in the TyrfIn the exchange of broadest

ing material much has been doi

foreign stations have relay

"T HE SUCCESS of Unesco, its ability to influence the

peoples of the world and to contribute to the main-tenance of peace, will in the long run largely depend

on the efficiency and activity of National Com-

missions. They must interpret the purposes and programme of

Unesco in terms likely to appeal to their own public opinion.

They must advise their Governments on every issue relevant toUnesco's functions which interests, or should interest, their

respective countries. And they should provide Unesco with theinformation and national collaboration it requires to fulfil its

rioted tasks.

"A further point to emphasize is, that if they are to fulfil

their function. National Commissions and Co-operatin2'Bodies

must be provided with the secretariat, organisational and finan-

cial facilities required to exercize real activity.

"A final point is the part that the National Commissions can

play in the execution ;) f Unesco's programme, which is not aseries of operations centrally directed and executes by the Secre-

tariat in Paris, but a combined effort to which each country

can contribute. It will call for close and regular contact between

the Secretariat and the National Commissions."\

Dr. Julian HUXLEY,

Director-General.

THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

FRANCE

Permanen. t Commission

To Broaden Activities

: tate

: ; èhange

Austrian broadcasts of perform-

aces at the Salzburg Festivals,

. at the Vienna Opera and else-

where.

Immediately after the libera-tion of the country, the univer-

sities of Austria began to renew

their relations abroad, and to do

what they could to make easieri intellectual interchange with for-

eign countries. The University ofvienna has founded"The Inter-

national Institute of the Univer-

sity of Vienna,"which will organ-ise lectures abroad on Austria

and invite foreigner to come to

Austria to lecture on their own

countries.

To a certain extent Austrian

professors are already aMe to go

abroad, and their foreign col-

leagues are able to come to Aus-

tria, but it is hoped that muchmore of this kind of travel will

be TMssiMe in the near future.

'J Similar arrangements are begin-

ning to be made four meetings be-tween Austrian and'foreign stu-

dents.

The Austrian League for theUnited Nations has been active,

notably in its work throughteachers and through schools.

Trough the work which hasbeen described in this article,

and much more which there is

no room to mention, Austria is

being'made once again a mem-ber of the comity of peaceful na-

tions, able to contribute to, andto receive from, the general'store

of the cultural treasure of

mankind.

rr'HE FIRST stages of the Mexi-n government's campaign

against illiteracy begun in 1944were followed by the world with

great attention, and the re-markable result obtained receiv-

ed praise from all quarters.

Less attention, however, has

been paid to the succeeding

stages of the operation which, inthe opinion of the Mexican gov-

ernment itself, presented prob-

- lems even more difficult than

those overcome when the cam-

paign was first launched andwhen half the people of Mexico

could neither read nor write.'

In a report made to Unesco at-

the time of the Second Session

of"the General Conference lastNovember, the Mexican govern-

ment gave a number of reasons

why the"follow up"of the origi-nal campaign had its own special

difficulties. Among them were

the following :

1.) Because the time had pass-

ed when learning to read

and write was novel and

exciting for the people ;

2.) Because a large number of

people had already beenmade literate, those illi-

terates who remained were

stubborn cases the teaching

of whom presented special

difficulties ;

3.) Because it was necessary

to find ways of maintaining

and increasing the interest

of those who had recently

been taught to read and

write.

A nation wide publicity cam-

paign, to which the president ofthe Republic, Senor Aleman gave

all the authority of his person,

was instituted,

A"Corps of Special Visitors"

was created, members of which

after selection were given instruc-

tion and then sen't to different

parts of the country to organiseand guide the campaign.

These"Special Visitors", toge-

ther with mobile teaching col-

umns were asked to pay atten-

tion in particular to the settingup of teaching centres in the

areas for which they were respon-

sible ;

in the light of the first part of

the general campaign against illi-

teracy, it was decided that, in the."Follow Up"teáching should pre-

ferably be collective, as experiencehad shown that t better results

were obtained at Fundamental

Education Centres where pupils

were taught in groups, rather

than individually.

A system 0 ; priocities was also

drawn up ; those who were to

have first claim on the instruc-

tors'time were children who, for

various'reasons were not attend-

ing school ; then came young per-

sons and finally older men and

women.

It was also recommended that

the duration of classes in the re-

gular Fundamental EducationCentres should be one and a half

hours, though in smaller rural

communities, served only by tra-

velling teachers, the length oflessons could'be longer if required.

In, ordto make sure that thosewho learned to read and write

during the first part of the funda-mental education campaign retain-

ed and broadened their knowledge,

a special series of advanced

primers was ordered to be prepar-ed, a wall newspaper for the same

purpose is to be published, and itis hoped also to produce a Sunday

supplement to one of the news-

papers published in Mexico City.

For the use of those who speakup Spanish, a series of primers

were compiled in such languages

as Maya, Tarasca, Nahua, Otomi,

Hahuatl and Totenaca.

A system 0 : rewards and punish-

ments for those taking part in the

campaign, whether students,teachers or municipal officials is

being drawn up and a nation wide

publicity campaign has been

organized.

THE INAUGURAL meeting ofthe permanent French Na-

tional Commission for Unesco will

be 7teZft at the Quaid'Orsay on

Thursday, March 4, in the pres-ence of Mr. Georges Bidault,

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr.

Edouard Die, preux, Minister of

Education and Dr. Julian Huxley,

Director-General of Unesco. The

first programme session of the

permanent Commission is sche-duled to be held on March 19.

This permanent National Com-

mission wilt thus succeed the

present provisional one which, onits establishment in August 1946,

was one of the first National

Commissions to be set U1J by a

Unesco Member State.

In a report decently sMbm : tted

to Unesco'the provisional Na-

tMNCt ! Com77MSS ! 0 ? t r 0 U ! 0 M Stonal Commission rev i e w s

France's participation in the

programme of Unesco for 1947'andtie work of toe Commission.

