NOW the festive season is over and the new year is here, the youth of this country has returned to school for another session of education, which gives them the opportunity to learn about the world and the chance to pursue a career that they will find fufilling.

But the children in centuries past did not have that opportunity, for it has only been over the past 150 years that education has been available to the masses.

Mankind has always devoted some attention to the training and upbringing of the younger generation, but this was mainly an initiation into tribal customs which included hunting and fighting.

In Ancient Greece, while boys were trained for warlike pursuits, the girls learned the arts of motherhood and the social graces of music and the art of discussion.

In medieval England, the religious houses established schools which taught children some subjects, but the teaching was in Latin, which was the common language of scholars across Europe at that time.

Colleges were later built at Oxford, Cambridge, Eton and Winchester, which provided a greater scope of education for those who needed it, but they were only for those who could afford it.

Eventually, “grammar” schools were established in the 16th century and these taught English to the pupils, as well as other important lessons.

But a report published in the early 19th century found illiteracy was still common in England, even though the Sunday schools, started by Robert Raikes in 1780, were providing some form of education for the very young.

The Parliamentary Act of 1802 urged factories to provide tuition for the children they employed, but this was not observed by all factory owners.

At the same time, “Dame Schools” came into being for rudimentary education for young children at a cheap rate.

Then the British and Foreign School Society (established in 1808) and the Church of England National Society (established 1811) provided cheap elementary education in what became known as “British” and “National” (or church) schools.

Other religious denominations also established their own schools soon afterwards, with the assistance of government grants.

As the result of the efforts of some members of Parliament, the Education Act of 1870 was passed, which brought about the board schools of the 1880s and the compulsory elementary education of all children aged between five and 13 years, free of charge.

This led to the construction of schools across the country, including the Fairfields Board Schools in Basingstoke in 1888.

A school board of seven members organised the construction of the building on a site where sheep fairs use to be held.

The town had previously a number of schools, which included the Blue Coat School, in Cross Street, the Holy Ghost Grammar and National School, the National School for Girls, two boys schools and five boarding and day schools, all of which closed down for the pupils to attend Fairfields schools.

Schoolmasters found that their salary increased during this period, for, in 1830, the annual amount was £24. By 1887 it had risen to £120. Another fact that was revealed in later years was that in 1830 only 30 per cent of the adult population in England could write, but by the end of the 19th century this had risen to 84 per cent, evidently due to the new education laws.

In 1902, the Education Act changed the board schools to council schools.

County council education authorities were set up to provide secondary education free to all children.

During the following years, Basingstoke had additional schools built to cope with the increase in its population – St John’s School, in lower Church Street, the High School, which originated in Brook Street, opened up in Crossborough Hill in 1912, and Brook Street School, in lower Brook Street, in 1909.

Later, Queen Mary’s School was built in 1939 in Vyne Road. This latter school originated from the Holy Ghost School, which moved to Worting Road in 1855, to become the site of the technical college in 1960.

In 1918, the school leaving age was raised to 14, then to 15 in 1944. The latter date also saw primary education reorganised into infant and junior, and secondary into modern, grammar and technical.

The Education Act of 1993 allowed schools to opt out of local authority control, permitting the establishment of specialist technology colleges. By then, the leaving age had risen to 16.

The Town Development Scheme of the 1960s led to many more schools being built on the housing estates that were constructed, and, as the town continues to expand, still more will be needed to give future generations the chance to increase their knowledge on the many new subjects occurring in the future.

This column was originally published in The Gazette in January 2007. It was written by Robert Brown, a former photographer, columnist and historian at The Gazette. He died on March 25, 2019.