The Development of the Sohooling System in Dalmatia in the Renaisance Period

Abstract

The development of the Dalmatian schooling system up to the renaisance (preporod) period was slow, especially during Metternich’s and Bach’s apsolutism and with a little improvement during the Illyrian period and in the year 1848. Language used in primary and secondary schools was Italian with Croatian being used in rural schools. First teachers in urban and rural schools were mostly priests and in the secondary schools, because of the lack of adequate teachers, we could find foreign instructors of Italian and German origin. All schools were supervised by the church authorities. Dalmatian students were mostly educated at the Universities in the western part of the Hapsburg’s monarchy since there were no universities in Dalmatia but only short-term law school which, during the neoapsolutism, had to develop into the Law academy in Zadar but this was never realized since the Austrian authorities did not care. With fall of the neoapsolutism and with the introduction of the constitutional life there came a renaisance which was reflected in the development of the schooling system especially in the sixties and the seventies. There was a significant democratization going on which was seen in the fact that new schools were opened, especially after the victory of the »populist« party in the election for the Dalmatian parliament. The number of pupils increased, there was the abolition of Italo-Croatian schools and gradual introduction of Croatian as the language of instruction. This was the time when less influence was given to the church. There was a new legal system and new organization in the schools where primary schooling increased to six years and there were better programs, too. Apart from three secondary schools in Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik there was the first Teacher’s academy in Zadar which contributed greatly to the increase of the teaching stuff in Dalmatia. Dalmatian students still went to the Austrian universities but with the opening of Zagreb University some graduated there, too. Young nationally awakened teachers and professors contributed to the modern educational system, political and national integration which was easily visible after the victory of the »populists« over the »autonomists« at the election for the Dalmatian parliament in 1870.