Glasgow greatly expanded in the decades before the First World War, adding the burghs of Govanhill, Pollokhields Hillhead and Maryhill in 1891 and Govan, Partick and Pollokshaws in 1912 – taking the population from around 500,000 in 1891 to more than a million in 1921.
At the this time, education was still administered by school boards, organised on the same boundaries as parishes. Because this rapid expansion took no account of the old parish boundaries the school system in Glasgow was being administered by five different school boards.
The reach of Govan Parish School Board across the Clyde and into the West End can still be seen on a number of school buildings in the area such as Dowanhill Primary School and Church Street Public School.where the name of the school board is a permanent part of the stonework.
The 1918 Education Act resolved this anomalous boundary issue (a matter not confined solely to Glasgow)
Throughout the country almost 1000 school boards were disbanded to be replaced by 20 education authorities. The Act also made Glasgow’s Catholic schools the responsibility of the Education Authority – Glasgow became the largest authority in Britain.
In 1929 Glasgow Education Authority was taken over by the City Corporation to become Glasgow Corporation Education Department (GCED).