Education for the Working Class: Victorian Era Created by: Isabel Handa
What were the educational opportunities for the working class?
There were few options for children in the working class to get educated. Sunday School founded by Robert Raikes in 1780, was one of the more prevalent options. This school allowed orphans, street children, and children of abusive parents, to have a free education as well as learn about more religious aspects.
Soon, this evolved into a huge phenomenon, called the "Ragged Schools" - by 1870, there were 250 Ragged Schools in London and over 100 in surrounding provinces (Picard). According to Liza Picard, about 25% of the population or 1,250,000 children attended these schools by the mid-1800s.
The Parish workhouses were another place where people had access to a form of education, even though the standards were very low and barely anything was taught. Parish workhouses were places for families who couldn't afford a place to live, and it was funded by the government. The education in the workhouses was very sparse and very little learning occurred.
If you weren't being educated, it was a given that you would get a job in order to help support your family. The most common jobs were street sellers, sweatshop workers, and workhouse laborers. Many of these jobs paid very little - a lot of the jobs paid 20-30 shillings a week, which was barely enough to cover someone's rent and support their family (Picard). The jobs were often demeaning and required strenuous hard labor.
Nowadays, the U.S. and other Western countries, including England, have strict laws preventing child labor and that require children to be educated. According to the United States Department of Labor, "The federal child labor provisions, authorized by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, also known as the child labor laws, were enacted to ensure that when young people work, the work is safe and does not jeopardize their health, well-being or educational opportunities" ("Wage and Hour Division [WHD]"). This is just one of the laws put in place in order to keep the safety and education of children a priority. Ultimately, this leads to more success for children in the future.
Links:
- http://www.victorian-era.org/images/Working-Conditions-In-The-Victorian-Era-1.jpg
- http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/schools/primaryhistory/images/victorian_britain/victorian_children_at_work/v_a_tinsmith.jpg
- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Microcosm_of_London_Plate_096_-_Workhouse,_St_James's_Parish.jpg
- http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/schools/primaryhistory/images/victorian_britain/children_at_school/v_brook_street_school.jpg
- https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Leadenhall_Street_J_Hopkins.jpg
- http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_YK9B_E78YBo/S9pXccBd_hI/AAAAAAAABxY/BmlJfjFMOm0/s1600/Coffee+Stall.JPG
- http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/schools/primaryhistory/images/victorian_britain/victorian_children_at_work/v_adult_and_boy_assistant.jpg
- http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rmhttp/schools/primaryhistory/images/victorian_britain/children_at_school/v_ragged_school.jpg