"It was inevitable", the report

begins,"that France, which, atthe London Conference, gave

fProof of her interest in Unesco by

inviting he Organisation to es-tabHsh the headquarters of its

permanent Secretariat on French

soil, should associate herself ac-

tively with the work of interna-tional understanding undertaken

by the Organization".

"In spite of the (lestruction the

county has suffered", the re, port

continues,"France was determin-

ed to share to the full extent of

her means in the world-wade

campaign undertaken by, Unesco

for aid to the war-devastatedcounties".

The provisional French Com-

mission consisted of 50 outstand-

ing personalities, including mem-bers of Parliament, scholars,

educators, artists, senior civZ

servants and trade unionists. it

was organised into a nutnber of

programme committees, whosetask it was to study the best ways

by which France can assist Unesco- in the execution of its programme,

its'surveys and other projects.

The Arts and Letters Committee,

for example, of the provisionalNational Commission met last

year to study Unesco's proposals

for the creation of the Interna-tional Theatre Institute. It brought

together some 30 French experts :

dramatists, composers, architectsand decorators, theatrical produc-

ers and actors. Under the chair-

manship of Mr. François Mauriac,

of the"Académie Française", theboard a. pproved the broad out-

lines of the Theatre Institute.

It also proposed that National

Theatre Committees be set up in

each of the Member States of the

proPQsed Institute.

France has shown her interest,

the report soes om to say, in the

project for the creation of theInstitute for the Hylean Amazon.

In 1947, the French Government

spent a noted educationalist, Pro-

fessor Erhart, to Brazil to attendt3ie meetings of the Belém Com-

mission of Experts.

France has concerned herself

nut only with her awn ipToblems

oaf educatianal reconstructian, but

throughau ; t 1947, has shewn activeinterest iz Uttesco's prpgramme

oaf aid to other mar-devastatedcountries. Study and research 0

fellawships were placed at the

disposal'of Unesco by the French

Ministry of Natianal Educatian.The University af Paris affered

the Organisation 220, 000 francs

fair the purchase af French booksant teaching material. Further-

More, in June 1947, the Divisian

of Cultural Relations af the Min-

istry of Foreign Affairs gave 25,-000 copies af French classics to.

Unesco. for distribution to. war-

damaged universities and school

af ather ca.' ! lntries.

The provisional Natianal COln-

missian fram the first attached

considerable impartance to Unes-

co's pragramme oaf Education fair

far Interrz. atianal Understanding.Thus the Cammissian cipprooched

the Ministry af Educatian to.

study measures for developing inFrench children and young

; people, a better'knowledge and

understanding af the rest of theworld. In this cannection it is

interesting to note, that theM : K : str !/ o/WattONa ! Ed « c< ! tto ? tMinistry af Natianal Educatianhas already forwarded a circular

requesting that a special courseoz the United Natians shCíuld be-

made compulsary in all French

universities.

MKt The. provisianal Natianal Carn-The prou : s : OMtt ! NattOKa ! Com-

mission has also paid particular

attentian to Unesco's worn in

Fundamental Educatian. It decid-

ed to institute surveys and as-

se) information on the prab-

lems and resultl1c of fundamental

educatian in thè cauntries and

terrttohes af Overseas France,

and the applicatian thereto of

Unesco's work.

Unesco has never flailed to take

advantage af the experience afFrench experts in the survey

and discussions which organisa-

tians spansored dealing with all

as, pects of its wark, Especially

Moteworthy were thee French cq ? t-tributions in the fields af philo. :.

sophy and humanities, the social

sciences, the drafting af a De-

ctarottOK af Human Rights and

the surveying of the technical

needs af war-devastated cauntries

in the fields af mass cammunica-

tions.

French library services kneep

canstantly. in tauch with theLibraries work af Unesco., and, in

this cannectian, at the Conifer-

ence af the International Federa-

tion af Library Associatians, held

at Oslo. in May 1947, the French

re. presentatives secured close ca-

operattOK between the Federat ! OMand Unesco., and similar auction

was taken with regard to the

Canference of the InternationalFederation af Documentatian

heM at BerNe last AUgUst'lØFznally, It lS worth stressing

that, in its position as host toUnesco. the French government

has taken the administrative and

legal action which has been ne-

cessary in order that ! 7Kesco tt-

self should functian effectively,

23 NATIONAL COMMISSIONS

AND COOPERATING BODIES

OF UNESCO MEMBERS STATES

Twenty-three Member Nations have now established NationalCommissions or Co-operating Bodies of Unesco. These are :

Austria Denmark Mexico PolandAustralia Dominican Rep. Netherlands U. of Sth AfricaBrazil France New Zealand United KingdomCanada Haiti Norway U. S. of AmericaChina India Philippines VenezuelaColombia Italy Peru

In addition, CHILE and IRAN, which are not yet Member

States have already established Co-operating Bodies to pro-

mote the aims of Unesco.

MEXICO

Commission Stressés

Unesco's Education work

5 UNESCO COURIER

OESCO TAKES

PAT II U. N.

P'ESS TALKS

The principal contrasting views

on the status and functions ot

the press existing today were the

subject of discussion during thesecond session of the U. N. Sub-

Commission on Freedom of In-

formation which took place at

Lake Success from 17 January

two 3 February. Unesco was re-

presented at these meetings by

the Press chief of the Mass Com-munications Section, M. René

Maheu.

the twelve experts on the Sub-.

Commission drafted the articles

of the Declaration and Conven-

tion on Human Rights dealing

with freedom of information. In

ttddition they prepared a prelims-

nary report on"The Rights,

Obligations and Practices on the

Concept of Freedom of Informartion"for the forthcoming World

Conference on Freedom of In-

information and the Press, schedul-

ed to open at Geneva on 23

March.

Two opposing points of view

were expressed, with no compro-

mise possible between the two, by

a. majority of proponents of Li-

beralism and the Russian dele-

gate who advocated collective

ownership and State monopoly ofthe media of information.

Pertinax (M. Andre Geraud) of

France and M. Sychrava of

Czechoslovakia, on the other hand

stressed the importance of both

responsibility and freedom innews distribution, and pointed out

that a reasonable"equalisation"

of technical facilities and equi1>

ment should be a necessary pre-

liminary when considering fairinternational competition.

