The origins of state education

The creation of the Ordinance was strongly influenced by Enlightenment thought, which emphasised the role of reason and the advancement of educational standards in strengthening the efficiency and prosperity of the state, improving the moral life, and increasing the general happiness of the population. The main purpose of the school reform was to expand literacy and consolidate the written culture. The promulgation of the Ordinance influenced the printing of school textbooks and other books in the regional (vernacular) languages, thus also contributing to the development of the expressiveness of the Slovene language.

The primary school act nominally introduced general school obligation for all children between the ages of six and twelve, regardless of gender, social status, or religion. Primary schools were divided into three types. At the top of the hierarchy was the so-called normal school, which acted as a model for other schools. Normal schools were located in the provincial capitals, had the most extensive curriculum, and also trained future teachers. The second type were the main schools, i.e., city schools with several classes. The third, and hierarchically lowest, type was the trivial school, located in small towns and villages, where only reading, writing, arithmetic, and Catholic religious instruction were taught.

In the Austrian Empire, instruction was supposed to be in German; however, in rural schools in areas with a majority Slovenian-speaking population, the language of instruction was Slovenian, and in towns, primary education was either in Slovenian or bilingual. Compulsory education was in fact a recommendation. It was not practiced with the same vigour in all parts of the empire, nor were there any penalties for parents who failed to send their children to school. As education was adapted to the largely peasant population and to seasonal work, school authorities allowed children to attend school when they had the time. This was particularly true during the winter. The School Ordinance failed to ensure funding arrangements for teachers’ salaries, textbooks, and the construction and maintenance of school buildings. This was also one of the reasons that, in the present-day Slovenia, the process of promoting literacy among the population lasted until the end of the nineteenth century.

The General School Ordinance did not remain in force for long. In 1806, Emperor Franz II (reign: 1792–1806) adopted the “Political Constitution of the German Schools” (Germ. Politische Verfassung der deutschen Schulen). The new decree renounced the state’s authority over education and entrusted it once again to the Catholic Church, which was now charged with developing the emerging network of schools.

In spite of its short duration and the difficulties it encountered in its implementation, the Theresian-Josephine school reform contributed in the long term to the consolidation of certain principles that are still valid in social life today: education as a state concern, the awareness of making basic knowledge available to all children, the importance of group teaching, and the consideration of the moral formation of pupils. Above all, it established an influential public space in which the state became permanently present among all segments of the population.