History of state education in Queensland

In 1826 the first primary school was conducted in Brisbane, then the Moreton Bay penal settlement of New South Wales, by Esther Roberts, a soldier's wife.

[1] The National Board established and administered schools where parents contributed a third of the total building costs and guaranteed an average attendance of at least 30 pupils.

Sometimes, when a locality prospered into a large, stable settlement, this happened; often, however, the provisional school withered away as population shifted, the gold played out or the railway moved further west.

These problems, however, should be kept in perspective: despite the difficulties, colonial educators achieved a remarkable feat in bring basic literacy to most Queensland children by 1900.

Such subjects as agriculture and domestic economy were introduced as part of object lessons, and the introduction of Arbor Day in 1890 also reflected a growing concern for the utility of the knowledge and values imparted in schools.

By 1905, when important syllabus changes were made, the value of subjects was increasingly assessed in terms of their everyday usefulness, and "learning by doing" was stressed.

With the improvement of postal facilities, the Department gradually replaced the work of the itinerant teacher by the more efficient services of the Primary Correspondence School, founded in 1922.

In another attempt to overcome the problem of distance, travelling domestic science and manual training railway cars were introduced in 1923 and 1925 respectively.

After 1907 attempts were made to combat the widespread western Queensland problem of ophthalmia (an eye inflammation known locally as blight) and in 1911 a Medical Branch of the Department, staffed by travelling doctors, dentists and ophthalmologists was created.

Once the effects of the post-war baby boom began to be felt in the 1950s, classroom crowding and staff shortages remained endemic.

These federal funds also allowed greater attention to disadvantaged groups, including Aborigines, migrants and the geographically isolated, thus giving support to the Queensland Government policy of equality of educational opportunity.

[9] Queensland grammar schools followed the traditional English model, with curricular dominated by classical subjects like Latin and Greek.

These schools catered for an elite, in accord with the nineteenth century view that popular education beyond the elementary level was not desirable.

The Under Secretary and General Inspector were both conservative men who believed that the Department had enough to do to implement compulsory, free and secular primary education.

[11] Although this expansion was largely enabled by the more favourable economic conditions in Australia during the 1950s and 1960s, the forces which helped to bring it about and shape its course were diverse and complex.

The following factors had a particularly significantly influence on the demand for secondary education in Queensland:[11] By 1960 almost 80 per cent of 14-year-olds were remaining at school of their own volition, so that it could be said that the Watkin Committee's recommendation in 1961 that the leaving age be raised to 15 sought to recognise a fait accompli.

During the second half of the 1960s these Boards kept the Junior and Senior syllabuses and examinations under constant review, in an effort to cater for the wider range of abilities and future vocations of the students then entering the secondary school.

[11] In an attempt to provide for the large proportion of secondary students who did not intend to continue on to higher studies, a range of modified Junior courses was introduced in 1965.

From 1981 further changes in assessment procedures will be progressively implemented on the recommendation of the Scott Committee, which was established by the Board of Secondary School Studies in 1976.

In 2008 the Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology was opened in Toowong, Brisbane, on the site of the Toowong College (a state high school which closed in 2006); this location was chosen "to capitalise on its close educational and geographic links with the University of Queensland"[12] (but was 4 km away from the university's St Lucia campus).

Clarke and C. Waagepetersen took regular classes in mechanical art and freehand drawing that technical education proved successful.

The students included some schoolboys and also men studying in such fields as architecture, carpentry, shipbuilding, surveying, photography and engineering.

[14] A sub-committee of the North Brisbane School of Arts was formed to control the College and an annual grant of £600 was obtained from Queensland Parliament.

Shortly after this, in 1924, a major step in the public recognition of technical college qualifications was made when the holders of prescribed diplomas were given the right to '"letters" after their names.

As a consequence, the branch was faced with the task of replacing heavy equipment in the post-war period when salaries and other running costs were rising.

[15] The remarkable post-war growth of secondary industry created a growing demand for trained personnel at both the technician (tradesman) and technologist (professional) levels.

Acceptance by the Australian Government of the 1964 Martin Report, which recommended that increased funds be made available to the states to help establish autonomous tertiary-level institutes of advanced education, provided the financial support for this reorganisation.

These colleges were situated at Yeronga, Eagle Farm, South Brisbane, Ithaca, Kangaroo Point, Coorparoo and Seven Hills.

At the same time many of the country colleges, e.g. Mount Isa, Cairns and Bundaberg, were moved into new accommodation, separate from the high schools.

In consequence, further funds were made available to technical and further education in 1975-76, and in January 1977 the integration of the two areas was completed and TAFE formally came into existence.