History
In early Colonial NSW, one thing that the "respectable" moral guardians agreed upon was that only a good Christian education could remove the convict stain. There was less agreement on the school system and the curriculum.
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From early days, schools were a priority and state funding was given to offset some of the costs. Before 1836, however, supported schools could only be opened through the Clergy and Schools Corporation and fell within the rules governing the established Church of England. The curriculum was narrowly evangelical and less than practical, which was disadvantageous to many parents in a more pluralistic society than England's. Alternatives like private schooling or tutoring were extremely expensive.
In 1836 the Government introduced the Church Act. This essentially disestablished the Church of England as the only authority over schooling and gave the same rights and assistance to all denominations to build schools. Government funding was on a pound for pound basis with the local community and denomination.
The Anglicans and the Catholics, predominantly, grabbed the opportunity, raised funds and set up denominational schools in most towns. In Morpeth, EC Close provided funds for a school in the grounds of St James and it received ongoing funding from the government. Little did Close know that it would become the butt of many a government jest.
The flaws in the system quickly became apparent. In 1844 the Colonial Observer editorialised:
In the insignificant village of Morpeth, for instance, where one good school might have been supported, and would have been sufficient for the population, the Government have actually had to pay for not fewer than three schools on this system - an Episcopalian school, a Roman Catholic school and a Presbyterian school . . . . all receiving Government support, in Morpeth! The consequence of such an arrangement was that the schools in that locality were all of an inferior character; three miserable Scare-crows, or Dominie Sampsons [a teacher in Scott's Guy Mannering], being literally starved where one Corporation sole of a Schoolmaster might have subsisted in comparative comfort.
Elements within the government renewed their lobbying for a version of the Irish National System which provided capital funds and some ongoing costs with local contributions, in return for state control. The education was to be secular, but each denomination's clergy could provide separate religious instruction.
Of course, the Catholics and the Anglicans vehemently opposed each other. They may not have agreed on many things but Bishop Tyrrell, the first bishop of Newcastle, wanted:
the imparting a sound Christian education to the young, by establishing schools throughout the diocese on church principles, and under the immediate supervision of the clergy; including in this object primary schools, commercial or grammar schools, and ultimately a college for the education of intended ministers, and of other persons desiring to receive a superior education.
The Catholics would have supported these sentiments.
The government's problem was that many country areas did not have enough children of any denomination to entice the establishment of a religious school, but they did have enough in total to require a school of some sort. The government also wanted the school to be flexible enough to deal with the exigencies of children assisting on the farm. Small denominational schools could not meet these demands.
The scene was set for twenty years of educational warfare.