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A HISTORY of the SCOTTISH PEOPLE THE SCOTTISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

1840 - 1940

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A HISTORY of the SCOTTISH PEOPLE

THE SCOTTISH EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 1840 -

1940

W W Knox

This is Chapter 1 of 10. The others are:

Summary of Economy & Society, Employment, Health, Housing, Income, Leisure,

Migration, Religion, Transport

CONTENTS
1.EDUCATION IN THE 19th CENTURY
1.1 THE 19TH CENTURY PARISH/BURGH SYSTEM 1
1.2 THE LIMITS OF THE PARISH SYSTEM 2
1.3 THE EDUCATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 1872 3
1.4 SECONDARY EDUCATION 4
1.5 THE UNIVERSITIES AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY. 5
1.6 THE TEACHING PROFESSION 6

2. EDUCATION IN THE 20th CENTURY

2.1 PRIMARY EDUCATION 7
2.2 SECONDARY EDUCATION 8

3. CONCLUSION 8

1 EDUCATION IN THE 19th CENTURY

1.1 THE 19TH CENTURY PARISH/BURGH SYSTEM

Scotland has long enjoyed an international reputation as historically one of the

best-educated societies in the world. The foundation for this reputation was laid
in the 17th century and was the result of Calvinist emphasis on reading the
Bible. Putting men and women in touch with the word of God was seen by the
Scottish authorities and clergy as of paramount importance. To achieve this goal
schools paid for by the Church of Scotland and local landowners were
established in all rural parishes and burghs by an Act of Parliament in 1696.
These educational establishments were run by the Church and were open to all
boys and girls regardless of social status. The democratic nature of the Scottish
system so impressed the 18th century writer Daniel Defoe that he remarked that
while England was a land 'full of ignorance', in Scotland the 'poorest people
have their children taught and instructed'. The openness of the Scottish system
ran all the way from the schoolroom to the university. A talented working class
boy the 'lad o'pairts' through intelligence and hard work and by utilising a
generous system of bursaries was able to gain a university education, something
largely unthinkable in England in the 18th century.

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1.2 THE LIMITS OF THE PARISH SYSTEM

Historians until very recently have supported this traditional view of the
democratic nature of Scottish education, but the work of TC Smout and RD
Anderson in particular has challenged this orthodoxy. However, they were not
the first to find fault with this complacent view of the Scottish system. In 1843
George Lewis published a book - 'Scotland a Half Educated Nation' - pointing to
the growing failure of the Scottish system to cater for the educational needs of
an expanding population, particularly in urban areas. Indeed, as early as 1818 it
was estimated that around two-thirds of school children were receiving an
education outside the public system in what were known as private 'adventure'
schools, in which the parents bore the cost and the Church had no say.

The situation was further complicated when in 1843 the Disruption occurred in
the Church of Scotland leading to the formation of the Free Church and the
establishment of hundreds of new schools. Another problem was the arrival of
thousands of immigrants from Ireland for whom little, if any, education
provision existed. The poverty of the Irish meant that many parents could not
afford school fees nor raise the necessary funds towards teachers' salaries and
school buildings. There were only thirteen Catholic schools in Glasgow in 1857
out of a total of 213. The quality of teaching in them was variable and generally
inadequate, an unsurprising situation given that until the late 1850s Catholic
teachers only received four to six months training.

A newspaper's description of St Mungo's RC School in Glasgow in 1856-7 gave a

fairly typical example of the quality of Catholic education around this time: "The
boys' school is ... in what seems to have been a weaver's shop, [set] on a sunken
floor, ill-lighted, [and] low-roofed. The dingy apartment is swarming with
children from 5 to 10 years of age." Catholic schools only offered elementary
education, but, in spite of the limited quality, attendance was poor with only a
third of Catholic children in Glasgow attending schools of any kind in 1861. Low
attendance was also apparent among Protestant children, but not to the same
extent as in the Catholic sector. In 1834 it was estimated that while a fifth of the
population of Holland and a sixth of Prussia were at school, only one-fourteenth
of the population of Glasgow and one-fifteen of Dundee were being educated.
In Glasgow some 20,000 children were beyond the reach of educational
institutions, and in the Highlands half the inhabitants could not write and a sixth
could not read.

