EHitherto, grants had been paid for teaching general subjects (the "three R's ") and needlework, and also for teaching certain specific subjects such as geography and grammar. Powell and Davies argued that Welsh should also be recognised as a specific subject. Their views were championed by the Society for the Utilisation of the Welsh Language, and from 1888 onwards Welsh was placed on the same footing in Wales as Erse (already a specific subject) in Ireland. Very little progress, however, could be made for some time, for many school managers had appointed monoglot Englishmen as Heads of their schools, who felt no obligation to qualify as Welsh teachers. Moreover, many teachers and many School Boards were often unwilling to teach Welsh or allow it to be taught. Something had to be done to convince them of the importance of giving the language and traditions of Wales their proper place in their schools, and the opportunity came in 1902. In that year the Balfour Act was passed. It created considerable discussion at the time and created much bitterness, but by reconstructing the administrative machinery it was the means of saving the Welsh language. For it created in each county a Local Education Authority, and these Authorities from now on were responsible for the Council Schools in their area, as the Board Schools now came to be called. This meant that if the "L.E.A." decided that Welsh should be taught within its area, all the schools of that area (i.e. the county, county borough, borough or urban district) were expected to teach it. The problem of those who desired to see Welsh given its proper place was now much simpler; they had to convince, not scores of School Boards and School Managers but a comparatively few L.E.A's.
7
A WORD MUST NOW BE SAID ABOUT SECONDARY EDUCATION, FOR THOUGH this pamphlet is chiefly concerned with primary education, the story of education in Wales during the last century would not be complete without some reference to Secondary schools. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the only Secondary schools were the old Grammar Schools-schools such as the Friars' School, Bangor, Cowbridge Grammar School, and Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Carmarthen. These and the other endowed schools of more recent origin (such as Llandovery College) numbered 27 in all in 1880, and, together with about 79 private schools, provided secondary education for about 4,000 boys at that time; only three Secondary Schools for girls existed-Dr. Williams' School, Dolgelley, and Howell's Schools at Denbigh and Llandaff.
In 1880, Gladstone set up the now-famous Aberdare Committee to inquire into the provision of secondary and higher education in