Although the Unesco represen-

tative at the conference did not

take sides in these ideological dif-

ferences, he did point out that

the right of the general public to

information should take pre-

cedence over the individual's

right of expression. By this hedid not imply in any way the

denial of individual freedom of/enquiry or expression or an at-

tack on property rights of au-

thors. or inventors. If it were

acknowledged, however, that the

. rights of the general public werefundamental, it then became pos-sible to state the responsibilities

of spreading information in'terms

of voluntary self-discipline instead

of in terms of an external and

arbitrary tyranny.

The representative of Unesco

stressed the vital connection bet-

ween the ideas of freedom and

responsibility, pointing out that"we must find a common ground

between the alternatives of free-

dom without responsibility-the

taw of the jungle-and responsi-

bility without freedom-the lawof the prison".

The Unesco representative also

pointed out the danger that cul-ture faced through the"com-

mercialisation"of the news in-

dustries.

Thus, the meetings of the Sub-

Commission at Lake Success pro-

vided valuable information which

wiM : serve as e basis for the

forthcoming ussions at Go,-neva. Here again Unesco will

take up the cause of intel-

lectual freedom and understand-

ing between the peoples of theworld by stressing the need for

mutual respect of ideas and cul-

tures.

, AfGUANIST AN SffKS

MMKCO MfM8fRSUIP

The Director-General has re-

ceived a setter dated February

14 from the Minister of Educa-

_ilion of Afghanisron, applying foradmission to Unesco.

As Afghanistan is a member of

the United Nations, her admis-

man to Unesco is only contingent

011 her signature and acceptance

oaf the Constitution, and on the

deposit of the Instrument of

ptance wit the British

FtWeign Office.

A view of Beirut, the Lebanon, where the Third Session of

Unesco's Genera ! Conference is scheduled to take place this October.

"Way of Life"Book Series

Planned by Unesco

Unesco Strengthened

I

By Mexico Conference

The following article is reprint-international conferences involv-

;, ! : :. " !., th ;, li ; : aion o. Uh U. S : ing ili ?-ry ecur. i. t. ln sp. ite ofNanonal c.. : ommlsslon,"National

Commission News" :

It is difficult to appraise

realistically the General Con-ference at Mexico City. ceitainly

the Organisation itself emerged

stronger ; its program emerged in

sharper outline ; and the goal of in-...--

By

William BENTON

Chairman of S. s. delegation. to the Mexico Conference

ternationaj col-

laboration in the

fields of educa-

tion, science, and

culture emerged

as bright as ever.-

At my sinai press conlerence

at Mexico City I said that it

seems certain Unesco will con-

tribute something to world under-

standing ; and that it stands

perhaps a 10-pet cent chance tolive up to the soaring hope of

its constitution, providing it will

do four or five fundamental

things. That 10-percent chanceseems to me well worth all the

effort we can put into it. This.. -

a real effort to collaborate, I

political alignments affect theattitudes of delegations ;

2) The inadequacy of interna-

tional communications. The world

has developed its ability to des-

troy understanding far beyond its

ability to. preserve it, and its

power to incite hostility far

""YULlU lLéi puwt : r Ito inspire confi-

dence ;

3) The natural i

lethargy of menwho fee ! them-

selves safe from immediate dan-

ger. It seems to me that onlyan honest appraisal of the true

state of world affairs, coupled

with an effective program to dra-

matize the need for better under-

standing, can overcome this

lethargy, which is perhaps the

greatest danger to the success ofUnesco.

THE great discovery most peoplemake who move around in

the world with open eyes is that

other nations have ways of doing

things which are altogether

strange-and yet work. To this

discovery there are two typicalreactions. One is :"That's dif-

ferent ; I don't like it."The other

is :"How interesting ; that's a

new line on things."Which of

these two reactions is forthcom-

ing decides in large part whetherthere is to be international fric-

tion or international understand-

ing.One way of making it more likely

that differences will be seen in

an attractive light is to let the

traveller into the secrets of the

foreign people he is visiting. Ifhe knows that they have this or

that peculiarity and then proceeds

to make the discovery for himself,

in his own personal contacts, the

chances that he will be saying

"How interesting..."are greater.

One of Unesco's main tasks is

to pave the way to international

understanding by every means

possible. It is accordingly settingout on a piece of work which has

never been attempted on a world

scale before. In the course of the

next two years it hopes to be able

to present to the peoples of the

world a small bookshelf-twelve,

sixteen, twenty volumes perhaps-

handy in size, with a number of

illustrations, the titles of whichwill read :"The American Way

of Life" ;"The Brazilian Way of

Life" ;"The British Way of Life" ;

"The French Way of Life" ;"The

Norwegian Way of Life" ;"ThePolish Way of Life","The Swiss

Way of Life", and so on for allthe principal peoples of the world.

Dipping into one of these books,we should find a number of as-

pects of that nation-how the

people govern themselves, how

they educate themselves, how

would be true if the chance were

only 2-percent.Here are some of the things

Unesco must do to win this par-

ticular one-in-ten bet :

1) It must find great leader-

ship. It must attract to its ser-vice the ablest men and women

in the world ;

2) It must develop the means

by which peoples can talk directlyto peoples through the great

modem media of communication,

so that individuals of each nation

are in the most direct possible

intellectual and cultural contact

with individuals of other nations ;

3) Under Unesco's leadership,

standards of popular education

must be raised throughout the

world as rapidly as possible ; edu-

cation offers the most effective

resistance to the appeal of war ;

4) It must deserve as well as

receive an adequate budget. It is

true that Unesco is prepared to

spend only $7, 700, 000 effectivelyin 1948. But it should be looking

toward the time when it can

efficiently spend 10 times thatmuch. That time will come with

strong leadership and with thefurther development of vital

projects.In the field of education, Unes-

co is now prepared to call the

best teachers of the world to-

gether to consider what are the

best teaching methods ; to gather

the best technical information on.

raising literacy standards ; to de-

velop the use of mass communica-tions for education ; to call

regional study conferences and

adult-education seminars ; to sti-

mulate the schools of the world

to take a positive approach to

the teaching of international

understanding. There are projectsnow ready for the first time to

be put into practical operation.

