Richard Heales, a prominent Victorian colonial politician and the 4th Premier of Victoria, advocated for significant educational reform by promoting a unified secular education system. Heales was opposed to the state funding of religious schools, a position that was in contrast to both Anglicans and Catholics at the time who favored state-funded religious education. In 1862, he introduced a bill to create a single Education Board aimed at rationalizing the education system in Victoria.
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