1-150-597 - The Cartoon Collector/Heritage-Images

Obstructives, 1870. In the doorway of the school, a variety of Ministers and Nonconformists argue, whilst Mr Punch tells Policeman Bull that this prevents the two working-class children from entering the building. This relates to the recently introduced Bill for Public Elementary Education in England and Wales. There had been much dissent between the various religious factions about what, if any, religious instruction should form part of the curriculum. One MP asked how such subjects as poetry could be taught if religion could not be included, whilst another declared that lower-classes wished religious education to form the basis of elementary education. From Punch, or the London Charivari, July 2, 1870.