1 consider the transition from

ambitious proposals to working

realities the major achievement

of the Mexico Conference. 1 hopetMtt : 7 ? tesco M &eg' ! Kn : 7t. <) f to (t<-that Unesco is beginning to at-

tack in a practical way the qJTob-

lems which brought it into

existence.

Some of the obstacles, it seems

to me, to extending this beginning

are :

1) The depth and complexity of- tioDaI differeDCes. strongrooted

national interests express them-

selves as surely in debate in

Unesco Conference sessions as in

Work of Unesco Important

To Latin. American Countries

Ecuador Executive Board Member Says

In an interview recently granted

to a correspondent of the"Unesco

Courier", Dr Benjamin Carrion,

the newest member of Unesco's

Executive Board spoke of the im-

portance to Latin America of thework of the Organi3ation and the

literature of his country, Ecuador.

Dr. Carrion, a distinguished

man of letters and diplomat of

the Ecuadorian Republic pointed

out that"International teamwork

in the fields of education, science

and culture is receiving the full

support of all of the countries inLatin America.',

"The spirit of Spanish Amer-

ica,"he added,"is an open one.It is essentially intellectual, and

rejects violence and brute force."

"Interest in Latin American

countries,', Dr. Carrion continued,

"is at present concentrated on the

Unesco project for the Institute

of the Hylean Amazon, since it

directly affects Brazil, Colombia,Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and

Ecuador. Unesco is performing an

important and necessary task in

summoning representatives to the

meetings in Peru and Brazilwhich will establish the Institute.

Whatever the result of these

meetings-and I sincerely hope

they will be successful-they willcontribute to the ever increasing

development of co-operation

amongst our countries in SouthAmerica."

Turning to Unesco's programmein Fundamental Education, Dr.

Carrion stated that Ecuador has

been active for several years in

a nation-wide campaign in this

field. One publishing house alone

has already printed more tflan

200, 000 reading primers, he de-clared."I can assure you that the

Mexico Conference on Fundamen-

tal Education was greatly im-

pressed by our results in thisfield. The work of education and

culture is difficult and requires

time. 1 ! : (mador for example is

extremely interested in the workto begin soon on the proposed

Pilot Protect in Cuzco. Peru. Cer-

tainly the results achieved in ap-

plying Fundamental Education tothe native problems of the Cuzco

Indians can be usefully and

effectively applied to other areaand other climates."

At the close of his interview

with the"Unesco Courier"oor-

respondent, Dr. Carrion touched

very briefly on Ecuadorian litera-ture."Ecuadorian writers of to-

day,"he stated."are particularlyconcerned with the social prob-

lems of their country. The novel

'HuasipungO" (an Indian word

meaning'native land'), for exam-

ple, written by one of Ecuador's

Hading contemporary writers.

Jorge Icaza, is a forceful attack

against the exploitation of thenative Indian population. In a

sense it reflects the social and

political evolution of Ecuadorand the important influence of

the ideas of social justice on the

younger generation of today.

'Huasipungo'cannot be describedas a political book, since it is

devoid of political implications.

Rather it is a realistic work, the

product of a particular phase inthe history of our country."

Senor Benjamin Carrion, 01

Ecuador, newest member 01

Uoesee's-Elteeu&h'e Board.

they look upon other peoples,

what things they have shown

themselves ready to die for-set

out in a manner which illustratesthe peculiar quality of that group

of human beings, their"nationalcharacter"as it is sometimes

called, their hopes, fears, beliefsand values, their'way of life.'

Moreover, if we are particularlyinterested in education, say, and

would like to know how the dif-

ferent forms of education are an

outgrowth of the way of life ofthe different peoples, by reading

the comparable chapter right

through this small bookshelf andwe can have light on the world's

idea of education as never before.

Who would be likely to use such

a. bookshelf ? First, clearly, men

and women in universities who

are studying international rela-tions. The very substance of inter-

national relations is understand-

ing the diverse ways of life ofthe peoples of the world, of ap-

preciating how this diversitymakes for the richness of life,

and at the same time of perceiv-

ing the underlving unity upon'which a viable world system can

be built. Second, in the inter-

national seminars organised by

Unesco,. these'Way of Life'studies would clearly be of the

utmost value.A reading of one another's

'Way of Life'should help to bringabout a deeper undestanding-

even if it were no more than an

'agreement to differ,'providedthat the real source of the dif-

ference is realised. Third, the

staffs of the United Nations

would undoubtedly make use ofthese books. When, for instance,

a Brazilian member of the Secre-tariat of one of the U. N. organisa-

tions or agencies is visiting

Poland for the first time, the

volume entitled"The Polfsh Way

of Life"should be of value to

him. Hundreds, possibly thou-

sands, of such cases are likelyto arise every year. Fourth, when

a country appoints a new mem-

ber of its consular or diplomatic

service to some foreign country,

the"Way of Life'volume on that

country should go in his bag.

Generally, without multiplyingfurther instances, all travellers

whether travellers in the flesh or

travellers in the mind-should

find this series of value.

A pleasant idea, the critic

remarks, but how is it to be done ?In this, Unesco is fortunate that

it can count upon an Organisa-

tion built up during the inter-

war period. The International

Studies Conference, for a number

of years before the Second World

War, had already brought togeth-er most of the men and women

in the world engaged in the

scientific study of international

relations. In mor-than twenty

countries the International Stu-

dies Conference has National

Sections. which are effective oper-

ating units. It is these National

Sections, under the overall super-vision of the International Stud-

ies Conference, that are assuming

responsibility for making the

'way of life'studies.As will be seen, this provides

the means of dealing with the

two main difficulties encountered

in an enterprise of this kind. The

first difficulty is how a country's

way of life shall be presented ina fashion that other countries

can understand

The other major problem is to

secure that the studies made are

not flights of fancy, but scientific

objective analyses-which, at thesame time, are readable, for if

they are not read there is little

punpose in their being made. Todeal with this, the National Sec-

tions will choose an experienced

writer in this field to make the

book, while a small group of

specially chosen experts in inter-national relations will review it

for its scientific accuracy.

