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The system of schools which prevailed till the Education Act of 1872 dated from 1696, when the Act for Settling of Schools was passed - one of the last but not the least of the achievements of the Scots Parliament - providing for the maintenance of a school in every parish by the kirk session and heritors, with power to the Commissioners of Supply to appoint a schoolmaster in case the primary authorities made default. The schoolmaster held his office for life, co-education was the rule from the first, and the school was undenominational. The various religious secessions in Scotland led to the founding of a large number of sectarian and subscription schools, and at the Disruption in 1893 the Free Church made provision for the secular as well as the religious instruction of the children of its members. The Education Act of 1872 abolished the old management of the parish schools and provided for the creation of districts (burgh, parish or group of parishes) under the control of school boards, of which there were 972 in Scotland, elected every three years by the ratepayers, male and female. Since that date the most important changes effected in the elementary education system were the abolition, in 1886, of individual inspection of the lower standards-afterwards extended to the whole of the standards, the inspectors applying a collective test, the "block-grant" system, to the efficiency of a school and the abolition of school fees (1889) for the compulsory standards, the loss being made up principally by a parliamentary grant, and partly by a proportion, earmarked for the purpose, of the proceeds of the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act 1890, and the Education and local Taxation Account (Scotland) Act 1892. The capitation grant in relief of fees is at the rate of 12s, of which 10s is furnished by the parliamentary grant and 2s by the other sources. King's Scholars, trained at one of the training colleges, and King's Students who attend one of the universities, form the chief source of supply of certificated teachers.
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