AGY-1966 | Denominational School Board

Full description

A dual system of church and national schools, each under a separate board was established in 1848. On 5 January 1848, a Board was appointed for the regulation and inspection of the Denominational Schools of the Colony. (1) The Board was directed to select a secretary and draw up a code of regulations for the conduct and inspection of schools of the different denominations; the appointment and remuneration of schoolmasters; the system and extent or degree of education to be taught in the schools; and the terms on which the children of paupers will be admitted - in fact, all that relates to the fiscal and temporal part of education. (2) The children attending these schools were to be taught to pay due respect to those in authority. A system of rewards for good scholarship and conduct was to be instituted, as corporal punishment had to be avoided under the Denominational School Regulations. (3) The funds at the disposal of the Board were: 1. An annual Parliamentary grant 2. A proportion of the Church and Schools Estates Revenue. (4)

The Denominational School Board was a compromise to the wishes of the churches and provided no centralised control. The Denominational Board structure created, in effect, four separate administrative units, representing each of the four main denominations (Anglican, Roman Catholic, Presbyterian and Wesleyan). The amount of money appropriated to each denomination was fixed by Parliament according to the proportion of the population belonging to that denomination, as determined by the last census statistics. In all matters other than the distribution of money the Board carried out recommendations made by the heads of the respective denominations. On the local level every school was to be under the control of a Local Board, nominated by the ‘Heads of the Denominations’. These Boards had to consist of between three and five members. The Denominational Board itself inspected schools, usually without prior notification, although these inspections appear to have been almost entirely discontinued after 1852. (5)

Despite improvements in teaching methods and administration progress was slow, hampered by poor working conditions, a shortage of trained teachers and disruptions caused by the gold rush. By 1854 the main feature of the dual system was the rivalry between the two Boards competing for public favour and patronage. In that year a Select Committee on Education, composed of William Wilkins Esq., Samuel Turton Esq. and Thomas William Levinge Esq. (6) was appointed by the Legislative Council 'to enquire and report whether any measure can be adopted for improving the means of education and for diffusing the benefits more extensively throughout the Colony'. (7) The Commissioners visited almost every Denominational and National School in the Colony. Their final report of December, 1855, stated that education in both National and Denominational schools was in a deplorable condition. (8)

After the findings of the 1855 Commission were presented, the plight of colonial schools, attributed to the dual system, constituted a challenge to the legislative authorities. The placing of all schools under the one authority would, it seemed, remove most of the disorders inherent in the system which had been established. This was the direction in which the Colony began to move. (9) Reform was finally achieved in 1866 when the Denominational School Board was dissolved by the Public Schools Act 1866 (30 Victoria No.22), which established a Council of Education. (10)

Endnotes
1. NSW Government Gazette 7 January 1848, p.23.
2. Guide to the State Archives, The administration of education under two Boards 1848-66, p.25.
3. NSW Government Gazette, 24 October 1848, p.1537.
4. Guide to the State Archives, The administration of education under two Boards 1848-66, p.25.
5. Ibid, p.26.
6. NSW Government Gazette, 14 November 1854, p.2397.
7. Guide to the State Archives, The administration of education under two Boards 1848-66, p.29.
8. Ibid, p.30.
9. Ibid, p.31.
10. Public Schools Act, 30 Victoria No.22, 1866 p.76-77.