e, and under certain conditions text-books are supplied.
In the normal schools, where the pupils are trained to enter the
public service as primary teachers, not only is the tuition free, but
also books, board, lodging and everything needed in their school work.
The national university at Santiago comprises faculties of theology,
law and political science, medicine and pharmacy, natural sciences and
mathematics, and philosophy. The range of studies is wide, and the
attendance large. The National Institute at Santiago is the principal
high school of the secondary grade in Chile. There were 30 of these
high schools for males and 12 for females in 1903, with an aggregate
of 11,504 matriculated students. The normal schools for males are
located at Santiago, Chillan and Valdivia; and for females at La
Serena, Santiago and Concepcion. The mining schools at Copiapo, La
Serena and Santiago had an aggregate attendance of 180 students in
1903, and the commercial schools at Iquique and Santiago an attendance
of 214. The more important agricultural schools are located at
Santiago, Chillan, Concepcion and Ancud, the Quinta Normal de
Agricultura in the national capital having a large attendance. The
School of Mechanic Arts and Trades (_Escuela de Artes y Oficios_) of
Santiago has a high reputation for the practical character of its
instruction, in which it is admirably seconded by a normal handicraft
school (Sloeyd system) and a night school of industrial drawing in the
same city, and professional schools for girls in Santiago and
Valparaiso, where the pupils are taught millinery, dress-making,
knitting, embroidery and fancy needlework. The government also
maintains schools for the blind and for the deaf and dumb. The public
primary schools numbered 1961 in 1903, with 3608 teachers, 166,928
pupils enrolled, and an average attendance of 108,582. The cost of
maintaining these schools was 4,146,574 pesos, or an average of
L2:17:3 per pupil in attendance. In addition to the public schools
there are a Roman Catholic university at Santiago, which includes law
and civil engineering among its regular courses of study; numerous
private schools and seminaries of the secondary grade, with a total of
11,184 students of both sexes in 1903; and 506 private primary
schools, with an attendance of 29,684. The private schools usually
conform to the official requirements in regard to s