Education, education, education...

“He who plants a tree does well; he who fells and saws it into planks does well; he who makes a bench of the planks does well; he who sitting on the bench, teaches a child, does better than the rest.”

- Dean Farrar (Manchester and Salford Boys' and Girls' Refuges and Homes, Annual Report, 1936, p26).

I found this in the archive the other day:

Reformatory and Refuge Union, Educational Inspector's Report, 1892

It is one of our earliest examples of the education system in place at the Boy’s Refuge at Strangeways. The original set up of the Refuge back in 1870 was to provide food and shelter for those boys found on the streets of Manchester. Within a few months however, it became apparent that education and training was also needed. In 1870 the Elementary Education Act had come into being setting the framework for schooling of all children aged between the 5 to 12 years in England and Wales, although it was not compulsory for children to attend school until 1880.

For the children in the Refuge Homes, those under the age of 12 received an education, whilst older children learnt a trade. From the archives it is know that by 1900 (if not earlier) all the children in the Homes were attending local elementary day schools, to give them a more ‘normal’ upbringing.

In the reading room, Central Refuge, Strangeways, 1904

In the nineteenth century however, the children were taught at the Refuge itself. As displayed on the above education report of 1892, the children received 27 hours of learning per week concentrating on the three Rs, Reading, wRiting and aRithmetic. Education may have been mandatory by 1880 but it did not appear to be obligatory to have trained teachers.

The education was basic but it was enough to give the boys a start in life. Of course some say that children today are "still blighted by Dickensian-style illiteracy"[1] when leaving school, especially in the poorest areas of society. This is despite sustained technological and social advancements. Is it time to go back to basics?


[1] Nick Gibb, Schools Minister, taken from The Telegraph, February 7th 2012