Twenty or so years later the situation had improved very little. In Glasgow in
1857 it was estimated that under 50% of the five to ten age cohort were
receiving education. Even in the relatively highly educated north-east of the
country two-fifths of children of agricultural labourers were said to be
'uneducated'. The poor record of attendance was the result of the continuing
demand for child labour. A study of Clackmannanshire showed that the demand
for child labour increased as a whole by 53% in the period 1851-1862. Poor
parents sent their children to earn rather than learn. The situation, as TC Smout
has remarked, 'was a mess' What did the 'half educated nation' learn while in
school? The emphasis was placed on the 3 Rs - reading, writing and arithmetic.
However, there were gender differences within this restricted curriculum. Boys
in the Church schools received instruction in foreign and ancient languages,
while girls were generally kept to domestic training. Teaching classics to girls

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was seen as a waste of time since school and employment were commonly
viewed as mere interludes on the road to marriage and child-rearing. Moreover,
in Victorian times domestic service was the largest single employer of female
labour, thus training in domestic economy for working-class girls was seen as
necessary by the authorities.

In spite of the emphasis on rote learning and the 3Rs, the erratic attendance of
children meant that the standard of literacy was not high. Work on
Clackmannanshire shows that in 1834 2,249 were being taught to read, of which
only 1,137 were also being taught to write. Among adults the situation was even
worse. Of 80 criminal offenders, 21 could neither read nor write, and 37 could
only read or write imperfectly. However, in spite of the inadequacies of the
Scottish system, particularly in industrial areas with high concentrations of
immigrants, literacy rates were far higher in Scotland than in England. The test
of literacy was essentially a crude one: the ability to sign one's name on a
marriage certificate. On this basis it was found that in 1855, 89% of Scottish
males could sign their name compared with 70% in England and Wales. For
women the figures were 77 and 70% respectively. There were, however, some
regional differences within Scotland. In the majority of Lowland counties 90% of
males could sign their names, and it was equally high in some Highland counties
such as Argyll. By contrast, in the more remote parishes of the Highlands and
Islands rates were significantly lower.

Although most children in Scotland were exposed to education, as we have seen

the quality was variable and the attendance poor. Moreover, institutions such as
the Church were finding it increasingly difficult to provide education for a
rapidly growing population. Applications to the state for educational subsidies
became increasingly common - a factor which led to state inspection of grant-
aided schools - and it became apparent that the system would collapse without
state aid. Various attempts were made in the 1850s and 60s to introduce a non-
sectarian, publicly financed education system failed in Parliament due to the
interference of English MPs afraid that a similar system in England would lead to
the loss of the privileges of the established Church of England. However, a
government-sponsored commission into the state of Scottish education in 1867 -
the Argyll Commission - confirmed the views of the critics and the state was
spurred into action.

1.3 THE EDUCATION (SCOTLAND) ACT 1872

The Education (Scotland) Act of 1872 laid the basis for the modern education
system. The most immediate thing it did was to take control of education out of
the hands of the churches, with the exception of the Catholic and Episcopalian
churches, and place it in the hands of popularly elected school boards. A non-
sectarian system of public schooling was established and subject to the general
control of the Scotch Education Department (SED), based in Whitehall, London.
It was not until the Scottish Office was created in 1885 that the SED had a
measure of independence from the English Department.

A second consequence of the Act was to make schooling compulsory for children
in the age group 5-13, although exemption was made for children ten and over
who could prove that they had achieved proficiency in grade five of the

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curriculum. The nominal leaving age was raised to fourteen in 1883 and
education was free. By 1908 the system of exemptions was abandoned and
precise entry and leaving dates were introduced. The 1872 Act was successful in
providing a broad framework for a national system of education. Within thirty
years of its passing illiteracy had been eliminated in both the Highlands and the
Lowlands, and much was done to improve attendance rates.

In Glasgow, prior to the 1872 Act, only 60% of children ever attended school,
and of these 10,000 were regular absentees; however, by the end of the 19th
century schooling was universal with places for all children. With the exception
of France, Scotland had more children in the age group 5-14 attending school
than all other advanced European countries in 1910-11. In spite of this the
legislation failed to address several important educational issues. Firstly, it dealt
only with elementary education and had nothing to say regarding the provision
of secondary education; secondly, the school boards were dominated by clerical
and business interests and controlled from London, with the result that the new
educational system did not reflect the wishes of the wider society or cater for
their aspirations; and, finally, they did little to improve pupil/teacher ratios,
particularly in poorer areas where class sizes were between 60 and 70. In
Catholic schools the position was even worse with a teacher/pupil ratio of 1:150.

