First School War

The First School War (French: Première guerre scolaire, Dutch: Eerste schoolstrijd) was a political crisis in Belgium over the issue of religion in education.

The instruction of religion and morality is placed under the direction of the officials of the religious faith that is professed by the majority of pupils at the school.

"[3]In practice, the interpretation of the law varied and, since the vast majority of the Belgian population was Catholic, the Church was allowed considerable influence in schools.

"[5] Rerum novarum issued in 1891 encouraged Catholics to embrace the Church's social mission and to increase its engagement in activities such as education, welfare, and trades unionism that affected the working class.

In 1914, primary education (between the age of six and 14) was declared compulsory and free, and, by then, the level of illiteracy had fallen to eight percent.