[HPFGU-OTChatter] Wizarding Education (number of students at Hogwarts followed by long digression)

[Shaun Hately]

On 17 Jul 2004 at 20:24, Catlady (Rita Prince Winston) wrote:

> I believe that EVERY child in Britain and Ireland with ANY wizarding
> power is invited to attend a school of magic. (There may be other
> countries in which Muggle-born students are not invited, no matter how
> powerful.) If all the students go to Hogwarts as JKR said, then
> Hogwarts has 1000 students as JKR said, that would be all the
> wizarding children, based on many previous threads about the size of
> wizarding population.

Ok, but why do you believe this?

What evidence do you have for believing it?

Universal (or near universal access) to a full secondary education 
is a *very* new phenomena in Britain. Students only became entitled 
to a partial free secondary education in the 1940s. As late as 
1960, less than 15% of students were receiving a full secondary 
education.

Wizarding Britain seems very close to historical Britain on social 
issues. It would seem to me rather odd to assume that Wizarding 
Britain has universal secondary education, when it's only very 
recent that Muggle Britain got it.

You can believe what you like, of course - but can you provide any 
evidence for your beliefs to convince other people they are valid.
 
> I believe that Hogwarts has several campus, the Castle that we see in
> canon is the main campus, has approx 280 students as shown in canon,
> and the children of less aptitude (and/or less family connections) are
> sent to other campus. Some listees believe that Hogwarts has only one
> campus, 280 students as depicted, and is the only School of Witchcraft
> and Wizardry, but all the lesser students are sent to a School of
> Magic instead. 

OK, Rita - can you name secondary schools in Britain that use a 
model of having several campuses in the way you describe for 
Hogwarts. We have, as far as I know, absolutely no evidence in 
canon for such a scenario (I could be wrong on that - and if I am, 
please point out the evidence), can you provide any evidence that 
there are real world scenarios in Britain where this applies.

> Either of those ideas would go along with Neville's statement that his
> family, even after they were reassured that he wasn't a Squib, doubted
> that he was magic enough to get in 'here': that is, to Hogwarts Main
> Campus rather than another campus, or to School of Witchcraft and
> Wizardry rather than to School of Magic.

Yes, they might - if we have any reason to suppose such other 
schools exist. I can't see any.

Deleting the rest, because it all seems plausible as a possible 
model. Which is fine. I'd just like to see some evidence from 
somewhere to suggest that this actually happens.

I confess to being just slightly annoyed with HPFGU at the moment - 
I sent a very large post, which I put a lot of research into, to 
the main list last week, and received virtually no comments about 
it at all. No reason I should I suppose... it's just very 
disappointing - especially when I see that far less detailed posts 
on the same types of issues spark a lot of discussion.

Maybe I should have posted it here (-8.



Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
thing in common. They don't alter their views to fit the 
facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
uncomfortable if you happen to be one of the facts that 
need altering." The Doctor - Doctor Who: The Face of Evil
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