Education Act 1902

The Education Act 1902 (2 Edw. VII), also known as Balfour's Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting education in England and Wales. (Education in Scotland had always been separate and had been brought under the Scotch Education Department in an act of 1872.) At the time of passage of the Act, the Conservative Party was in power. The Act reflected the influence of the Efficiency Movement in Britain.

Terms

The Act, which followed the "Cockerton Judgment" (successfully challenging the existing provision of post-primary school education) abolished the 2568 school boards set up by the Elementary Education Act 1870, as well as all existing School Attendance Committees. Their duties were handed over to local borough or county councils, as Local Education Authorities (LEAs). There were 328 LEAs, which were given powers to establish new secondary and technical schools as well as developing the existing system of elementary schools. These LEAs were in charge of paying teachers, ensuring the teachers were properly qualified and providing necessary books and equipment. In return, the Churches were in charge of providing and maintaining school buildings.

The Act also brought voluntary schools under some control of the government, giving them funding. The different churches were still responsible for religious education, but the LEAs took over all non-religious education. Financial help was also available for adult education, contributing to teacher-training colleges and technical schools.

Controversy

The Act is seen as controversial as the school boards had been out-performing the voluntary Anglican schools, which had existed before the 1870 Act. As the Conservatives preferred the church schools, they hoped to rectify this imbalance. They were also worried about the radical and secular education provided by the board schools.

Chamberlain

Joseph Chamberlain's support base was threatened by the introduction before Parliament of the Education Bill by Balfour. This legislation was framed with the intention of promoting National Efficiency, a cause which Chamberlain thought worthy. However, the Education Bill proposed to abolish Britain's 2,568 school boards that were established under W.E. Forster's 1870 Act, bodies that were popular with Nonconformists and Radicals. In their place, Balfour proposed to establish Local Education Authorities, which would administer a state centred system of primary, secondary and technical schools. Furthermore, the Bill would entail ratepayer's money being granted to voluntary, Church of England schools. Chamberlain was anxious about the Bill's proposals, aware that they would estrange Nonconformists, Radicals and many Liberal Unionists from the government.

However, Chamberlain was in no position to oppose the Bill, owing his position at the head of the empire's governance to the support provided by the Conservatives. Chamberlain warned Robert Laurie Morant about the probability of Nonconformist dissent, asking why voluntary schools could not receive funds from the state rather than the rates. In response, Morant argued that the Second Boer War had drained the Exchequer of finances.

The furore over the Education Bill imperilled the Liberal Unionist wing of the government, with the prospect of Nonconformist voters switching allegiance to the Liberal Party. Chamberlain sought to stem the feared exodus by securing a major concession: local authorities would be given the discretion over the issue of rate aid to voluntary schools, yet even this was renounced before the guillotining of the Bill and its passage through Parliament in December 1902. Thus, Chamberlain had to make the best of a hopeless situation, writing fatalistically that 'I consider the Unionist cause is hopeless at the next election, and we shall certainly lose the majority of the Liberal Unionists once and for all.' Chamberlain already regarded tariff reform as an issue that could revitalise support for Unionism.

Opposition

Opposition for the Act came from several sources. The most notable were the Liberal Party led by Henry Campbell-Bannerman, the Labour Movement and the non-conformists.

Non-conformist opposition was championed by John Clifford. Clifford formed the National Passive Resistance movement, which hoped to convince more non-conformists to resist the Act and stop paying their rates until it was repealed. By 1906, over 170 men had been imprisoned for this refusal, and yet no change to the law was made.

The Act developed into a major political issue, which contributed significantly to the Liberal Party's winning the General Election in 1906.

References

"1902 Education Act". http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Leducation1902.htm. Retrieved 2007-09-11. 

• Text of Act of 1902