Music ediltatioii hi the ciiwicuhnAccordingly, the teacher problem in Peru has two facets-the train-
ing of new specialized teachers, and the supporting of active teachers
in their search after perfection.
We now come to the second proposition.
The school syllabus as a whole is a very crowded one and requires
too much effort from the pupil in and out of actual school hours. The
resultant fatigue produces loss of interest, weakens attention and thus
makes memorization more difficult, the lesson taught gradually dis-
appearing, and sometimes vanishing almost instantly, from the mind.
Under such conditions, learning becomes a heavy and wearisome
labour; the results achieved by the pupil are often far from satisfactory,
and his basic education is usually inadequate.
The teacher, on the other hand, is usually in charge of a very large
class, which, given the circumstances outlined above, makes his work
vastly more difficult, so that the results secured do not always corres-
pond to the effort put forth.
This state of affairs becomes aggravated in music teaching in general,
and really serious in the training of professional musicians.
Music education being a part of general education, it is felt that to
solve the problem of the former implies solving that of the latter.
A simplification of general education syllabuses and the redistribu-
tion of the time available would help, so far as musical education is
concerned, to facilitate the training of new specialist teachers and the
work of the teachers already in service.
It is hoped that the enthusiasm by which music lovers have always
been inspired will lead them to the solution of these and other educa-
tional problems ; this will undoubtedly speed up the development of
music in Peru, and raise it to a status where it becomes a universal
appreciation of what is beautiful.
[Tronslated from the Spanish]