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Show ILLITERATES LEARN TO READ AND WRITE Some 4,339 illiterates who entered the Civilian Conservation Conser-vation Corps camps during the fiscal year which closed June 30, 193"), were taught to rend and write, it was stated in a communication issued to Robert Fechner, director of emergency emer-gency conservation work, by Howard W. Oxley, director of C C C camp education for the U. S. office of education. According to a survey by the C C C office of education, made with the assistance of the war department, there were 7,3G9 illiterate in the Conservation Corps during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1935. A total of 5,406 were persuaded by the educational advisers to receive instruction. Of these, 3,007 were enrolled in classes, and 1,799 were given individual indivi-dual training. About four-fifths of the number who received re-ceived training achieved the objective set for them by their advisers. Over 1,950 refused to avail themselves of the opportunities op-portunities afforded. The proportion of illiterates to the total enrollment was about 2 per cent, but varied in each corps area. The nintl corps area, bordering on the west coast, had the lowest proportion, pro-portion, with a figure of three-tenths of 1 per cent, Mr. Ox-ley Ox-ley stated.. The survey showed that 78 per cent of the illiterates were under twenty-five years of age; 5 per cent between twenty-six and thirty-five years of age; and 16 per cent over thirty-five years of age. Nearly 96 per cent of the illiterates il-literates were American-born, and about 4 per cent foreign-bora. foreign-bora. More than half, of them came from mi'al communities; communi-ties; about a third from small towns; and the remainder from large cities. Continuing, Mr. Oxley said: "In teaching illiterates, advisers ad-visers have employed a variety of techniques. Individual instruction in-struction has been found to be the most beneficial. The use of visual aids, such as motion pictures and newspaper comics, has proven helpful. Advisers seek to begin their learners with words and phrases common to daily life. Simple stories and news-items are read to the men; then they are taught to read them or write up the material in their own way. Later on, the men areshown how to express their thoughts in the form of a letter or a brief account." |
