Stanley letter
The Stanley letter is a letter written in 1831 by
The letter also formed the basis upon which state education was established in Australia, where the model it outlined was advocated by statesman William Wentworth.
Proposal
The proposal in the Stanley letter was considered a policy experiment. As one commentator put it, "Ireland, as a colony could be used as an experimental milieu for social legislation which might not be tolerated in England where laissez-faire politico-economic policies were more rigid and doctrinaire."[3] This was also true of other Irish initiatives involving the police force and health services.[3]: 4 Stanley's framework involved the establishment of "a board for the superintendence of a system of national education" integrating key measures and educational conventions in place in Ireland such as the state-supported, mass system foundered on the denominational issue.[4]
Results
In line with the letter's suggestions, a Board of Commission of National Education was established which disbursed funds for school building and the hiring of teachers and inspectors and which provided grants for schools.[5] The Board tried to mix Catholic and Protestant students by favouring applications for 'mixed' schools.[5] However, in the years after the 1830s, different religious denominations begin to apply separately for control of schools.[5]
The new policy was credited for spreading literacy, especially to the poor communities. By 1831, the national schools based on Stanley's model has enrolled more than 100,000 children, a figure that increased to almost 1 million within 40 years.[4] Teacher training was also enhanced. For example, the paid monitors, the lowest grade teachers, were evaluated annually using the instructional materials used in schools.[6]
Current status
The Stanley letter remains today the legal basis for all national schools in the Republic of Ireland,[7] the predominant form of primary education in the country.[5]
Australia
The system outlined in the Stanley letter also formed the basis of
...instead of the clergy and pastors of the several denominations being allowed to impart religious instruction in the schools, the children be allowed to be absent from school one day in every week exclusive of Sunday, for the purpose of receiving such instruction elsewhere...
The proposed amendment was passed by the Legislative Council and the Board of National Education was established shortly after.[8]
References
- ^ Irish Educational Documents, vol. 1, Áine Hyland, Kenneth Milne, Church of Ireland College of Education, pp.98-103
- ^ "North vs South: How the island's two education systems compare". Irish Times. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
- ^ ISBN 0906980119.
- ^ ISBN 9780717155446.
- ^ ISBN 9780631228172– via Google Books.
- ISBN 0814799078.
- ^ O'Donovan, Patrick (1 September 2017). "Origin of our schools goes back to one letter". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
- ^ ISSN 0030-8684.
