Editing History of Scotland (section)

===Education===
{{Main|History of education in Scotland}}
[[File:Old College quadrangle, Edinburgh.JPG|thumb|left|[[Old College, University of Edinburgh]], rebuilt in 1789 according to plans drawn up by [[Robert Adam]]]]
A legacy of the Reformation in Scotland was the aim of having a school in every parish, which was underlined by an act of the Scottish parliament in 1696 (reinforced in 1801). In rural communities this obliged local landowners (heritors) to provide a schoolhouse and pay a schoolmaster, while ministers and local [[Presbyterian polity|presbyteries]] oversaw the quality of the education. The headmaster or "dominie" was often university educated and enjoyed high local prestige.<ref>William F. Hendrie, ''The dominie: a profile of the Scottish headmaster'' (1997).</ref> The kirk schools were active in the rural lowlands but played a minor role in the Highlands, the islands, and in the fast-growing industrial towns and cities.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|p=99}}.</ref><ref>{{Harvp|Anderson|1995}}.</ref> The schools taught in English, not in Gaelic, because that language was seen as a leftover of Catholicism and was not an expression of Scottish nationalism.<ref>{{Harvp|Anderson|1995|p=217}}.</ref> In cities such as Glasgow the Catholics operated their own schools, which directed their youth into clerical and middle class occupations, as well as religious vocations.<ref>Francis J. O'Hagan, ''The Contribution of the Religious Orders to Education in Glasgow During the Period, 1847–1918'' (2006).</ref>

A "democratic myth" emerged in the 19th century to the effect that many a "lad of pairts" had been able to rise up through the system to take high office and that literacy was much more widespread in Scotland than in neighbouring states, particularly England.<ref name="Anderson2003">{{Cite book |last=Anderson |first=Robert |title=The history of Scottish Education pre-1980 |date=2003 |work=Scottish Education: Post-Devolution |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=978-0-74-861625-1 |editor-last=Bryce |editor-first=T. G. K. |edition=2nd |pages=219–228 |ol=9885324M |editor-last2=Humes |editor-first2=W. M.}}</ref> Historical research has largely undermined the myth. Kirk schools were not free, attendance was not compulsory and they generally imparted only basic literacy such as the ability to read the Bible. Poor children, starting at age 7, were done by age 8 or 9; the majority were finished by age 11 or 12. The result was widespread basic reading ability; since there was an extra fee for writing, half the people never learned to write. Scots were not significantly better educated than the English and other contemporary nations. A few talented poor boys did go to university, but usually they were helped by aristocratic or gentry sponsors. Most of them became poorly paid teachers or ministers, and none became important figures in the Scottish Enlightenment or the Industrial Revolution.<ref>{{Harvp|Devine|1999|pp=96–100}}.</ref>

By the 18th century there were five universities in Scotland, at [[Edinburgh University|Edinburgh]], [[Glasgow University|Glasgow]], [[St. Andrews University|St. Andrews]] and [[King's College, Aberdeen|King's]] and [[Marischal College|Marischial]] Colleges in Aberdeen, compared with only two in England. Originally oriented to clerical and legal training, after the religious and political upheavals of the 17th century they recovered with a lecture-based curriculum that was able to embrace economics and science, offering a high quality liberal education to the sons of the nobility and gentry. It helped the universities to become major centres of medical education and to put Scotland at the forefront of Enlightenment thinking.<ref name=Anderson2003/>{{Clear}}