Four National Sections have

voluntereed to be what Dr. Julian

Huxley called the"llUinea-pigs,"

the first to make the experiment.

It is hoped to bring their spokes-

men togethw r in Unesco House in

March and to work out the

broad lines of this first large-

scale co-operative study of the

creative diversity of the peoples

of the world.

Perched W. MAMTtN.

UNESCO COURIER

London, Lake Success and Prague

to he Host to Unesco Summer Seminars

Latin American Seminar also Planned

A CHINESE PIONEER

Sites for three Unesco educa-

tional seminars to be held this

summer, bringing together out-standing educators from all parts

of the world, were officially an-

nounced on Februrary 24 at Unes-

co House.

Unesco has communicated wlth

its fortv-one Member States, re-

Questing Ministries of Educationto arrange for representative par-

ticipants in the seminars. The

participants are to be key educa-tional personnel in each country,

men and women who will be able

to influence the teaching prac-

tices of their home countries on

their return from the seminars.

The seminars play an important

rle in the programme of Unesco,

for through them Unesco hopes

not only to raise educational

standard throughout the world,

but to bring together influential

persons in the field of educationand thus strenRthen the bonds

of international understanding

among all peoples.The first of the seminars, wi1l

concern"Teacher Education"andwill be held for six weeks in or

near London during July and

August. The invitation to meetin England came from the Brit-

ish government.

The second seminal. will con-

cern"ChildhoOd. EducatIOn"andis planned for Prague for a

period of six weeks, alsn thissummer.

The third seminar on"Teach-

ing about the United Nations and

its Specialised Agencies"will be

held for six weeks during July

and August at Adelphi College,

in Garden C : ty near Lake Suc-

cess, New York. Close co-opera-

t'on in this seminar will be main-

tained with the United Nations.

It is planned to have some

sixty educators attend each ofthe seminar, which are an exten-

ion of the first such experiment I

by Unesco last year. At that time,nearly one hundred key worldeducators attended a six-week

seminar on"Education for Inter-

national Understandmg,"at Sè-

vres, near Paris, and was attended

by representatives of thirty-onnations.

For the three seminars schedul-

ed this year, Unesco will pay the

administrative costs and board

and room expenses of each parti-

cipant. The governments will be

expected to arrange for the travel

expenses of : heir participants.A fourth seminar is projected

for 1948 in which Unesco will co-

operate with the Pan AmericanUnion, and which it is hoped will

attract representatives from all

the Latin American countries.

Subject for study at this seminarwill be"Educational Problems in

South America"

In all of the seminars, a similar

programme will be followed. Gen-eral meetings of the participants

will be held regularly, along with

small s'udy groups to consider

specific aspects of the main

subject.

M. Jean Thomas speaks

of'Unesco and Culture'

Prior tao his departure for New

York on the 17 February as the

Unesco representative to the

recent session of the Economic

and Social Council of the United

Nations, M. Jean Thomas. As-

sistant Director-General of Unes-

co was invitecl to acldress an au-

clience of professors and students

at the orbonne. He spoke on

the subject of"Unesco and the

Problems of Culture"before

nembers or the"Groupement

universitaire pour le, ç Nations

Unies"and inz ; ited guests.

M. Thomas pointed out that the

United Nations might be thought

of as the sun, and Unesco as one

of the planets revolving round

it, but this did not mean that

Unesco's work was secondary or

strictly dependent on the UnitedNations. Comparing the disap-

pointments met with in the Lea-

gue of Nations with the muchmore positive history of the I. L-0.

(International Labour Office),

before the war, M. Thomas indi-cated that the Specialised Agen-

cites were often less vulnerable

than the central political organ-

Isation."Unesco, of course is not

entirely unaffected by. politics.''he said,"but on the cultural

plane, it can achieve agreements

provided it deals with problemsprom a practical angle."

The Assistant Director-General

thus considered Unesco's work

from the practical point of view

and showed how it was meeting

real problems arising in the mod-

ern world on the cultural plane.

The first question to which

Unesco sought an answer, he

said, was that of"cultural Isola-tIonism."Unesco's task was to

broaden the horizons of the dif-

ferent peoples of the world, to

bring them into touch withother modes of thought and

behaviour. This did not mean,

he continued, that Unesco was

seeking to set up a single cultureor to enable one particular cul-

ture to dominate the. others

"Unesco,"said M. Thomas."doesnot wish to impose on the world

ether a single school of art or

a. single school of philosophy.

The very notion of a single cul-

ture is absurd to-day."

The second problem of direct

! interest to Unesco, with regard

to the development of culture, M.

Thomas stated was that of the

participation in cultural life of alarger sections of society. RIOstressed this as a very important

aspect of the Orgamsation's

work."Unesco,"he said,"atta-

ches the highest importance to

the specalised work of scientists,

philosophers and creative artists,and devotes a large proportion of

Us funds to the dissemination

and''popularisation'of culture...

We must bear in mind, the num-

ber 0= people who can be reach-ed to-day by the cinema, gfamo-

phone records, the press and ra-dio. The mfluence of such mod-

ern instruments of culture 1ß

vast. and it cannot be said that

they are at present fulfillingtheir true omission of raising the

cultural interests of the public."

Accordingly, Unesco is encoucag-

ing the production of articles.films and radio programmers of

cultural value he declared, and

is taking positive steps to facil-

itate tAeir distribution in the dif-

ferent cultural areas of the

world.

"Unesco,"he said,"may not

yet be known to the general

public. But the main thing isthat its programme should reach

the masses through a series of

concrete result. It is actually of

minor importance whether the

public's collaboration is a con-scious or unconscious one."

Dr. Yen Describes Work

of Mass Education in China

(EDITOR'S NOTE : We reproduce below the abridged t<xt of an

address by Dr. James Yen, one of the pioneers in the Mass Education

Movement in China, delivered last year at the Unesco sponsored

Summer Seminar in Education for International Understanding at

Sevres, France.

by Dr. James YEN,

Director, Collage of Rural Reconstruction, Hsih-Ma Chang. ChungkIng, China ; Founder and Dlrectorof the Chinese Movement for Mass Education.

