The notion that provision for the education of adults is moving somewhat inevitably, if at uneven speeds, from an initially voluntary provision to a largely public provision, needs some introductory clarification. The Russell Report of 1973 x while recommending an energetic lead from the central government, nevertheless accepted a continuing partnership with voluntary bodies in the provision of nonvocational adult education. However, in the sphere of adult vocational education, one has to look back a century for evidence of a comparable multiple structure of provision. This poses a number of questions on State influence, particularly for those from countries which make less distinction between ‘vocational’ and ‘nonvocational’ education. This paper will accordingly seek to identify the criteria and measures which determined the early evolution of State influence on the education of adults, particularly in its vocational aspects. The period covered will be from the ending of Statutory Apprenticeship in 1814, to the role of the Science and Art Department by the 1860s. This half-century will illustrate the transition from State paternalism to laissez-faire principles, followed by ever-increasing exceptions to those principles. © 1988 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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