The early years of education in Victoria

In 1872, Victoria became the first Australian colony — and one of the first places in the world — to offer free, secular, and compulsory education for all children.

Before the Act

For many decades before the Act, people did not agree on what Victoria’s education system should be. Politicians, church groups and members of the public argued about whether schools should be religious or secular, how they should be organised and who should control them. A major question was whether the government should run and fund schools at all.

1835 to 1848

In the first years after colonisation:

• Children of wealthy families would use private tutors or attend small privately run schools.
• Less wealthy children might use the services of dame schools. They were small, privately-run local schools that combined child minding with basic education. They were each run by a woman known as the ‘school dame’.
• Poor children might end up in ragged schools. Ragged schools were for destitute or abandoned children of Melbourne’s slums. The children were provided with free meals and a very basic education. The term ‘ragged’ was used to describe the appearance of the students. They were also insensitively described as ‘gutter children’.

1848 to 1862

The national school system ran from 1848 to 1862 and was an early form of government-funded schools. It was based on the National System of Education established in Ireland in 1831.

National schools were established in the colony of New South Wales, which at the time included the area of Victoria. It was only in 1851 that Victoria became a separate colony.

To regulate and inspect national schools, the General Education Board was established. And to oversee church schools (denominational schools), the Denominational Schools Board was established.

The national school system had two different boards in charge. This made decisions uneven, especially when it came to funding. Church schools and secular schools often received different levels of support.

People argued about this for many years. Some wanted government money to go to church schools. Others believed that only secular schools should receive public funding. This disagreement created ongoing tension in the community.

1862 to 1872

In 1862 the common school system emerged out of the earlier national school system. The Common Schools Act 1862 was an attempt to achieve equity between secular and denominational school funding. This change also combined the Denominational Schools Board and the General Education Board to form the Board of Education to oversee the operations of the schools. It had representatives of church and secular school systems.

The Education Act 1872

In 1872, the Education Act offered free, secular, and compulsory education for all children. It also:

• created the Education Department along with a Minister and staff
• defined state schools and directed their creation when needed
• established that children up to 15 years of age needed to attend school
• created Boards of Advice that would provide governance of schools in their districts.

When education became compulsory in 1872, demand grew. The government built hundreds of new schools for all the new students. Early classrooms were often very crowded. Classes had up to 60 students in rows, four to a desk, and with few teaching resources. Teachers sometimes taught two classes at once, relying on only a blackboard and a few visual aids.

During the 1870s and into the 1880s resources were applied to building new schools and increasing the number and quality of teachers. As the new system started to ‘bed itself down’ there became opportunities for reform.

Reform

By the 1880s, people realised that young children needed a different way to learn. Dr Pearson, the Minister of Public Instruction, introduced the German “kindergarten” method — an early model of progressive education.

In the early 1900s, Frank Tate, Victoria’s first Director of Education, built on this idea. He created independent infant schools with classrooms arranged around a central hall. Tate also improved older schools, adding larger windows for more light and air.

Secondary and Technical Education

Tate continued his reforms by opening Victoria’s first government secondary school in 1905. The school is now known as Melbourne High School.

Tate also introduced junior technical schools to give students practical, job-focused learning. For more information on technical schools see: Technical education in Victoria.

Girls’ education in domestic subjects was popular at the time. The first government cookery school opened in 1899 at Carlton State School. Flora Pell was later appointed to lead cookery education.

Later years of education in Victoria

Victoria became a state in 1901 and moved beyond the growing pains of its early years. However, developments in education were affected from the late 19th century to mid 20th century by economic turmoil, world wars, large scale immigration, new educational theories, and societal change.