Z`OR ABOUTtwenty-six

years I have be-

longed to the

Chmese M o v e-

ment for Mass

Education. This

movement ori-

ginated, not m

China, but IIIFrance during

the first world

war. Chines

took part in this

war on the

battlefields or

France ; Chmese

workers shared

in, the work of

military e n g i-

neering corps

and in war pro-duction in Fran-

ce, Great Bri

tain and the

United States.

But these Chi-nese combatants

and workers

were very un-

happy owing totheir ignorance

of the French

and English lan-

guages. Theywere isolated.

and received no news of theJr

famines or their country. The

French and British authorities

asked for volunteers-students-

to serve as interpreters for these

men In this way it came abou :

that I embarked for France.

It was the opinion in China for

centuries that scholars alone

should learn to read and write.

That was the exclusive privilege

of the scholars. For centuries'it

had been the view that ordinary

folk the people-should not and

could not read : the farmer, the

worker could not and should not

learn such an art. I decided, how-

ever. to try, and to undertake the

education of my men. It was my

idea to form a httle school, where

I could teach them to read and

write.

I began with very simple words

and sentences. I composed pages

for reading. At the end of my pro-

gramme of work 35 out of 40 of

my pupils had entirely succeeded.This experiment became known,

and I was asked to develop and

apply it to the educacion of 200, 000Chinese workers then in France.

We then joined up with Chinese

volunteers, like myself, in France,

Great Britain and the United

Staes. We organised in Paris a

seminar which lasted for some

ten days. Together we prepared

and set on foot a programme and

scheme of teaching. Classes were

organised throughout France.

The 1st Congress of the International Theatre Institute wit ! be heldat the Palace of the Xational Council, Prague, shown above. A

seminar on Child Education wild also be held in Prague this SUII1Dler.

That was the

begmning of theChinese Move-

ment for Mass

Education.

In China, we

worked out our

methods of

teaching morethoroughly,

more scientific-

ally. We chose a

vocabulary suit-able for the pur-

poses of aver-ages pupil level.The Chinese

language com-

prises some 40,-000 characters.

The current lan-

guage of every-

day life involvesthe use of be-

tween four and

five thousand

characters.

A farmer, a

worker or a ci-

tizen must know

about 1, 300 ba-

sic characters.

We have pub-

lished diction-

aries and othert, nn4e rnrtainina

the main characters 1 : 0 i) e Jearneu.

A programme of work has been

drawn up providing for one hour's

lesson each day, except Sundays,

for a period of four months. This

educational scheme enable the

pupils to read papers, pamphletsand other publications issue for

their benefit.

We have a service of 100. 000

teachers, all of them volunteers,who devote several hours of thir

time each day, without any remu-

neration, to the education of he

masses. These teachers belong to

every educational grade.

This movement has constitute

a veritable revolution in China : 11

has brought together coolies and

scholars. The thousard-year-cd

barriers between these two social

classes have been broken down,

and a truly democratic movement

has been set on foot.

The fight against illiteracy was

only the first step in the task to be

accomplished. We wanted to estab-lish a complete range of instruc-

tion, to found a true educational

system.

In China 85% of the total popu-

lation of some 400 to 500 I1111líons

live in the country provmces,

spread out over thousands ofsmall villages. We therefore felt,

that the duty of us student, of

us scholars, was not to visit hera-

ries but to go into the country.

Four : \Iain Difficulties

The problems to be solved were

many and vast. but they wereconnected in a general way wah

the following four fundamental

points : (1) illiteracy. (2t poveny,

(3) disease. (4) bad government.

We applied our system, uhich

enabled the people to learn to

read and write in four months

as a result of one hours work a

day.

Six school for demomtra tlon

were founded, and verve run enti-

rely at the expense of the ChineseMovement for Mass Education. By

degrees, hundreds of schools were

established, with the result thac

every village in the county soonhad a school, known as the

"school of the people".

The result was excellent, for

after three years'work th ;

movement had, of itself, developed

to such a point that more than

80. 000 young people, from 18 to

25 years of age, had passed

through them. These young

people Mt the need of

forming associations-"FeHcw

Scholar Associations''-They

founded a paper called"The

Farmer", and also introduced

radio into the villages. Theatrics !

events were organised ; dramas

and small plays where performed ;

theatrical compames traveled

from one village to another.

There is a vast medical problem

to be solved in China. This prob-

lem has a dual aspect. In the

first place, public health in China

is bad because of the poverty of

the population. In the second

place, health services, particularlymedical personnel, are notoriously

inadequate. China has only onedoctor per 75, 000 or so inhabi-

tants.

We established in our"labora-

tory county"the following sys-tem : we mobilised all the good

will, all the elements which were

capable of receiving rapid first-

aid and medical training.

The health centre was the

county, with its hospital and its

complete and perfected equipment.This system permitted the maxi-

mum protection of public health

with the very'imited resources

available. It had such satisfactory

results that the Chinese Govern-

ment appointed groups of doctors

to the different counties, with

the recommendation that an or-

ganisation similar to that in our

"laboratory county"be institute.

A Table with Three Legs

We had set on foot an educa-

tional, agricultural and a health

programme. For these to be effec-tive they had to be authorised

and applied. But for the purpose

of applying them we had, at the

head of the county, only one

authority, that of the governor 01the county, generally corrupt ;

dishonest, and abov all indiffrent to social problems.

I sought an interview with

General Chang-Kai-Shek and told

him that we possessed a table

with three legs an educational,

an agricultural and a pUb1Ïe

health leg-and that we abso-

lutely had to have a fourth leg

so that the whole structure should

be solid. This fourth prop was the

support. of the government. Iasked him to entrust us with a

single county, our"laboratory

county''of about 400, 000 souls ; to

entrust us with the government

of that area. A year and a half

later we received a favourable

reply.We are a movement of the

people. Our action has gradually

spread throughout all China. Our

results were achieved in seven

years, from 1929 to 1936.

