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HISTORY
The History of Camp Education
Education in Camp has existed in one form or another since the 1870’s. At Darwin in 1872, a group of Scottish shepherds and a few others got together and financed the erection of a building to be used as a school and church. The Falkland Island Company paid for a schoolmaster to be brought out from Britain. In 1890 the Company followed by introducing itinerant schoolmasters, (travelling teachers of the male variety), to Lafonia and off-shore islands. It was their job to teach all children outside Darwin and cover the distance between settlement, houses and islands by horse or boat.
In 1891, a number of station managers and shepherds of West Falkland petitioned Government to provide education for their children. It was not until 1896 that the West got two itinerant schoolmasters financed by the Government. Governor Sir Roger Tucker Goldworthy had seen the itinerant schoolmaster in action on East Falkland and thought the idea was a sound one. By 1904 it was necessary to increase the number to three so that the children could be visited more frequently – a year between visits was not unheard of. The three “beats” covered 24 settlements, outside houses and Islands of West Falkland. Teaching qualifications or experience were the least of priorities at the time. It helped if the itinerant schoolmaster was a good horseman and sprinter, (the mark of a man), to be able to run the shorter distances between Hill Cove, Dunbar, Crooked Inlet, Teal River etc.. Compatibility with families was also necessary. One itinerant schoolmaster entered into dubious negotiations with his families over a horse which caused untold problems. His five year contract was terminated rather abruptly and he had to pay his own passage back to England. By 1916, it was thought the system of itinerant schoolmasters “had a fair amount of results”, but were hardly comparable to full time education in Port Stanley. It was proposed a home should be set up to accommodate Camp children. It never materialised. In 1923 there was a further proposal for a hostel in Stanley with charges of £1 per month per child. The proposal was deferred until 1982! In 1956, a boarding school was set up at Darwin and it operated successfully for over twenty years. In the same year, at Port Howard, a building was set aside for a boarding school. The idea did not come to fruition however, due to the unavailability of domestic staff to run the venture.
During the 1960s and 70s there was a trend for settlement schools. Those who taught the children had the dual role of book-keeper for the farm. Many will remember with nostalgia, settlement schools at Walker Creek, Hill Cove, Chartres, Fox Bay West, San Carlos, Port San Carlos, Roy Cove, Port Stephens, Pebble Island, Teal Inlet and others, and their subsequent passing.
Settlement schools have come and gone, mostly gone. The itinerant schoolmaster became the itinerant teacher and then the travelling teacher. The mode of travel has moved on from horse to motorcycle to Islander Aircraft. Change was minimal until the introduction of the 2 metre radio in 1982/83. The 2 metre has added a new and revolutionary dimension to Camp Education, as has the introduction of the telephone. Every Primary aged Camp child now has daily schooling (either from a travelling teacher or through radio lessons) before coming into Stanley for Senior School education.
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