Education
Education in this part of Patagonia was the product of the three seperate threads acting together. The national and state governments created the primary schools, and also enforced the laws that were required childrento attend school up to a certain age. The oil companies and the Church, meanwhile, largely created the secondary and technical schools in the oil company towns. For both the companies and the Church, the goal education was to produce good, useful, and devout citizens. For the oil companies, education had a second very important objective: to create a skilled and literate work force upon which they could draw. In the case of the national company (Y.P.F.), all of this became a part of a larger policy of the "Argentinization" of the region.
Mosconi and Argentinization
The homogenization of the workers began with the education system. Y.P.F director General Mosconi quickly initiated two schools under the state scheme of education for foreign born migrant workers. At the Escuela Nocturna de Analfabetos y Semi - Analfabetos Adultos (The Evening School for Illiterate and Semi-Illiterate Adults) anyone between 14 - 45 years old could register and lessons focused on the four main grades of elementary school. The company stressed the importance of literacy. Workers who remained illiterate would not be granted the opportunity to be promoted. At the Escuela Nocturna Preparatoria Industrial (The Evening Preparatory School) the two year program was more advanced and included classes in drilling, geology, and industrial mechanics and the like. These were not free but cost only five pesos per month with the the reward of a slightly higher salary for 90% attendance. The greater investment was in the eventual opportunity upon graduation for real advancement in the company to the rank of foreman, drilling boss, and beyond.
Mosconi's vision of the value of education extended to many levels. For male workers under 18 years old, apprenticeship courses were available after 1927. He also helped create courses and an Oil Institute in the National Institute of Buenos Aires. The university courses were mainly attended by the white collar workers and professionals from the company towns. The workers who attended these courses had to pay for the full tuition, but if they earned the degree, the company would reimburse them for 50% of these fees. Mosconi's dedication permeated the company and he influenced the creation of an education system that would facilitate the growth and strength of the entire petroleum industry.
The stress on education is also obvious in a general circular from April of 1923. If worker's children did not attend the mandatory schooling, then the parent would lose their job or be subjected to a fine. Again, Torres quotes the administrator laying down his opinion in no uncertain terms: " The fact is that in the oil field there are many children of school age who neither go nor have registered in the elementary school. As it is against the law and considering that it is also a disadvantage for the children, the administration disposes: all children in school age must be registered in the school."
The Church, the Company, and Dean Funes School
It was very common for companies to be involved in the education of the recipients of the scholarships. In the case of Astra, located some distance from Dean Funes School, the company lent their workers a pickup to drive to their classes. The students with a scholarship also had to present their report card to the administrator at the end of each month. Sometimes the administrator of the company would meet with the recipients to go over a lesson. In other words, the company knew that they were helping to create their own work force and so paid close attention to the progress of these students and monitored their education. All the effort that the company put into these students would eventually be returned once the students graduated and applied their knowledge to a job within the company.
For the students who did not earn the scholarship or could not afford the courses at Dean Funes, there was the chance to follow an apprenticeship in the company workshops, usually completing this by the age of 18. In the Ferrocarrilera (Km 8) town, a "factory school" was created to enhance these apprenticeships.
Gender Roles and the Education System
Education was available for both boys and girls, yet activities were especially organized to maintain gender roles. Starting in 1923, girls were offered courses in music, singing classes, dressmaking, embroidery, needlework, and housekeeping. After elementary school girls usually returned home to fulfill the role as a caretaker of the family, cook, and clean the house. In most of these families, a girl's education continued back in the home while the boys were given a higher priority to continue their education to the secondary level.
Long Walk to School
For many children, there was no available transportation and they had to walk. Sometimes they walked in the snow and rain, or did not attend school because of the inclement weather
Maria de Mendonca remembers, for example:
Mi padre ya trabajaba en Diadema. .... mi padre manejaba un auto para llevarnos al colegio. La mitad de año no iba porque nevaba o llovía o porque antes las clases eran en invierno.
... ibamos al Cañador Perdido, porque era un campamento de YPF. Era muy lejos.... Después, ya cuando empezaron a llegar más familias entonces Diadema pusó un coche para que fueramos a la misma Diadema, a la central."(My father worked in Diadema....my father drove us to school. Half way through the school year we didn't go because it was snowing, or raining, or because it was before the classes were in the winter. ...We went to Canador Perdido because it (the school) was part of the YPF town (where they lived). It was very far....Afterwards, when more families began to arrive, Diadema provided transportation so that we went to the (school) in Diadema, the center)
Class and Teachers
As in other company towns, the children at Astra learned mathematics, geography (especially that of Argentina) history, and painting. Music was also included: Joaquin Guerreiro remembered that his teacher would sometimes ask the oldest student to return to his house to get a "bandoneon." Then the teacher would sit in the middle of the room and play for his pupils.
Memories of Astra School
Several "alumni" of the school at Astra (and of Dean Funes) sat down and recalled their schooldays.
| Jose Tenorio Montez Senor Montes Tenorio recalls that memorization was a key part to learning, and recites a poem that he learned then and remembers to this day (below)
Jasmin Sanchez: A little curiosity, do you remember any poetry from school? Tenorio Montes: Yes, there is a poem, Cuban. |
Carlos Kalpakchieff
Senor Kalpakchieff, who grew up in Astra and now owns the tavern there, contributed a simple summary of his education:
(Well here, in the elementary school we had first to sixth grade. We went during the morning, from...fourth...no third to sixth (grade), during the morning, and the first to third grade we went during the afternoon. They learned everything of the elementary level, yes....yes, afterwards when I went to the secondary level it was "industry." We had...eh...classes during the morning and speech (we say), and in the afternoon the workshop (mechanics, electronics...), practice...when I finished there, I immediately begin work, yes I began to work immediately, until 20 years old, because afterwards I joined the military) |
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School Transportation and Scholarship (clip)
(translations) |
Joaquín
and Rosa Guerreiro
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Sources: Torres, Susana Beatriz. Two Oil Company Towns in Patagonia: European Immigrants, Class, and Ethnicity (1907 -1933). Dissertation. New Brunswick, New Jersey. May, 1995.