A rind Problem

But these problems are not

peculiar to mv country. Three-

quarters of the inhabitants of theworld are in like case. I have been

to India, and the problems af-

flicting China are the same asthose afflicting India. I have been

to Cuba, and there the problems

are the same.

Unesco is a great institution,

but m order to succeed at mu. st

work with the object of us : ng the

resources of the privileged quarterof the world to raise the stand-

ards of the non-privileged three-

quarters. I know that this willtake a certain time and that. it is

only by degrees that we shati sue-ceed in improving the living con-

ditions of the masses of humanist, .

T

UNESCO COURIER

Meeting Set for

Hylean Institute

"DISCOVERY" (Great Britain),

February 1948.

Mr. Ritchie Calder in an article

entitled"Science is Unesco's

Strung Point"writes as follOlCS :"Without question, the section

which proved itself the most

efficient both in executIOn of its1947 programme and in its pro-'

rposals for 1948. lcas the sciencesection. Some of the delegations

Mere suspicious of the amount

! t) h : c M) as &ei ? : (/ spe ? : t o ? ! sc ! S ? tce.which was being spent on science.

They were dubwus, for example,about the grants-in-aid to the

Scientific Unions. The expertson the forking party were in-

structed to examine and curtal,

They examined and confirmed.The explanation, of course, is

that in science Unesco, as in no

other field, took over a'gomg

concern'.

Some dubiety was expressed

(and removed) about the HyleanAmazon project. This was initiat-

ed at at fist Unesco Conference

in Paris from an offer by Brazil

to make available an instlfute,

as am international centre for

the study of tie problems oaf

the Amazopt area. That embraces

a third of the continent of South

America aid involves seven sov-

ereign states and three European

<lep67 : c ! e ? ! c : es the GMzoms./t ! sdependencies the Guianas. It is

largely unexplored aid there zslittle systematic knowledge about

its natural characteristics. There

is the obvious wealth of timber

a ! : < ! co7 : ! jert : be ues'etat !'o ? :.and convertible vegetation.

Humboldt, tlze German explorerand naturalist, called It'Hylea'

130 years ago. Since then ex-

plorers haz ; e skirmished in thearea. Weird tales hare been

'Mritten run serIOUS works as well

as in the'penny-bloods'. Air lines

ply cu ; ross it and see only a close-

ly-knit carpet of green, but Irhereis the bulldozer Ichich could dril'e

a path trough ?

Some of us though it e : cczt mg.

Or it could be mate so and.

heaife knows. Unesco needs

something colourful to catchthe public Imaginatzon. Otllers

thought in too ambitious lotUnesco with it ; ; limited resources.

Others masked IcilY the cou'I trzes

concerned could not Join up and

tackle the problems and share

the cost. Thar leat mzssmg the

tchote point : it is not just a Pan-

Hylean project but an interna-tional one to establish a/zen on

the development oj this area not

merely for he gO'Cernments con--cerzed but for the people of the

area aid the benefit of the whole-

M'orM.

To begin with, it would be the

hunting-ground of the'ologists'-

anthropologists, zoologists, archae-

ologists, climatologists, geologists,

mineralogists, etc. That would bgthe Unesco phase of research and

inquiry. But the plain'-ists'mould move in later-the arbor-

ists, agriculturists. nutritionists,the applied chemIsts and, maybe,

pilot industrialists under the

aegis of the Food and Agrzcul-ture Organisation, to work out

methods of sane development.

A pipe-dream, perhaps. But all

thatU7 Unesco was being asked to

do wars to endorse a conference

o/ international experts whichhod already met at Belem and

had agreed ot she initial steps.

U'zesco was to male a contribu-

t2ozx to the initial expenses, the

bulk o/ which was to subscribed

by the government of the ten

countries,

Apart from its sCIentific value,

just think how Hylean Amazon

might help Unesco to capturethe popular imagination. To

make it so, should be a priority

Job jor the'Ideas Bureal'forwhich the British delegation asA :-

ed half-a-milllOn dollars."

WASHINGTON STAR" (USA),

January 15, 1948.

"Jungle Venture for the U. N.""The project through still in the

plannmg stage, promzses to beonce 01 the most'l1lteresting and

e : rotzc el'er undertaken on an

) ; : t (Y ? ! ct< ! 0) ta bast's. 7tsprctct : cf : !International basis. Its practIcal

ralue can'wt bi'measured at

tillS tune, but lis potentzalitzes

seem Ç ! reat enough to lCarrallt

co operatire actIOn... Sections of

tit hare been penetrated by

numerous expeditIOns in the past,

but there herds been no sys-

tematic exploralory effort com-

parable to the protected Unesco

underlakmÇ !."

"lye SOIR" (Lebanon). 20 Jan

nuaryl948.

In an article entitled"L'Unesco

ct2c Llban"tins paper states'

'Thf cIcstmy of a nation does not

depend on ; ts territory ; or gfeo-

graphzcal size. The e : rample ofthe Lebanon is proof Of it, The

Lebanon etneroed into the : nter-

national u ; orld after a successful

straggle and at once ? nade a

lace fop 1/seal ! fzttmg ItS cultural,

spiritual and historzcal past.Unesco has chosen the Leba-

non as the seat for its Third

General Conference. After Mexi-

co, our country will soon be IlOstto the members of the largest

cultural organzsation in the

world. The importance thai this

event takers on for the Lebanon

and the Lebanese need zoot bop

stressed.

In this choice one might see

the fulfillment of the role that

the Lebanon is filling and must

co'nlinue to fIll : that of a bridge

between the cultures of East and

West. 7'he Lebanon can be justly

proud of this role and shouldtake all steps so that the forth-

coming Conference is a success."

"THE QUEENSLAND COUN-

TRYWOMAN (Australia), Jan-

uary 1948.

"Fundamental EducatIOn has

been part of Unesco's programme

front the very beginning. It has

received'widespread and en-Ithusiastic support from a score

of countries as diverse in back-

ground and in standards of edu-catIon as Brazil, China, France,

Iran, Mexzo, Norway, Nether-

lands, Poland, the United King-dom, the United States and theUnion of South Africa !

