Parliament did not lay down rules for education until 1870, the year of Forster's Education Act (Elementary Education Act of 1870). The Elementary Education Act 1880 (the Mundella Act) made school boards enforce compulsory attendance from 5 to 10 years. Attendance officers might visit the homes of absent (truant) children. Children who were employed needed a certificate to show they had reached the educational standard. Employers of these children who could not show this were penalised.