Education: Quechua

Oldest university in the Americas is not Harvard (founded 1636) but the University of San Marcos, in Lima, Peru. San Marcos was established in 1551. Today, housed in a 16th-Century Spanish colonial building, it is made up of a group of professional schools which train Peruvian Government officials. Last week University of San Marcos began to teach a language so ancient it was new even to old San Marcos. The tongue was Quechua, the dialect of the ancient Inca tribes. From it have come such English words as quinine, cocaine. Quechua is still the language of most of the Peruvian Indians. Although it has no literature, it is written down in a few hieroglyphics on prehistoric buildings, will be taught to scholars as a means of exploring the unknown history of ancient Peru.