Today in history: September 28th, 1717
Today it’s 289 years that the kids in Prussia legally have to go to school (well, now most of what was Prussia then is Germany, but that’s not the point). On September 28th, 1717 the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm I. issued an edict which introduced compulsary school attendance for kids in the age between 5 and 12. These kids were required to go to school everyday in winter and at least one or two days in summer. In the beginning this was hard to enforce, but the king ordered the building of many schools all over the country. Probably this was the first time, that an important poltician discovered how important broad education is for a nation’s success (at least in modern Europe). In the light of all the budget cuts on educational budgets, let’s hope we’re not falling back behind those days.
[via DW Kalenderblatt]