EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES FROM 1800 TO 1870. At the beginning of the 19th century, England and Wales went through a period of transition and change. Despite the events that occurred at the beginning, the creation of the modern educational system in England and Wales was to take place in the second half of the century. Although some people agreed to create an educational system in the early part of the century, for a variety of reasons, their proposals were not supported by the rest of the citizens or the government. The main purpose of this essay is to comment on the period of change that went through the education system in England and Wales from 1800 to 1870 and the way in which children enjoyed education depending on their gender and social status. The establishment of an educational system in England and Wales appeared late due to the social, economic and religious situation of the century. The main obstacles that interfered in the creation of a free education system in England were: The upper class had no interest in promoting the cultural development of the working classes and neither did the working class have any interest in the education of their children since child labor was a common practice and working class families did not want to lose the money they receive from their children and leave them educated. Child labor continued to increase after 1850. There was also religious conflict involving Anglicans, non-conformists and those who saw no need for religion in education. The government thought that voluntary schools were a success and that there was no need to intervene in education. . They left it to the private sector or the voluntary sector and this did not help to create a balance...... of paper......and between the education provided to children from the middle classes and to poor children looking into the their daily routine. Children from private schools enjoyed more free time, better food in quantity and quality and the curriculum was very broad. On the contrary, children from public schools did not enjoy the same privileges. They had less free time and the meals were decidedly poor compared to those in private schools. Referring to gender inequalities, girls did not enjoy the same education as boys. "The difficulties facing girls' schools were formidable. There were no accepted standards by which girls could work. Teachers were not trained and, even more often than in the case of men, many of them had gone into work with little enthusiasm because there was nothing else they could do. (Cockroach 1986:157)