Might not the pupil know more?
Ca. 1797. Red chalk on silk paper.Not on display
The donkey is symbolic of ignorance. Goya here denounces miseducation through his criticism of a teaching system predicated on the incompetence of the teachers and the ineptitude of the students. The teacher shows the young asses an image with a compass and a ruler, which in the print has been made into an alphabet showing the letter A several times, which when read aloud would sound like a donkey braying. Contemporary commentators clearly understood this work as a criticism of the education system: A dumb ass teacher will only produce dumb ass students.
Matilla Rodríguez, José Manuel, Ligereza y atrevimiento. Dibujos de Goya, Santander, Fundación Botín, 2017, p.82 n.39; 179 n.39