1.4 SECONDARY EDUCATION

Secondary education was the preserve of the Scottish middle classes in the 19th
century and the 1872 Act helped perpetuate their dominance by failing to
provide free education for the less well-off. In line with England the Scottish
authorities had not regarded secondary education as a priority in the state
system; the model of primary/secondary progression was not part of Victorian
views on education. It was hoped that the system of middle class education
would be preserved without state assistance. However, as Scotland lacked the
numerous charitable endowments to be found in England, the solution to the
financing of secondary education was found in charging fees to pupils. As a
result, charitable institutions such as those run by Edinburgh's Merchant
Company or the Heriot's Trust were turned into fee paying schools for the
middle classes, in spite of opposition from the Edinburgh Trades Council. In
addition to these schools came the academies, such as Ayr Academy, Montrose
Academy, and so on, which were created in 1872 and were designed to give
instruction in advanced subjects such as Latin, modern languages and maths.

In 1888 a Scottish leaving certificate was introduced for secondary pupils

examined by university professors but it did little to increase the numbers in
these 'higher class' schools. Even in 1892 when all elementary and most
secondary education became free, and scholarships were more widely available,
few working-class children were able to take advantage of the opportunity.
Only just under 5% of pupils attended a secondary school in Scotland in 1897.
The real priority for children from working-class backgrounds was to find work
and begin earning a wage.

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1.5 THE UNIVERSITIES AND SOCIAL INEQUALITY.

For a small nation Scotland was particularly well-endowed with universities,

boasting five in the 19th century - a figure which included Aberdeen's Marischal
and King's Colleges. The universities were considered to be national, public
institutions and, therefore, less elitist than Oxford or Cambridge in England.
Because of this they were said to be more open to working people and, indeed,
18.6% of the student population of Glasgow university in 1860 was from
working-class backgrounds. The existence of a substantial number of working-
class students has given rise to the view that universities in Scotland were more
democratic and based more on merit than the class-ridden universities of
England. The wider implication was that Scotland was a less class obssessed
society than England. This view was expressed in George Davie's highly
influential book 'The Democratic Intellect' (1961). However, Davie's views have
come under fire in recent years, mainly due to the research of TC Smout and RD
Anderson. Most of their criticism of Davie's thesis derives from their re-working
of the statistical material contained in the report of the Argyll Commission of
1867.

The Commission inquired into the parental backgrounds of 882 matriculated

students (25% of the total), and the evidence pointed to the fact that 200
students mainly from the ranks of skilled workers were attending university in
Scotland. Although the figure seems impressive, the reality was that the son of a
minister had a hundred times better chance of going to university than the son
of a coal-miner. 117 sons of ministers, drawn from an occupational group of
4,205, were matriculated students as against 13 sons of miners, a work group of
46,190. Moreover, the rural poor, the majority of factory workers, the unskilled
were unrepresented. Most working-class undergraduates tended to be older,
frequently in the twenties, with very few coming straight from school. The
survival rate, regardless of family background, was phenomenally low. Out of
3,122 arts students attending Glasgow University between 1861 and 1872, 36%
stayed for only one session; 17% for two and only 47% stayed for more than
two sessions. This pattern persisted into the later century.

At Glasgow University in 1889-90, out of 225 students taking the junior Latin
class 200 failed. The quality of university education in Scotland was generally
poor and inferior to that offered in England. The low quality was mainly due to
the fact that there was no university entrance examination and, therefore,
children could enter the system as early as fourteen or fifteeen. Indeed, 29% of
university students were in this age group in 1860, although this figure declined
sharply after 1880. With an education little advanced on what could be had at
secondary school many Scottish graduates had to go to England for higher
training.

Things did improve in 1889 due to an Act of Parliament which transformed

university education in Scotland from a system based on general arts to a more
specialised basis of study. As a result, philosophy, which had previously formed
the core of the arts degree, was made optional. Students were also forced to
compete for bursaries and this acted as an unofficial entrance examination. The
setting up in 1901 of the Carnegie Trust Fund (CTF) provided a further source of
assistance and by 1930 70% of university students in Scotland were receiving
awards from the fund. The numbers of students in higher education institutions

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increased from 4,400 in 1830 to 6,000 in 1900, to 10,000 in 1938. At Glasgow
University, working-class students increased as a percentage of the total, from
18.6% in 1860 to 24% in 1910. Most, however, were concentrated in the Arts.
Medicine and the law were still the preserve of the middle classes; the chances
of a male from the lowest social class from gaining a degree in law was 1 in
20,000 and in medicine 1 in 6,000. The situation also improved for females.

