In 1833, the first education grant was given by Parliament to two voluntary groups promoting schooling for children. One group, the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor, was founded in 1811, and the goal of this group, according to“Elementary education in the 19th century" published on UK Parliament, was to “…develop schooling in the growing industrial towns.” In 1814, the British and Foreign School Society was founded, and this group “… catered for the children of nonconformist parents” ("Elementary"). Furthermore, according“Elementary education in the 19th century" these groups came to be out of the same aspirations of those who supported Sunday schools, which were held at church or a chapel and was the only form of education that children had access to and were backed, charitably, by the middle classes as these Sunday schools gave children born into poor families the ability to read. By 1857, less than thirty years later,“Elementary education in the 19th century", “…the grant was well over €500,000, and a government department was set up to oversee expenditure. Unfortunately, as more government regulation occurred, less people were able to be supported.“Elementary education in the 19th century", “…an increase in the state grant was paid, but it was allocated to schools partly on the basis of examination results conducted by school inspector” in 1861, and, furthermore, “… [this] also meant that rural and industrial areas which had no schools usually remained without them” ("Elementary").
Works Cited
“Elementary education in the 19th century.” UK Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/liv…