Education Act 1496

The Education Act 1496 was an act of the Parliament of Scotland (1496 c. 87) that required landowners to send their eldest sons to school to study Latin, arts and law. This made schooling compulsory for the first time in the world.
The humanist intent was to ensure that local government lay in competent hands and to improve the administration of justice nationwide by making the legal system more responsive at the local level. The act states:
The act was passed by the Parliament at Edinburgh on 13 June 1496 in the reign of James IV, and in the 19th century it remained in effect as one of the principal Statutes for the management of schools under Scots law.
This act is sometimes referred to as the Education Act of 1494, this is due to an error in some editions of the "Acts of Parliament" where it is listed as 1494 James IV, c. 54.