After the presentation of Volume 13 of our Peruvian Educational Thought-CPEP Collection, held on Friday, January 23 at the Institute of Peruvian Studies-IEP, we present an interesting article by Dr. Manuel Burga Díaz, editorial coordinator of this monumental publication that covers the history of Peruvian education, who was also the moderator of the event. In the article, the prominent historian takes a tour of the two educational reforms that have tried to be implemented in our country, their scope and considerations according to the contexts of each era. The Senior Management of Spill Magisterial has made a great editorial effort to publish these fifteen volumes, faithful to its commitment to research and support for national education, through these contents that lead us to know the past and, from these previous experiences -some of which had as protagonists great figures of the Peruvian intelligentsia and educational science- detect those elements that allow us to propose the improvements that our current educational system so badly needs.
EDUCATIONAL REFORMS IN PERU
by Manuel Burga Díaz, historian and university professor
Two commissions created to elaborate educational reforms have always caught my attention in our country.
The first, appointed by President Manuel Pardo, headed by Minister Manuel Odriozola and made up of Peruvian and foreign liberals, such as Manuel A. Fuentes, Eduardo de Habich, Sebastián Lorente, Pierre Pradier Foderé, among others. Liberals who came from Spain, France and Poland with the intention of changing the world.
All young and very high level. They worked intensely for eight months to prepare a proposal, which President Pardo promulgated months later as the New Regulation of Public Instruction in March 1876, four months after the end of his mandate.
The other commission was appointed by General Juan Velasco Alvarado and was made up of Emilio Barrantes, who chaired it, as well as Wálter Peñaloza and Augusto Salazar Bondy, three very high-level teachers , committed to educational practices and national education.
The work of this commission ended up in the famous Blue Book , which immediately after became the new General Law of Education of 1972, which attempted the educational reform of the 20th century, but which was very short-lived.
Many opposed this reform. I had Augusto Salazar Bondy as an Introduction to Philosophy teacher and I vividly remember his classes, his seriousness, his tired air, dedication and the work he displayed in the classroom. The opposition to this reform and to the university law of 1969 was truly dramatic, amazing and dogmatic.
The Maoist vanguards, which later grouped themselves into various radical groups, including Sendero Luminoso, demonized, rejected and repudiated them. They even attacked some of its defenders, I don't remember if it was Salazar Bondy.
The student leaders loudly claimed to maintain the status quo :the return to the college system and the abolition of general studies. In these circumstances, of the rise of Maoism in the universities, in 1974, when the twilight of this educational reform had already begun, Salazar Bondy died at the age of 49.
These two commissions are notable for the quality of their members, for the magnitude of their proposals, which were part of original government plans, for translating the political and ideological situations of the time and for the significance they have had in the history of Peruvian education.
The first, to disqualify her, was accused of being anticlerical, and the second, with the same intention, of being a fascist, petty bourgeois. With the passage of time, history seems to have vindicated them. The first created the modern system of Peruvian education, divided into three cycles, primary, secondary and higher, aimed at discovering the country and promoting its development. Antonio Raimondi's book, Peru , from 1874, summarizes well the intention of this reform.
The second, formulated in the decline of oligarchic power in Peru, proposed to transform the country, eliminate exclusions, respect diversity and create a new type of citizenship. History shows, by these examples, that it is not easy to reform education, especially if it has to do with the university. Let's learn from history.
Source:Diario El Peruano, August 29, 2013
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