Private education and the offer of boarding schools in the Province of Sergipe (1840-1888)

Abstract

This article is a historical approach about boarding schools established in the province of Sergipe (1840-1888) and aims to present the boarding schools as a predominant model in particular education establishments. The historical operation consisted of separating, organizing and transforming the collected information into historical documents, and crosschecking such information with other facts found. Several sources were used, such as reports, doctors’ dissertations, periodicals (almanacs, newspapers), books, novels, and legislation. During the nineteenth century, in Sergipe boarding schools or boarding houses were predominant and functioned in the owner’s houses or rented houses for admitting boarder students who lived under the care of the director and his family. The part of society that could afford the costs of boarding schools was major rural landowners and rich businessmen who did enroll their children in local boarding houses or in boarding schools at the capitals, headquarters of Colleges. From the 1860’s on, the middle strata of the population, facing the problems of public education, also relied on boarding schools. Most lived in rural areas, facing difficulties with transportation to the cities where the schools were located and found in boarding schools an appropriate model to ensure the education of their children.

Keywords: boarding schools, education, Province of Sergipe, history.