Gerard Rummery, FSC, PhD
ABSTRACT
A foundation principle of the first Lasallian schools in Rheims was that they had to be gratuitous, that is open to all who wished to come, without any obligation to pay for the education received. The reasoning underlying this principle is expressed in various ways in the first version of the Brothers’ Rule: parents of the children of artisans and the poor failed to send their children to school because they were unable to pay the teachers. The definitive formulation of the Rule of the Brothers in 1717 is explicit in its opening statement: “The Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools is a Society in which profession is made to teach schools gratuitously.” And repeated in a later article, we find: “The Brothers will keep schools gratuitously everywhere and this is essential for their Institute.”
KEYWORDS
Education; Lasallian
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About the Author
Gerard Rummery, FSC, Ph.D.
Gerard Rummery, FSC, holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Lancaster University. He served two periods on the staff of the International Lasallian Center (CIL) in Rome and was twice elected to the General Council of the De La Salle Christian Brothers (1986-1993 and 1993-2000). He remains a presenter and researcher with Lasallian Education Services in Australia.
ISSN: 2151-2515
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