Everything about Ragged Schools totally explained
Ragged schools is a name given to the
19th century charity schools in the
United Kingdom which provided education and, in most cases, food, clothing, and lodging for destitute children. They received no government support.
The movement had its beginning in the
magnanimous efforts of
John Pounds (d. 1839), a disabled shoemaker of
Portsmouth, but the zeal and eloquence of
Thomas Guthrie greatly furthered the development and spread of these schools throughout the United Kingdom.
The Ragged Schools were charitable schools dedicated to the free education of destitute children. The movement started in
Scotland in 1841, when Sheriff Watson established the
Aberdeen Ragged School, initially for boys only; a similar school for girls opened in 1843, and a mixed school in 1845. From here the movement spread to
Dundee and other parts of Scotland, mostly due to the work of the Rev Guthrie.
In 1844 the "Ragged School Union" was established under the chairmanship of
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury to bring together the various ragged schools that existed in London. Cooper was president for 39 years, in which time an estimated 300,000 destitute children received education. At the zenith of the movement, there were 192 Schools, with an average attendance of 20,000 pupils.
Charles Dickens' visit to the Field Lane Ragged school in 1843 inspired him to write
A Christmas Carol. Appalled by what he saw, he initially intended to write a pamphlet on the plight of poor children, but realised a story would have more impact.
As well as giving very elementary education, the Ragged Schools engaged in a wide variety of social welfare activities, such as running Penny Banks, Clothing Clubs, Bands of Hope, and Soup Kitchens. However, despite their alternate name of Industrial Feeder Schools, only three Ragged Schools gave trade instruction, the only form of education for which Government grants were available . With the advent of the
board schools as a consequence of
An Act to provide for Elementary Education in England and Wales (9 August 1870), the curricula of which did qualify for such grants, the number of pupils at Ragged Schools gradually declined.
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