Biographical entry: Rule, James (1831 - 1901)
- Born
- 1831
- Died
- 1901
- Occupation
- Teacher
Summary
James Rule, teacher and educationist, arrived in Tasmania in 1855, one of eight teachers recruited from England.
Details
He became headmaster of the Battery Point Model School, the main teacher-training centre in the colony. An inspector from 1877, his reports repeatedly drew attention to the endemic problems of public education: poor physical condition of the schools, inadequate training of the teachers, and unsatisfactory rates of attendance. Rule felt that the abolition of school fees and improved standards would do more to encourage attendance than more rigorous enforcement of the compulsion which had first been enacted in 1868.
Michael Sprod