Education (Scotland) Act 1872
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1872 c. 62 |
Education (Scotland) Act, 1872
(35 & 36 Vict.) CHAPTER 62.
An Act to amend and extend the provisions of the Law of Scotland on the subject of Education.
[6th August 1872]
Whereas an Act was passed by the Parliament of Scotland, in the First Parliament of King William, in the year one thousand six hundred and ninety-six, intituled ‘ Actfor settling of Schools:’
And whereas another Act was passed in the session of the forty-third year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Third, chapter fifty-four, intituled ‘An Actfor making better provision for the Parochial Schoolmasters, and for making further regulations for the better government of the Parish Schools, in Scotland;’ and another Act was passed in the session of the first and second years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter eighty-seven, intituled ‘An Actto facilitate the foundation and endowment of additional Schools in Scotland;’ and another Act was passed in the session of the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth years of the reign of Her present Majesty, chapter one hundred and seven, intituled ‘ The Parochial and Burgh Schoolmasters (Scotland) Act, 1861:’
And whereas it is desirable to amend and extend the provisions of the law of Scotland on the subject of education, in such manner that the means of procuring efficient education for their children may be furnished and made available to the whole people of Scotland:
And whereas it has been the custom in the public schools of Scotland to give instruction in religion to children whose parents did not object to the instruction so given, but with liberty to parents, without forfeiting any of the other advantages of the schools, to elect that their children should not receive such instruction, and it is expedient that the managers of public schools shall be at liberty to continue the said custom:
Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
1 Interpretation of Act:
1. In this Act the following words and terms shall have the meanings hereby assigned to them, viz.:
‘Parish’ shall mean any parish which does not wholly consist of a burgh or part of a burgh within the meaning of this Act, and shall include any school district formed under this Act:
‘Burgh’ shall mean any royal burgh, and any burgh or town returning or contributing as a burgh to return a member to Parliament, and shall include every town,
whether a burgh or not, specified in the schedule of towns appended to this Act:
‘Scotch Education Department’ shall mean the Lords of any Committee of the Privy Council appointed by Her Majesty on Education in Scotland:
‘The Board of Education’ shall mean the Board of Education for Scotland established by this Act:
‘Her Majesty's inspectors’ shall mean the inspectors of schools appointed by Her Majesty on the recommendation of the Scotch Education Department; and ‘subject to inspection’ shall mean subject to be inspected by the said inspectors, or any of them:
‘Parliamentary grant’ shall mean a grant made in aid of a school out of moneys provided by Parliament for the civil service, intituled ‘for public education in Great Britain:’
‘Parent’ shall include guardian and any person who is liable to maintain or has the actual custody of any child:
‘Parish school’ shall include any school established under the recited Acts, or any of them, and any school established under this Act by the school board of a parish, or which is by this Act vested in and placed under the management of the school board of a parish:
‘Burgh school’ shall include any school to which that term is now legally applicable, although it may be called an academy, or a high school, or a grammar school, or any other name, and any school established in a burgh by the school board thereof, or which is by this Act vested in and placed under the management of the school board of a burgh:
‘Public school’ shall mean any parish or burgh school or any school under the management of a school board established under this Act:
‘Teacher’ shall include schoolmaster, schoolmistress, assistant teacher, pupil teacher, sewing mistress, and every person who forms part of the educational staff of a school.
2 Expenses of Scotch Education Department.
2. The salaries of the officers and servants of the Scotch Education Department shall be fixed with the consent of the Lords of Her Majesty's Treasury, and shall, together with the whole expenses of the said Department, be defrayed out of moneys voted by Parliament.
3 Board of Education for Scotland.
3. With a view to greater efficiency and convenience in the institution and organization of schools and school boards under the provisions of this Act, a Board of Education for Scotland shall be and is hereby established, to endure for the term of three years from and after the passing of this Act, with power to Her Majesty, by Order in Council made before the expiration of that term, to extend the same for a further period of not more than two years; and with respect to the constitution of the said board the following provisions shall have effect:
(1) (1.) The board shall consist of five members to be appointed by Her Majesty, to hold office during Her Majesty's pleasure. Any vacancy occurring during the subsistence of the board shall be supplied by a new appointment. One of the members shall be nominated by Her Majesty to be chairman of the board, and with power to him to appoint any other member to be deputy chairman, and in the absence of the chairman and deputy chairman at any meeting of the board the members present may nominate one of their number to act as chairman of the meeting. Two members shall be a quorum:
(2) (2.) The office and general place of business of the board shall be in Edinburgh:
(3) (3.) Her Majesty shall appoint a fit person to be secretary of the board to hold office during Her Majesty's pleasure, and the board shall appoint such necessary clerks and officers as shall be sanctioned by the Lords of Her Majesty's Treasury to hold office during the pleasure of the board:
(4) (4.) The board may from time to time appoint any one or more of their number to perform special duties connected with the execution of this Act, and to visit such places as may be necessary for that purpose, and in the performance of their duties the member or members so appointed shall be responsible to the board and subject to their control:
(5) (5.) The ordinary meetings of the board shall be held in Edinburgh, and it shall be the duty of the chairman or some other member of the board, as may from time to time be arranged, and of the secretary, to give regular attendance in the office of the board at ordinary business hours during at least nine months in the year, unless when absent on the business of the board or prevented by reasonable cause:
(6) (6.) The board and the members thereof shall be responsible to the Scotch Education Department, and on the expiration of the original or extended term of their endurance their powers and duties shall devolve and are hereby devolved upon the said department, and thereafter the various clauses and provisions of this Act in which the term ‘Board of Education’ occurs shall be construed and have effect as if the term ‘Scotch Education Department’ were substituted therefor.
4 Meeting of the Board.
4. The first meeting of the Board of Education shall be held in Edinburgh on the third Friday of October one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, or on such other day thereafter as shall be appointed by the Scotch Education Department, and at such place in Edinburgh as the said department shall appoint. Subsequent meetings shall be held at such times and places as the Board shall direct. Ordinary meetings shall be held in the office of the Board, (except during the months of August and September,) at intervals which shall not without reasonable cause exceed one month, and special meetings may be held at any time according to the pleasure of the Board. Any meeting may be adjourned.
5 Board to frame draft minute as to distribution of parliamentary grant.
5. The Board of Education shall submit for the consideration of the Scotch Education Department the conditions according to which, in their opinion, parliamentary grants may be most advantageously distributed in Scotland: Provided always, that the duty of determining from time to time the rates and conditions according to which the said grants may be given under the provisions of this Act, and of framing and from time to time revising the minutes containing the same, shall be upon the Scotch Education Department.
6 Board to make record of their proceedings, and to submit an annual report.
6. The Board of Education shall make a record of their proceedings, in which shall be entered minutes of all meetings held by them, or any committee appointed by them, and all resolutions passed and orders made by them, and all other matters which the Board may judge proper; and the Board shall, once in every year, submit a report of their proceedings under this Act, during the preceding year, to the Scotch Education Department, in order to its being laid before both Houses of Parliament.
7 Expenses of Board.
7. The chairman and two ordinary members and the secretary of the Board of Education shall have such salaries as may be assigned to them by the Lords of Her Majesty's Treasury, and the same, together with the whole expenses of the Board and of their establishment and...
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