Early policy
In the early 19th century, most schools in Newfoundland were one room school houses. The first Education Act in Newfoundland in 1836 inaugurated the existing elementary schools in its public education system, most of which had remained non-denominational. This was the first direct government involvement with education.
Despite this seemingly secular policy, anti-Catholic sentiment at the time resulted in hostility to Newfoundland's Roman Catholic population (which numbered half the colony) and to Catholic schools. This led to the Protestant-backed Education Act of 1843, which saw Catholics share education grants equally with Protestants. The Protestant grant was further divided between the Church of England and the Methodists and in the Education Act of 1876, the government transferred all its responsibility on education to the churches, thus setting up a denominational system of education. From this point on, religion, as well as the largest economic sector, fisheries, would be the driving factors behind Newfoundland's education system.
The next decades saw much infighting among many of Newfoundlanders around the allocation of grant money. Government revenue was based mainly on customs dues, so grant money would grow or shrink depending on the state of the economy. This resulted in schools which were smaller than needed and lacked sufficient equipment, and teachers who were both under-educated and underpaid. The Education Act of 1876 set up Superintendents for each of the denominational schools: Catholic, Church of England, and Methodist, which made up 90 percent of the population. The situation only worsened as money was spent on building new schools rather than increasing teacher salaries, which continued to fall.
The roots of higher education
The colony began to turn its attention to higher education. In 1893 the Council of Higher Education (CHE) was formed and it crossed all denominations. The main purpose of the Council was to test students from grades 6 through 11, who were deemed to have an academic disadvantage when trying to enter universities outside the colony. CHE established a set curriculum and guidelines for instruction. While CHE also encouraged students to enter university, there were no higher education institutions in Newfoundland. Thus, CHE formed many agreements with institutions in other provinces and countries to recognize CHE exams, which followed existing, accepted British exams, as prerequisites. Unfortunately, universities, especially Oxford, which was accepting Rhodes Scholars, were dissatisfied with the results of Newfoundlanders. Unlike students from Newfoundland, students from other Canadian provinces had already completed two years of higher education, and as a result, CHE began planning to set up an institution in St. John's which could provide the first two years of university to students. By 1920, a full Department of Education was set up in Newfoundland (now a self-governing Dominion) and by 1925, Memorial University College (MUC) was founded. MUC offered two-year programs, continued to build relationships with universities elsewhere, and prepared Newfoundlanders for degree completion. Despite its links to British system (examinations were sent to the University of London for grading), MUC decided to use the course arrays and requirements of the Maritime universities, which therefore tied it to the Canadian Higher Education System. In 1933, MUC merged with the Normal School and assumed the teacher training program.
The road to confederation
While MUC received funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, it had to weather the Great Depression and the budget rollercoaster that came with it. From 1934, after a stint of independence from Britain, Newfoundland increased expenditure in education to revitalize the system and improve conditions. Recovery was made, but by 1949, when the Dominion became a Province, it was in much the same condition as 25 years before. Facilities were still outdated and the terms of Confederation ensured that schools would remain run by denominational Boards of Education. On a positive note, the National Convention (1946-1948) endorsed the idea to build a degree granting institution in Newfoundland. As a result, MUC became the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN) in 1949. and new money from the federal government began to arrive after 1957 in the form of equalization payments. The Newton Report (1952) and the Harris Report (1967) recommended limited government involvement over MUN and thus allowed it a certain level of automony.
Late 20th century changes
The concepts of vocational schools and community colleges emerged in the 1960s. The College of Fisheries, Navigation, Marine Engineering and Electronics opened in 1964 to teach fishery-related subjects. The Warren Commission in 1968 secularized the Department of Education and this marked the beginning of great changes in the education system.
Changes made in the 1970s and 1980s include the establishment of MUN's Regional College at Corner Brook (later renamed Sir Wilfred Grenfell College) and the introduction of grade 12. In 1987, two institutes (Cabot Institutte and Fisher Technical College) and five community colleges (Avalon Community College, Eastern Community College, Central Newfoundland Community College, Labrador Community College and Western Community College) were formed.
In 1992, the College of Fisheries, Navigation, Marine Engineering and Electronics became the Marine Institute of MUN and in 1997 the Community Colleges amalgamated into the College of the North Atlantic.