It was not until 1893 that universities opened their door to females. This was the
culmination of a long drawn out campaign by feminists begun in the 1860s. In
Edinburgh in 1869 a young woman - Sophia Jess Blake - successfully matriculated
in the medical faculty. However, that event sparked of a wave of protest from
male staff and students and resulted in the so-called Surgeons' Hall Riot in 1870,
when male students attempted to prevent women from attending a lecture in
anatomy. Women were viewed by the male professionals as a threat to their
social and occupational status and sought to encourage female nursing and
teaching as an alternative. Victorian views regarding women as solely wives and
mothers thus intruded into education as they did in the job market and limited
the advancement of women in Scottish society.

1.6 THE TEACHING PROFESSION

Until the 1872 Education Act teaching in Scotland was dominated by males
possessing a university degree or a teaching certificate. Women were not
prevented from entering teacher training colleges but had financial and other
barriers put in their way. Nearly all male students received grants, but females
had to finance their own training. Moreover, the subjects for boys included
sciences, mathematics, Greek and the classics, whereas girls studied domestic
economy, French and botany. The gendering of study was also reflected in the
different career paths followed by the students on graduation: boys to tenured
positions in parish or burgh schools; girls to insecure work in the voluntary
sector. However, with the introduction of compulsory schooling in 1872 for
children between five and thirteen the demand for female teachers grew rapidly
and gradually the profession became feminised.

By 1911, 70% of teachers in Scotland were women, whereas in 1851 the figure
was only 35%. This increase did not lead to equality between male and female
teachers. The average salaries of certicated male teachers varied from £121 and
£145 a year in the period 1872 to 1900, while female teachers received between
£62 and £72. Catholic teachers were also unfairly rewarded, with male teachers
in 1911 earning £44 a year less than their equivalents working for school boards,
and female teachers £7 less. Prior to 1905 this was justified by the fact that the
majority of women teachers were uncertificated, but after the SED had taken
over the teacher training colleges of the Presbyterian churches this had less
weight - 65% of female teachers were certificated. More and more male
teachers fell back on the argument that as women were not the main
breadwinners in the family they did not deserve to be paid the same as men.
Indeed, women teachers were forced to give up the profession on marriage;
something not remedied until after the 2nd World War.

Teachers in the elementary schools worked extremely hard for their salaries.
With class sizes in poorer areas of around seventy, the problem of maintaining

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discipline was immense and led to the extensive use of the tawse - a heavy
leather strap. Classrooms were also cold and the learning regime tended to
inhibit self-expression in favour of merely repeating the received wisdom of the
teacher. In schools it was written that there 'should be sustained quietness and
instantaneous obedience'. In spite of improvements, Scottish education in the
19th century was far from democratic and open. When the position of females is
taken into consideration it is even less egalitarian. Moreover, since the system
was controlled from Whitehall for a large part of the century its distinctive
Scottishness must be called into question. At the elementary level children were
receiving a poor standard of education as cost conscious school boards looked to
economise in the provision of teachers, buildings and facilities. Secondary
education had become the preserve of the middle classes, as had the universities.
Even so, Scotland fared better in providing access to higher education for
children of poorer backgrounds than England. Scotland had one university place
for every 1,000 of the population, compared to 1:5,800 in England; in secondary
schools the figures were 1:140 and 1:1,300 respectively.

2. EDUCATION IN THE 20th CENTURY

The period from 1900 to the outbreak of War in 1939 did not witness the same
degree of change in the educational system as had occurred in the 19th century.
However, there were important developments in the sphere of primary and
secondary education. These changes did little to alter the class bias of education,
but collectively they made important contributions to the creation of an all-
encompassing modern educational system in Scotland.

2.1 PRIMARY EDUCATION

The early 20th century saw increased state intervention in education as schools
came to be seen as an important agency of social welfare. The 1908 Education
Act made parents responsible for their children's attendance, and compulsory
medical inspection was introduced, as well as free meals for needy children.
Because of the crisis about the nation's health sparked off by the poor physical
quality of army recruits during the Boer War (1899-1902), greater emphasis was
placed on physical training and military drill; the classroom and the Empire were
inextricably linked. Education was given a prime role in the creation of future
generations of soldiers and citizens.

