Education in Colonial Chile: System and Challenges
First Letters
- Estates (only for Spanish immigrants): These were “massive” and had no limits on quantity.
- Spanish Education: Mostly for the middle class. The wealthiest classes generally preferred home study with a private teacher.
- Condition: Only for children of Spanish parents.
- Women’s Education: Typically in convents, focusing on religious instruction and housework.
- Private Schools: For the children of the Crown or those who could afford it.
- School Council or Actual (Public School):
Facilities were funded by the Crown through taxation (which people would pay to the council). They were free for the children of the Spanish and were intended for poor mestizos.
In Chile, there were only three public schools: the town councils of Santiago, Concepción, and La Serena. There were no councils in the surrounding areas, and the people were too poor to support them.
- Objective: Knowledge of the faith, creating God-fearing men.
- Curriculum: Castilian, arithmetic, and religious instruction (catechism).
- Method: “The rod and spoil.” Punishment, with a focus on memorization and repetition.
The main problem was the lack of teachers, as few people were interested in teaching.
(Chile was a captaincy general, a war zone, so education was not a priority.)
Difficulties: Lack of resources and teachers. To become a teacher, one had to:
- Be religious (authorized by the church) and not have committed any infamous crimes (war crimes).
- Not have a servile trade (manual labor).
- Have a good life and customs (certified by the church).
- Be of pure blood. Be proficient in proofreading, writing, the Bible, and cutting quills.
- Be an old Christian (baptized in infancy) and a Hidalgo (noble).
These requirements were very difficult to meet in Chile.
Schools for Children
Spanish emigrants to higher-class destinations only admitted those with academic merit. These schools were supported by the state and granted the title of bachelor. Studies included Latin and the classics (Greece and Rome).
- In Chile, these schools almost did not exist. The few that did were paid (in the rest of America, they were free), and free primary schools were maintained. There was also a lack of priests.
Latin Schools
- Objective: To train new local priests.
- It was taught in the church: scriptures, sacred history.
- Held by the Crown. Students entered at 13-14 and studied for 3 to 4 years. Here, they received the title of priest.
Colleges (Similar to Colleges)
They did not deliver the title. For that, one had to take an examination for a university degree, in this case, Salamanca. All this was very difficult for the time and was reserved for those with greater economic power.
Its goal was to train individuals who would enter the clergy or become public officials.
Entry Requirements:
- Nobility (noble), illustration (having high school), purity of blood, and a certificate of good conduct.
Method: Medieval scholasticism (trivium and quadrivium) and later specialization. The emphasis was on theology, philosophy, and law. They were almost human.
In Chile, this level was Convictorio seminars with the aim of training priests.
- Convictorio of San Francisco Javier (Santiago). This is the only one that survived the independence process and remains to date.
- Convictorio San Jose (Design)
- Imperial Seminar
All colleges in Chile were Jesuit, so some mestizos were accepted. This contributed to the expulsion of the Jesuits, and these schools were passed on to another order, the Franciscans.