EDUCATION COMMITTEE

Statutory committee appointed under the Education Act, 1902 (2 Edw. VII c. 42) whereby county councils and county borough councils were designated as Local Education Authorities, replacing school boards and school attendance committees. Larger boroughs (pop +10000) and urban districts (pop +20000) could also be appointed LEAs for provision of elementary education. Although the Committee replaced the Technical Instruction Committee its powers with regard to higher education were the same (see CC1/8). The Act required the submission of a Scheme for the creation of an Education Committee to the Board of Education. Thereafter the structure of the Committee was changed on a number of occasions, reflecting the development and changing priorities of the Education Service. Under the Scheme of February 1914 there were five sub-committees including Elementary Education, Higher Education, Finance, School Buildings and Agricultural Education. Under the Scheme of February 1921 Agricultural Education had been transferred to the Oxfordshire Agricultural Committee and three new sub-committees had been created: Attendance and Employment, General Purposes and the Medical Service. A major reorganisation (reflecting the organisation of the Education Department) occurred in May 1930 whereby the number of sub-committees was reduced to four (Elementary, Higher, Finance and General Purposes, Libraries) and remaining functions were delegated to sections (reporting to one of the sub-committees or to the Education Committee as a whole) including Buildings, Attendance and Medical Service, Grants, Secondary Schools and Further Education, Examining Board, School Organisation. A re-organisation of the Education Department led to further revisions in March 1939. In April 1945 the Education Committee was re-constituted under the Education Act, 1944 (7 & 8 Geo. V c. 31). The system of boards (replacing sections) was retained with minor changes to their descriptions but there were major changes to the sub-committees: the older sub-committees introduced under the 1902 Act (Elementary and Higher) were replaced by three new service sub-committees (Primary, Secondary and Further Education). In May 1961 the structure was simplified when most of the boards were re-designated as sub-committees.