Until the abolition of the provinces in 1876, education was the responsibility of Provincial Councils. The 1877 Act provided for a national system of free, compulsory, and secular education for all girls and boys from 7-13, and for both women and men to stand and vote for school committees. It established the principle of equal provision of educational opportunities for girls and boys, and later extensions to the years of compulsory schooling continued to apply to both, as did the core subjects of the curriculum.