The 1918 Education Act increased the comprehensiveness and the element of
compulsion in the education system. The 987 school boards were replaced by 38
educational authorities; Catholic schools were brought into the state system; and
the school leaving age was to be raised to fifteen - something not achieved due
to economic depression and war until 1947. However, the Act did not resolve the
question of what was to come between primary and higher education.

2.2 SECONDARY EDUCATION

The question which exercised the minds of those responsible for education
policy in the 1920s and 1930s was this: in the face of growing demand should
secondary education be provided for all, or only for some children? For the

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policy-makers at this time children could be divided into two types: the academic
child, destined for university and professional status; and the non-academic child
who lacked the 'mental equipment' to benefit from higher education and was,
therefore, destined for an industrial/manual occupation. The first solution was to
create Advanced Divisions (ADs) in elementary schools to provide post-primary
education. The standard of work was poor in these ADs, since the staff were not
sufficiently qualified to go beyond the requirements of primary education.

The second response was to give all pupils secondary education; something
which was enacted in 1936. However, to maintain the meritocratic system which
had developed in the 19th century, the secondary schools were divided into
three-year junior secondary schools, leading to no qualifications, and the five
year senior secondary schools, leading to the leaving certificate and university
entrance. Although these developments meant that proportionately more
children in Scotland had access to secondary education than in England, it
condemned the majority of the school population to the failure of early leaving.
As late as 1951, and in spite of more educational reforms in the 1940s, 87% of
young adults in the age group 20-24 were leaving school at age fifteen or
younger. It was not until the introduction of comprehensive schools in 1965 that
the inequality between senior and junior secondary schools was finally
addressed. It also marked a shift in the fundamentals of educational philosophy
away from equality of opportunity to equality of treatment of pupils regardless
of family background or place of residence.

Although there remained differences in the quality of provision offered by

schools under the comprehensive system a framework was provided which could
address these variations. With the introduction of the 'O' Grade in 1962 the
numbers going on to highers increased. As a result, the size of the university
population began to grow from 5.1% of the age group associated with
university entrance in 1962, to 17.0% in 1970. Females and young people from
working class backgrounds benefited from the changes. The number of students
in the latter category increased from one-sixth of the total university student
population in 1868 to a quarter in 1961. However, it is still the case that social
background to a large extent determines the level of educational attainment
and this problem is one which policy-makers are continuing to grapple with.

3. CONCLUSION

Education in Scotland has been the subject of much myth-making as regards the
openness of the system and the quality of provision. In the 19th and the first
half of the 20th century, the educational system catered mainly for an elite
section of Scottish society. Although the door to higher education was more
open than in England, workers and their families, women and Catholics in
general were excluded. For these groups, education was sparse and the quality
poor. Legislation gradually improved the access of all groups to better
education, but it was only after the introduction of comprehensive education in
1965 that attempts were made to provide adequate standards for all children in
Scotland. Until then it is hard to disagree with the view expressed by TC Smout
that: 'In the 20th century, Scottish education has been marked by the same
attitude that branded it in the 19th, which regarded it as a matter of low social
priority once the perceived needs of the middle classes had been attended to,

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 and once a channel had been opened for a limited number of working-class
children to use secondary school and university as a means of upward social
mobility.'

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Anderson, RD. 1983 'Education and Opportunity in Victorian Scotland' Anderson,

RD. 1955 'Education and the Scottish People, 1750-1918' Corr, H. 1990 'An
Exploration into Scottish Education' in Fraser, WH. and Morris, RJ. People and
Society in Scotland Vol II, 1832-1914, pages 290-309 Hutchinson, H. 1971 'Church,
State and School in Clackmannanshire, 1803-1872', in Scottish Educational
Studies, Vol 3 pages 25-38 MacPherson, A. 1992 'Schooling', in Dickson, A. and
Treble, JH. (eds) People and Society in Scotland, Vol III, 1914-1990 pages 80-107
Scotland, J. 1969 'The History of Scottish Education, Vol II, from 1872 to the
present day' Smout, TC. 1986 'A Century of the Scottish People', 1830-1950 pages
209-30 Page 7

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