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Keep in mind that there may be subjective bias, but I will try to keep out. Understand that I know more about public education in the U.S. than anywhere else and that whatever bias there may be in my arguments I equal out with facts and evidence such as changes in the past centuries and trends.

"The only thing interfering with my learning is my education"-Albert Einstein

How you learn depends mainly on how you are educated whether it be self-taught, public-ally, and/or through a tutor or family member. It can be argued that public education has been around since entire societies, villages, etc. have been around. It is very hard to trace an origin because people have always needed an education unless they can 1) teach themselves effectively, 2) think critically on their own, and 3) have realizations about how things work in respect to their future profession, new ideas, and foster these qualities and creativity on their own. There may be other factors of course. The only thing interfering with your learning is your education. Its flaws, its obstacles, and its benefits.

If it is mandated gifted students may waste years of their lives when they could have spent their time more productively in private programs, homeschooling, or self-taught environments. Most people need structure, discipline, and teacher aid and experience though so the larger the society the bigger the need for public education. So when society got big enough maybe public education officially began. While it was small it wasn't necessary since life was not advanced enough, people didn't need it as much, and population size didn't warrant the need. For example, families could teach each other much of what they needed to know to survive.

First, what is public education? To put it simply it involves schools that are funded by the government primarily through things such as taxes and offered to children or adults who qualify if necessary and are willing to go through its trials. Since your question doesn't specify what part of the world you're curious about I am going to have to assume that you are asking on a general scale.My answer will be primarily in American context though because I don't know much about education outside of this country.

In the United States we know today we have a three-tier system: federal, state, and local. In the past however, "The most preliminary form of public education was in existence in the 1600s in the New England colonies of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New Hampshire. The overriding belief on educating the children was more due to religious reasons and was easy to implement, as the only groups in existence were the Puritans and the Congregationalists"(http://www.servintfree.net/~aidmn-ejournal/publications/2001-11/PublicEducationInTheUnitedStates.html) Certain opposing forces led to private schooling becoming the norm by the middle of the eighteenth century and schooling became primarily for the wealthy. Figures such as Thomas Jefferson fought for nationwide public education but in limited local success. A physically strong numerous labor force was all the U.S needed for a backbone until the need for specialization and widespread education arose many years later.

With the turn of the century came the Industrial Revolution and many jobs were created that required a working class but also more people who had the educational background, skills, and motivation to work higher-level and higher-paying jobs. It spurred others to do it and an official public education system could be argued to have been born in the 1840s. Reform movements argued the need for change and used unsatisfactory conditions, advancements, and population size to back up their claims.

Governments and people often decide whether the public at large needs an education. Those reform movements urged government and government saw the need at the same time. Society's growth encouraged it. Again, this goes back to the advancement of society and population size argument I made earlier. To form an efficient public education requires a good, organized system that has had time to advance over the ages.

Public education may have begun as early as the Roman Empire with their population size, power, and knowledge. In the Middle Ages we had a high focus and appreciation for education as evidenced by many sources such as the setting and people of some of Shakespeare's plays which were set at the time. It may have begun when the first large government was formed. There is no "sure-fire" answer. Historians and experts of all kinds from all places would disagree.Still, the most official and sure anyone can get in respect to education in the United States is that of the second half of the eighteenth century when it became a necessity for our country and when one could say a significant amount of people were getting access to education more easily than ever before.

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14y ago

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