The Education Department was created in 1893 and a Minister of Education was appointed. The education of children in schools that received government grants had previously been the responsibility of the General Board of Education (1847-1871) and then the Central Board of Education (1871-1893). In 1899 the Public Education Act made it compulsory for all children aged between six and fourteen years to attend school, which included all children in out of home care. By 1910, there were 14 of these institutions giving primary education. The Education Act 1928 further modernized the education system and gave greater powers to the Director-General of Education. Children who were in out of home care in WA, even those who attended local primary schools as institutional schooling was phased out, were all influenced in some way by the operations of the Education Department. Education Department records provide valuable information about activities and children in schools across the years.