Public school enrollment of Indian children is increasing at a fast rate a Bureau of Indian Affairs survey released by Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay, shows. Comparative figures for the years 1942 and 1952 show that while the number of Indian children enrolled in all schools rose some 25 percent in that decade, the number attending public schools in their home states rose approximately 40 percent.
In 1942, of the total 70,000 Indian children of school age enrolled in school, 35,000 were in public schools, 28,000 in Federally operated schools, and 7,000 in mission schools. These figures compare with a total of 88,000 Indian children of school age enrolled in school in 1952, with 48,000 in public schools, 31,000 in Federal schools and 9,000 in mission schools.
The Alaska statistics are not included in the survey. During the past school year Alaska had 11,000 Indian children of school age enrolled in all schools available to them. Of this total, 4,700 were in public schools, 5,200 in Federal schools and 1,100 in mission schools.
The three types of schools available for Indian children are those operated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, public schools of the States in which the Indians reside, and mission schools operated by religious denominations.
Seventy-eight percent of the approximately 123,000 Indian children of school age in the United States and Alaska are in schools of some kind.
