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Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889
	Parliament of the United Kingdom
Long title	An Act to promote Intermediate Education in Wales.
Citation	52 & 53 Vict. c. 40
Territorial extent	Wales
Dates
Royal assent	12 August 1889
Other legislation
Repealed by	Education Act 1944
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

The Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c. 40) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It made various reforms with the intention of expanding access to secondary education in Wales.

Background

Provision of elementary education in Wales and England had been expanded throughout the 19th century and become compulsory in 1880.^[1] Requiring that all children attended school until the age of ten.^[2]^: 85 Following these changes, reformers and educationists in Wales turned their attention to the next level of education.^[3]

Conception

The UK's 1880 Gladstone government appointed Henry Bruce, 1st Baron Aberdare to chair a committee to study the state of intermediate and higher education in Wales.^[2]^: 5 The committee recommendations were published in the Aberdare Report of 1881.^[2]^: 5 The committee's two recommendations relating to intermediate education were: that existing grammar schools should be extended; and that new government-funded schools should be established where needed.^[4] These recommendations were the catalyst for the passage through Parliament of the Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889.^[2]^: 5 The Act received royal assent on 12 August 1889.^[3]^[5] In the Act, its purpose is described thus: "The purpose of this Act is to make further provision for the intermediate and technical education of the inhabitants of Wales and the county of Monmouth".^[3]

Effect

The Act required the counties and county boroughs of Wales and the county of Monmouth to provide intermediate schools and provide technical education.^[2]^: 934^[6] To this end, the school boards were abolished and in each county a joint education committee was put in place.^[3] The initial duty of these committees was to prepare plans for intermediate and technical education to be provided in their areas.^[6]

By 1902 Wales had 95 intermediate schools, and over 10,000 pupils. However there was hardly anything specifically Welsh about the education they provided. According to the historian John Davies, 'they slavishly imitated the ethos and the curriculum of the English grammar schools.' They also ignored the intentions of the act by neglecting subjects relevant to the community and the local economy.^[7] Whilst it had been initially hoped that they would prepare children for careers as skilled workers in practise their curriculum was often heavily modelled on the public schools and of little practical use. They were voluntary and required a financial contribution from parents so attendance was largely limited the middle classes. However, some did provide a good quality of technical education and they expanded access to secondary education to many children who wouldn't have been able to receive any otherwise. The act has been described as the reason for a large number of schoolteachers from Wales who worked across Britain during the 20th century.^[3]

Replacement

The Act was repealed on the commencement of the Education Act 1944.^[8]

References

^ Lloyd, Amy (2007). "Education, Literacy and the Reading Public" (PDF). University of Cambridge.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Davies, John (2008). Davies, John; Baines, Menna; Jenkins, Nigel; Lynch, Peredur I. (eds.). The Welsh Academy Encyclopaedia of Wales. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 9780708319536.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Carradice, Phil (12 August 2013). "The Welsh Intermediate Education Act, 1889". BBC Wales. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
^ Cragoe, Matthew (23 September 2004). "Bruce, Henry Austin, first Baron Aberdare". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/3732. Retrieved 25 August 2021. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ "Westminster, August 12, 1889". The London Gazette. No. 25964. 13 August 1889. p. 4392.
^ ^a ^b "Welsh Intermediate Education Act 1889". Education in England: the history of our schools. Archived from the original on 14 November 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
^ John Davies, A History of Wales, Penguin, 1994, ISBN 0-14-014581-8, p 458
^ "Education Act 1944: Part 1". legislation.gov.uk. 1944. Retrieved 26 August 2021.