PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS IN THE PROVINCE OF SHKODRA (1867-1912)

Abstract

Mass education became widespread in the 19th century when nation states became evident. The initiatives put forward by the Ottoman State following the edict of Tanzimat have similar features. Schools were important in the system designed by the Ottoman Empire in order to create citizenship consciousness. However, this was not possible because each sect received education in its own tongue in the first level education. Moreover, parochial schools that provide more conscious and comprehensive education was opened before the public schools became widespread. The number and qualifications of these schools have increased in process of time. In addition, the quality of education of both non-muslims and schools opened by foreign states was ahead of official schools. This situation in the province of Shkodra forced the administrators to spread the official schools. Efforts were also made to improve qualifications such as the number of schools opened to compete with parochial schools. However, the official school with the required number and quality could not be established. In addition, the Ottoman State failed to supervise private schools operating within its borders. The schools that continued their activities without a license could not be closed even though they were detected.  The failure to inspect parochial schools also brought the problem of school classification. As a matter of fact, even in official sources, non-Muslim schools are often cited as foreign schools. This made it difficult to identify and inspect parochial schools in Shkodra. In this study, the problems experienced in the inspection processes were addressed with the determination of parochial schools in Shkodra.

Keywords: Albania, Foreign Schools, Non-Muslim Schools, Supervision.