The provision of educational facilities in the earliest years of the New Zealand colony was largely the concern of the churches and private secular organisations which came to be assisted by limited grants from State funds. By the Constitution Act of 1852, New Zealand was redivided into provinces which, through their own Provincial Councils, became responsible for a number of subjects, including education. From the outset, because of limited funds at their disposal, many of these councils favoured assistance to denominational schools rather than the establishment of public schools. By 1871, however, the beginnings of a public school system had been established under education boards in the major provinces.