Primary School Inspector. Two primary schools. Secondary school (co-educational). Technical college (co-educational). In 1982, there were a total of 3,164 pupils, broken down as follows: Primary: 2,294. Lower secondary: 753. Upper secondary: 117. On 12 October 1990, Jacques Delors, then President of the European Commission, whose wife is from Soule, inaugurated the Lycée Polivalent du Pays de Soule.
In 1833, according to an inspection of primary schools in France, there was a boys’ school in Mauléon for its 1,150 inhabitants. His teacher received a lump sum from the town council for this and other duties. His school had acceptable furniture in the inspector’s opinion. [Ref.: ‘Bulletin du M. Basque’, 1964, no. 24, pp. 55, 59 and 72].
College of Saint Francis
In 1775, Jean de Bela, a native of Mauléon, died in Paris, bequeathing to his hometown an annual income of 10,477 livres intended to maintain two educational institutions, one for boys and the other for girls. The States of Zuberoa purchased a house and entrusted the education of the boys to the Barnabites of Lescar and that of the girls to the Sisters of Nevers. The revolutionary events that began in 1789 led the house to change hands and purpose several times. In 1854, it passed into the hands of the Contemplative Dominicans, who established a convent there. The new Mauléon School was formerly a Franciscan convent. Purchased in 1845 by Stanislas de Arthez, he donated it to the town to be used as an educational centre. Following Bonaparte’s coup d’état, it was once again run by religious orders, and in 1927 it became the property of the diocese (St Francis’ School), providing secondary education for boys on a boarding school basis under the supervision of the clergy.