Jules Ferry
Jules Ferry, an anti-clerical politician holding the office of Minister of Public Instruction in the 1880s, created the modern Republican school ("l'école républicaine") by requiring all children under the age of 15—boys and girls—to attend. see Jules Ferry laws Schools were free of charge and secular ("laïque"). The goal was to break the hold of the Catholic Church and monarchism on young people. Catholic schools were still tolerated but in the early 20th century the religious orders sponsoring them were shut down.