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INSTITUTE OF SO'CTAL ANTHROPOLOGY — ^PUBUCATION NO. 1 1 



in details, and since the literates in the ranches 

 are identical (with the exception of Atzimbo), 

 probably the error consists of not listing all of 

 the literates in the town of Qiiiroga. This as- 

 sumption is backed by an examination of table 

 32, which shows ths literate persons as of the 

 1940 general census. 



Table 31. — Schooling and literacy in the Quiroga area 



1 "Above 9" means age 10 and upward, and "above 6" means age 6 and up- 

 ward. The distribution by ages is exact for 1940, but is based on 1940 propor- 

 tions for 1945. 



2 Tbis figure was supplied from the author's 1945 census. 



' Those who can only read are grouped with the illiterates. 



It will be noted that the figures in table 32 also 

 are not fully reliable, since the sum of the illiter- 

 ates age 10 and older and the literates (which in- 

 clude some children under 10) should exceed the 

 total population age 10 and older, but faUs to do 

 so (2,682 compared with 2,720). Nevertheless, 

 the figures probably are accurate enough to give a 

 percentage of about 54 for illiteracy in the Quiroga 

 area in 1940. If we accept a round numbsr of 

 1,300 illiterates for 1945, and a total of 2,902 in the 

 age group 10 and older, the percentage of illiteracy 

 in 1945 was about 44.8 percent. This figure can 

 be compared with the national average of 48 per- 

 cent as stated by Secretary of Public Education, 

 Don Jaime Torres Bodet, in his speech of August 

 27, 1944. According to recent censuses the per- 

 centage of illiteracy in Michoac^n has been: 55.14 

 in 1940, and 66.86 in 1930. The entire munici- 

 pality of Quu'oga has had illiteracy percentages 

 as follows: almost 60 in 1940, and a trifle less than 

 69 in 1930. 



The 1940 census data on schooling are shown in 

 table 33. 



Unfortunately we did not obtain the school 

 enrollment for recent years in Quiroga. Probably 

 it is considerably higher now than was indicated 

 by the census data for 1940. In 1940 there were 

 556 children of ages 6 to 12, inclusive, who had 

 never been to school, and there were 118 other 

 children of that age group who had dropped out 

 of school after some schooling (41 had taken the 

 first grade, 42 had taken second-grade work, 21 

 had progressed through the third grade, 13 had 

 finished the fourth grade, 1 had taken the fifth 

 grade, and none had gone as far as the sLxth 

 grade). This situation, despite the fact that pri- 

 mary schooling is theoretically free and compulsory 

 (for ages 6 through 14), is due chiefly to economic 

 factors. The children cannot be spared from 

 helping earn the family living, or at best usually 

 the children go to school only the first 3 or 4 years 

 while they are at ages too young to be of much 

 economic importance. Although some of the 

 school children, in 1940, were as young as 5 and 

 others were as old as 15, most of them were 7 to 

 12 years of age. 



The 31 individuals with more than an elementary 

 education comprised 2 with 12 years past primary 

 schooling (the physician, and the priest), 1 Avith 

 10 years of intermediate and higher education, 