"If lee turn back to Unesco's

definition of tie aim of fun-de/ education, lce shall allt ! a ? 7te ? : ta ! educat : o ; t, ? < ; e shaH aH

agree it is lcorth while if : t'ena-bles mar, as am individual, to lIve

a/MHera ; ? td'ha ; pp ! e''H/e : 7 : < ! t !-a fuller and happier life in ad-

justment lcith a changmg en-z ; iromnent', and promotes the

MorM peace for which Ice all

lone."

(Continued from Page 1)

tinuny and greater resources, theadmirable efforts of the past.

Only an international body,

jomtly maintained by the coun-tries of the Amazon forest region

and those which, although not a

part of it, are specially interestedin the problems of the natural

and social sciences peculiar to it,

is capable of ensuring lasting

results to such an undertaking.

The reception given by Bolivia,

Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Vene-zuela and the three Guianas to

the project submitted to Unesco

by Brazil, is proof of the oppor-tuneness and possibilities which it

holds. The support and co-opera-

tion which the United States of

America and India have proposed

to give it are further evidence of

the international character and

scientific significance of this plan.

In close co-operation with the

different countries and territories

of the Amazon, the proposed

IIHA would undertake all work

which, within the framework en-

visaged by the Convention of theInstitute, would be of direct inter-

est to them. The results thus ob-

tained would, moreover, be of

eventual benefit to all the tro-

pical zones of our planet.The first meeting of experts

held in Belem do Para, Brazil,

in 1947,, with a view to creating

the IIHA, drew up in detail a

plan of work. The many problems

relating to the natural environ-ment and conditions of life ofman in the equatorial forest weir

examined. The scientific mrveys

and researches recommended

include the subjects of physiogra-

phy, pedology, botany, zoology,

agriculture, social sciences andeducation.

Among the many projects con-tained in the general plan of the

Institute, some can be carried outimmediately, while others will re-

quire many years of patient toil.

Among the suggestions for thefuture work of the Institute are

the establishment of regional

research centres in such places as

Iquitos, Peru : Belem, Brazil ; and'Riberalta, Bolivia.

The proposed Institute wound

work closely with, and, as far as

possible, through institutes locat-ed in the countries of the Hylean

Amazon region. The programme

of the Institute would also take

cognizance of the research under

way on problems closely related tothose of this region in research

institutions in other parts of i. he

world.

It is hoped that, at the forth-

coming meeting, representativesof the interested Governments

twill sign the draft Convention and

set up an interim commission to

serve until the Member States

have ratified the Convention, and

the Institute comes fo : t. lally int<J

existence.

It is estimated that during the

first year of operatior the Ins-

titute could effectively carry out

a programme costing approximat-

ely $300, 000, excluding the expen-ditures for buildings and per-

manent equipment.

EX. ENEMY STATES

DISCUSSED

Negotiations are under way be-tween Unesco and Occupation Au-

thorities in Germany to determme

what elements of the Unesco pro-

gramme may be carried out in

that country. Similar discussions

will be initiated shortly with the

Allied Control Authority of Japan.

The Executive Board at its first

1948 session in Paris daring

February, reviewed negotiationswhich have been carried on to

date between Unesco and the

Allied Control Authorities in Ger-

many, aimed at the extension ofelements of Unesco's world pro-

gramme into former enemy states.It decided also that similar ne-

gotiations should be undertaken

immediately with the Control

Authority of Japan.Letters were dispatched by the

Director-General to the military

commanders of the four Occu-

pation Zones of Germany, andan answer from General Lucius

D. Clay (U. S. A.) was received

inviting further discussion onthe subject.

The Executive Board approved

a resolution that Dr. Huxley and

Dr. Walker prepare a joint re-

port on the overall picture of tille

negotiations for consideration ata specially-convened session early

in April.

Editor : S. 1\1. KOFFLER..

I ! lIP RII\IERIEDU NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE

21 Rue deBern-Paris 8e

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Unesco Promotes

Development of

National Book

Exchange Centers

The Second General Confe-

rence, Mexico City. November

1947, instructed the Secretariat ofUnesco to"promote the organi-

sation, maintenance and develop-

ment of national book exchang :and distribution centres".

These book centres are already

operating in such countries as theUnited States of America and the

United Kingdom and have, in the

past, been able to send important

quantities of books and periodical3to war-damaged Ji. bra. ries through-

out the world. Most of the ma-

terial which has in this manner

been used for the benefit of edu-

cation, science and culture would

normally have gone to the papermills and thus been lost.

Not only in the U. S. and the

U. K. but in many other coun-

tries as well, vast and re1atively

untapped reserve of books existwhich could be made available

to war-damaged areas provided

appropriate organizations fortheir collection, allocation and

distribution can be established.

It will be the task of the book

centres which Unesco has been

instructed to promote wherever

possible, to collect and distribute

these books and to yet them into

the hands of those who actually

require them, and to avoid"book

dumping".These Centres will be National

Book Centres, and not centres

under Unesco's administration,

but Unesco's Clearing House will

cooperate with such centres inthe allocation of material to the

libraries which are the mosc in

need of It

It should be well understood

that book centres in war-

damaged countries should in thefrst place servo the needs of its

home libraries, and only the ma-

teal not actually needed within

the country will be made availa-

ble to libraries abroad.

At the same time, these Cen-

tres will act as focus points to

which gifts will be addressed

from donors abroad for appro-

priate distribution inside the

country. It is also hoped that indue course these book centres

will develop into permanent ex-

change centres, used not only inthe interest of reconstruction

but also in the service of perma-

nent library needs, e. g. for the

exchange of literature usually

exchanged intemationaliy.In accordance with the reso-

lution above quoted, Unesco with

the cooperation of the Tempo-

rary International Council. forEducational Reconstruction (T I.

C. E. R.) has endeavoured to pro-

mote the creation of a Trench

National Book Centre ; and it its

hoped that this Centre will stóut

functioning in the near future.

8