For the education of sons of the upper middle-class families and those of varying means, there were a number of private boarding and day schools. Pilgrim´s Hall Academy near Brentwood advertised itself as an idyllic establishment with every amenity necessary to educate and prepare young men for universities, public schools, naval and military colleges. A great deal of expense and advertising failed to indicate the ratio of teachers to number of pupils attending the school. According to the 1851 census there were only 2 teachers to 28 pupils and the Academy reverted to a private residence in 1860. Other private schools apparently offered a wide variety of tuition with fees varying from 18 to 60 guineas. It appeared that anyone could start up a school and charge and teach whatever they wished, there was a need for more organised education. Daughters of the upper classes were not expected to go to school and usually received a basic education through governesses and mothers. They were only required to gain enough skills to enter society find desirable husbands and be able to manage household accounts.
There were three types of schools for the poor, charity schools, Sunday schools and monitorial schools. Two church societies were founded to build and run schools on the same principles as Sunday schools. The National Society was connected with the Church of England and Andrew Bell. The British and Foreign School Society was connected with the Free Churches and Joseph Lancaster. Both were lacking in funds for enough teachers and so they devised a method called the monitorial system. Older pupils (monitors) were selected to teach the younger children their skills. The education was therefore very poor and dependent on how much the older pupil had learnt.
Manningtree National School was formed from an existing Sunday School for the purpose of "training the rising generation to habits of religion and moral duty and thus qualifying them to fill their respective stations, with decency and comfort to themselves, and with fidelity and satisfaction to their Employers." Funds were to be raised by subscriptions, gatherings and a small weekly fee from the pupils of 1 pence per week with higher- ranking families paying an amount per quarter, depending on circumstance. The list of rules gave the appearance of a well-organised system but the education was far from satisfactory, without extra money these schools could not possibly educate every child. In 1833 although the government refused to provide a state system of education, it gave £20,000 to these societies to help them build more schools. This may have seemed like a vast amount of money but with far more being spent on the royal stables it showed that education was not given a great deal of priority. In 1839 the government made two important decisions on education, a committee was set up to deal with educational matters and it appointed inspectors to visit the schools it helped.
An example of an older reformed charity school was St Edward´s National School, a grant in 1835 enabled an extra building to be built and the name changed to National Schools of Havering, Romford and Hornchurch. From this it was possible to educate a larger number of children. Some of the charity school principles were still applied such as "rewards" for the most deserving children and provision of clothes for those "on the Foundation". The school pence however had been raised to 2d per week.
In 1870 the Education Act (Drafted by William Forster) was introduced as the first step towards free and compulsory education.
This act was responsible for setting up school boards consisting of groups of people who were elected to provide elementary schools in areas where there were no church schools.
Funds for running and building the schools came from local councils and the government.
The elected boards were also allowed to make their own by-laws so that they could raise additional income by charging fees or if they wished let children in free.
Fees when charged were kept low, even so many families found it difficulty in paying even a penny or twopence (less than 1p) a week.
As a result elementary education was made free to all in 1891.
The above was just a brief
What Changes Were Brought About In Education In Essex By The 1870 Act?
There were many changes brought about in education in Essex by the 1870 act. Looking at The Great Bardfield British School logbook there are many points to be highlighted that the 1870 act has brought about. The school had to apply to the school board for 3rd pupil teacher, 'application made to the school board today for a third pupil teacher´. The application was made because the school attendance had reached 140 pupils and that amount of pupils required 3 pupil teachers according to the new code article 32 (c) that was from the education act. On 17th August 1874 the school broke up for 1 month for harvest. On the 7th September the school re-assembled, but the school the received orders from the chairman of the school boards to shut down the school as the gleaning (harvesting etc.) was not yet finished. This shows the fact that there was a school board to watch, check, help and advise schools. 1 week later 14th September the school re-opened with only 63 scholars present this was due to the fact that the gleaning was still not finished.
Source 31 shows the same problem highlighted in the previous school. In August the 2nd 1878 there was poor attendance to the school due to the harvest, 'The attendance has been very poor this week when compared with preceding weeks, owing to the harvest´. This shows that the parents thought it would be much more important for there children to be working at home than to be educated. Also this suggests that the parents would not really be in favour of the 1870 act because they would not want it to be compulsory for their children to attend school. From this source there was a report produced, from a school inspector. The report is very thorough and straight to the point. It mentions all subjects taught and how successful they are. It mentions the general running of the school, the state of how the register was kept and much more. This highlights one of the main aspects of the 1870 Act, the introduction of inspectors who checked that schools were running smoothly and to rectify any wrongs. After the inspection the school was set to have a map of England and Europe and another pupil teacher to be appointed as the numbers were exceeding 60. This was much the same problem in the previous school.
