The document highlighted this month, shared by the Municipality of Almeida, dates from November 16, 1862, and addresses the issue of public primary schools in the council. The original text describes how instruction in rural schools progresses slowly due to irregular attendance, justified by the fact that most inhabitants are farmers and therefore need their children for agricultural work.
The letter suggests that this inconvenience could be resolved by coercing parents to send their children to school, or, alternatively, by changing the holidays from September to July, a month when agricultural work would be at its peak, thus allowing children more availability for school.
The text contextualizes the historical situation of official primary education in Portugal, initiated with the reform by the Marquis of Pombal in 1772 and later with the Passos Manuel Reform in 1836. The latter stipulated the start of the academic year in October and the end in August, and established the moral obligation for parents to facilitate their children's education, with municipalities and parish priests tasked with persuading those who were negligent.
However, practice showed that this obligation was not met, as evidenced by the record of the letter from Almeida. The document also refers to the various educational reforms that followed until the democratization of education after April 25, 1974.
This archival document is part of the Administration of the Council of Almeida's collection and is registered in book 4, of the "Copybook of official letters that began on October 20, 1862, and ended on September 15, 1865". Historical documents are available for consultation and research via email: arquivo@cm-almeida.pt.
