EDUCATION

In the early 1800's, public education was unknown in Prince Edward Island and it was not the responsibility of the Colonial Government until 1826. An interest in schooling developed around 1830. The first Education Act was passed, authorizing the Legislature to assist in payment of teachers. In 1831, the first Board of Education was appointed and Visitor School Reports began in 1837. A Minister of Education was first appointed in 1931. From the Journals of the House of Assembly of 1834, we learned there were three masters of grammar schools, seventy-one district teachers, and six Acadian French teachers.

A school was located on the south side of the road between the residences of J.J. Morrissey and B.J. McDonald. It was the practice that the school would be visited several times by the inspector, who would check the general condition of the school, the effectiveness of the teaching and ensure that the pupils were properly disciplined and properly graded. In order to teach, one had to have a good reputation and be certified by four reputable citizens. The first teacher for vaell Cove was Donald Graham in 1841. We have no record of whether he was a local resident or what type of school he conducted. His curriculum involved reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling. At this time, there were only twenty-six pupils enrolled. The teacher may have been paid

30 shillings per pupil by the parents and there was a grant of upwards of 12 lbs. for the year.

It was customary for the teacher to live with a family within the community during the school years. The school year consisted of three weeks vacation, which were the last ten days of May and the last eleven days in October, Christmas and Good Friday, as well as Sundays, as agreed to by the trustees.

"The first school houses were little log huts, without any floors except the native earth. For a chimney, two logs standing upright in the middle of the room about three feet apart, served

as jambs, between which the fire was built to warm the children '

all around. On the top of these perpendicular logs of about four feet in height, was constructed the 'cat and clay' work, namely,

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