Relief Leader Asks for U. S. Aid to Schools

"We have a mission which we want to fulfill," stated Bernard Drzewieski, Director of the Rehabilitation Division of UNESCO, in a talk with a group of Faculty and students yesterday at Brooks House.

Drzewieski spoke again in the evening before a larger group in Fogg Lecture Room, enlarging on the principles expounded in the afternoon talk.

The problem facing Drzewieski's division is basically that of illiteracy, and this is where he called for aid from American students and teachers. "It is to our common interest to raise the cultural levels in devastated countries," he said, outlining the tremendous difficulties presented by existing conditions in Europe.

Schools Badly Equipped

Pointing out that devastated schools are so under-equipped that in many cases there is only one pencil for over 40 pupils, he contrasted these conditions with our own, where community appropriations are sufficient to equip students.

Drzewieski stressed the poor living conditions of European students in stating that at the University of Warsaw there are only enough beds for one out of every four students.

"The teachers of Europe are six full years behind us in knowledge of their fields," Drzewieski pointed out, "because academic and technical material has not penetrated to them during the war.

"The Germans demolished laboratories, clinics, museums, and libraries everywhere," he added, calling for a program of fellowships for teachers and graduates which would provide much-needed opportunity for short refresher courses.