Jules Ferry Laws

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. The Jules Ferry Laws are a set of French Laws which established free education (1881), then mandatory and laic education (1882). Jules Ferry, a lawyer holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, is widely credited for creating the modern Republican School. The dual system of state and church schools that were largely staffed by religious officials were replaced by state schools and lay school teachers. The educational reforms enacted by Jules Ferry are often attributed to a broader anti-clerical campaign in France. On June 16, 1881, the first set of Jules Ferry Laws were passed, making primary education free for both boys and girls. To finance of the project, the communes and departments had the responsibility to subsidize it. Additionally, the laws protected the wages of teachers by mandating that "salaries...may never under any circumstances become inferior to the salaries they have enjoyed during the three years preceding the application of the present law...".