An age that was enthralled by machines and automatons turned them into metaphors for the state and social order. The education system was a machine of the state, intended to produce disciplined and fully functional subjects.
Every subject was supposed to enjoy a basic education. On the other hand Joseph II considered that secondary and higher education was not a practical proposition for broad sections of the population. Thus access to secondary and tertiary educational institutes was restricted, and the curricula for the universities were reformed. Universities were expected, above all, to produce an appropriate number of competent public servants. The introduction of study fees for grammar schools and universities in 1784 made access more difficult for students from poorer families. In any case, according to a Court Decree, ‘only such children as have particular capabilities for study, and whose parents have sufficient financial means to support their children, are to be admitted’.
Although the ‘better talents from the class without means’ were supported with scholarships, the introduction of school fees had the desired effect: whereas, for example, some 100 pupils attended the grammar school in Horn (Lower Austria) in 1774, in the following year there were only thirteen. Higher education for girls was restricted to convent schools (such as the Gymnasium der Englischen Fräulein). Girls’ education aimed at producing diligent housewives and loving mothers. Despite considerable restrictions on access, different types of educational provision developed, for instance a commercial school, technical schools specializing in mathematics, a school of draughtsmanship and a copper-engravers’ academy.
Only about 0.17% of the population attended a grammar school. Jews and Protestants were now also admitted to universities.
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