Describe the different types of education that existed prior to 1870 and explain why reforms developed so rapidly after this time.

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Describe the different types of education that existed prior to 1870 and explain why reforms developed so rapidly after this time.

        

Education in the early nineteenth century was a privilege that only the upper classes were able to access. Basic education was provided to hardly any through legitimate means.

It was an unfortunate outbreak of fever in1795 that led to one of the first developments of education. The Health and Morals Apprentices Act was passed in 1802 through the pressure of Sir Robert Peel, a member of the committee of health in Manchester. This Act forced factory owners to provide sufficient guidance in the three R’s during the first few years of a child’s apprenticeship. This act was later to be found ineffective due to the impracticality of enforcing the factory owners to do so. It was not until 1833 that the House of Commons passed a grant related to the building of educational buildings and maintenance; offering twenty thousand pounds per year to specific religious societies. In 1839 this sum was raised to thirty thousand pounds.  

This proved to be successful, but was on too much of a small scale. If Britain was going to continue to stride ahead in the industrial revolution, more money needed to be allocated towards education, there was certainly enough. The only problem was that any man could do almost every job. For the majority of jobs a basic knowledge of the three R’s was not necessary.

For this reason only a small percentage of the working classes were able to read, and those able were unable to gain access to any form of reading material. The political control of newspapers played a great factor. The increase in tax on them had the aim to prevent the spread of revolutionary ideas after the Napoleonic wars. The lack of leisure time also contributed to the lack of reading skills, the average labourer worked 6am till 8pm.

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Each social class had a different view of what its own education should be. Members of the upper classes believed their children should have little knowledge of practical skills, but acquire more social graces. Their importance was seen to have a high status. Learning unproductive knowledge of classics and literature. They believed that their education should be paid for.  The middle class grew in size due to the industrial revolution, divisions between the upper and lower half of the class also grew. The upper middle wanted to show the rise in status by providing their children with the same education ...

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