The elementary school in Preko (1842 - 1918)

Abstract

The author describes how the school was founded, the activities of its teachers and the influence the school had on life in Preko. The first teachers in Preko were the Franciscans from Školjić. The period between 1797 and 1842 (when the Preko school was founded) witnessed the rise and fall of a number of state powers and authorities all of whom sought to activate schools in the villages of the Zadar region. The French authorities, during their short - lived rule, failed to fulfill their plan of inaugurating elementary education so that the school in Preko, althought a part of the 1810 plan, did not come to life. Tile Austrians were more successful although with a slower tempo than anticipated. From 1880 there is a one - grade beginners school for boys and one for girls in Preko. From 1884 these two schools are united into a three - grade mixed 101 Robert Bacalja the enrolment into the school was at one point low. Throughout this period, the school had a lot of problems with space. The school was mostly located in the rooms of private homes which were adapted from the purpose. By the 70-ies and 80-ies of the last century, the school in Preko was giving results. There were the years when the pupils of the first generation (1842/43) appear as members of the local school board while in 1894 one of die first generation pupils became the first president of the Croatian reading room in Preko. At tire beginning of the twentieth century, most of the pupils tended to go on and enrol into higher education