IN GERMAN SCHOOLS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 82, 7 April 1938, Page 11

IN GERMAN SCHOOLS

FOUR-YEAR PLAN PROPA-

GANDA

The Four Year Plan for German selft> .sufficiency is being included in thr curiculum of German schools by ordsr of Bernhard Bust, National Minister of Education writes Sigrid Schultz from, Berlin to the "New York Times.' Economic problems arising from th« plan are to be dealt with m the mathematical lessons of the upper grades of the elementary schools a$ well as in high schools. Germany's self-sufficiency problems, taught to schoolboys and girls' from twelve years and up, are divided into two main groups, the first dealing with foodstuffs, the other with raw materials. Here are: some of the questions tne teachers are ordered to put before their pupils:— . The first question is intended to drive home Germany's lack of space as compared to other countries. "Foe each hundred people Germany has 108 acres of arable land at her disposal. Italy has 140 acres. Poland 195 acres. Australia 550 acres, Soviet Russia 789 acres, and the Argentine Republic 3700 (acres. What do these figures convey to you? Sketch the areas in correct proportion, to each other.' Question number two is designed ta show that in her recent history Germany made repeated efforts to overcome her lack of space by peaceful means. "Frederick the Great reclaimed 150,000 acres of land from the Oder swamDS from 1746 to" 1756. In the years 1919 to 1932 approximately 90,000 acresi of land were reclaimed. In the first two' years of Hitler's rule 31,000 acres, were reclaimed. Compare ' thesa • achievements." THE MICE AND THE BKEAD. Another question is designed to draw attention to the Nazi "combat waste campaign. "One pair of mice breeds on the average 300 young ones a year. A mouse eats yearly 6.6 pounds of grain. How much does a mouse family eat? How many loaves of bread does this represent? How long- could you live on this bread?" To further support the German selfsufficiency plans slate boards will be provided in the youngest classes throughout Germany. The slates will, replace the copy books whose paper quality has deteriorated greatly in recent years. Whereas a decree issued in September. 1934, prescribed that only good paper free of wood should be used for copy books and that the paper should weigh 98 grammes per square meter, this weight was reduced to 95 grammes in 1936, and in November, 1937, to only 70 grams. It is emphasised that only slate from German quarries will be used. While admitting that German slate is harder and therefore less suitable for school purposes than the foreign slate imported heretofore, the "Koelnische Zeitung" points out "that its use is imperative as long as Germany lacks raw materials. In addition, the ailing slate industry in Thuringia and Upper Franconia will benefit by the measure. To fulfil the necessary economic requirements it is necessary to put up with small disadvantages."