Elementary Education Act 1870 further acts in 1876 ("the Sandon Act", which gave parents a legal obligation to ensure that their children were educated) and 1880 ("the Mundella Act") made attendance compulsory for children until they were 10 years old, with various exemptions. Many factory owners feared the removal of children as a source of cheap labour. However, with the simple mathematics and English they were acquiring, factory owners now had workers who could read and make measurements. Following continued campaigning by the National Education League, following the Elementary Education Act 1880, attendance to age 10 became compulsory everywhere in England and Wales. In
History of education in England 11. The "Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act" of the same year extended compulsory education to blind and deaf children, and made provision for the creation of special schools. The "Voluntary Schools Act 1897" provided grants to public elementary schools not funded by school boards (typically Church schools). Another act in 1899 raised the school leaving age up to 12 years of age; it was later raised to 13. In the late Victorian period grammar schools were reorganised and their curriculum was modernised, although Latin was still taught. In 1889, the "Technical Institutes Act" was passed. According to D.