Archaelogy, education, medical and charitable institutions of Glasgow / edited by Magnus Maclean.

Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Archaelogy, education, medical and charitable institutions of Glasgow / edited by Magnus Maclean. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    shadow on the picture arose not from lack of schools for those who desired education, but from the large proportion of children not attending schools of any kind. It was the realisation of this which ripened public opinion for the thorough-going legislation embraced in the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872.1 Compulsory education entirely changed the situation, and raised a problem which, in large towns at least, it was beyond the power of voluntary effort to solve. In Glasgow the first School Board, after taking stock of the accommodation in their district, found themselves at once face to face with the duty of providing accommodation for 30,000 children, and of exercising their new powers of persuasion in getting 35,000 additional children to take advantage of the accommodation so provided. Though the municipality was greatly extended in 1891, the- area of the School Board of Glasgow remains practically the same as in 1873, and the following figures for this area show at a glance the state of accommodation and attendance in relation to the child population in 1873- and at the present time :— No. of Children. Accommodation. 5-14 No. of No. of No. on No. in Years. Schools. Places. Roll. Attendance. 1873, - 96,953 228 57,290 53,796 43,803 1900, - 120,078 113 109,363 101,872 88,257 It is worthy of note that the number of schools has diminished in-, inverse ratio to the increase in attendance, but the explanation lies in the large size of the public schools built since 1873 in comparison with those previously in operation. A considerable number of church schools were transferred to the Board, and these have in nearly every instance given place to new buildings of much larger size. Then, also, the erection of new and well-equipped schools brought about the speedy disappearance of ineflBcient schools. In 1873 thirty-three schools were classed as bad,, owing to accommodation or teaching, or both; and in these 4,150 children were receiving instruction of some kind. In five years such schools had all but disappeared. Since the extension of the municipality in 1891 no fewer than six- School Boards have jurisdiction within its bounds—Glasgow, Govan Parish, Maryhill, Springburn, Cathcart, and Eastwood. Taking the municipality alone, there are about 143,000 children of school age, and for- these there are 156 primaiy schools of all descriptions, with an enrolment of 124,000. Taking the area of the Boards mentioned collectively, there are about 175,000 children, of whom 152,000 are enrolled in 193 schools. These schools may be classified as follows :— 112 public schools under School Boards, with 121,000 scholars. 34 voluntary schools (State-aided), with 26,000 scholars. 47 endowed, private, and other schools, with 5,000 scholars. 1 Those who wish to compare the English Elementary Education Act of 1S70 with the Scotch Education Act of 1872 are referred to Sir Henry Craik's The State in its relation to Education, or Mr Graham Balfour's Educational Systems of Great Britain and Ireland. - This number has recently been increased to eight bj^ the addition to the muni- cipality of small parts of Rutherglen and Shettleston School Board areas, in which> •parts, however, there are no schools.