Los municipios andaluces y la educación: la aplicación de la legislación durante el siglo XIX

Abstract

Over the course of the nineteenth century, a number of legal regulations were introduced that gradually led to a centralised system of education in Andalusia. Education in the early part of the century was scarcer and less organised, with the different stages of education, teacher training and school inspection regulated by an assortment of separate plans and policies rather than a single general education law. However, in the second part of the century, the publication of the Moyano Act provided towns in Andalusia with a blueprint for educational reform, especially in relation to primary schools, which were largely dependent on local government. This article analyses the failure to implement the new legislation due, fundamentally, to lack of funding for the new reforms and lack of vision on the part of local councilmen. Despite this, the nineteenth century witnessed a growth in the number of schools and a notable decline in illiteracy.