THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM IN THE VELIKA KLADUSA REGION FROM 1918 TO 1941

Abstract

In terms of development of the educational system network, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was among the most developed countries in Europe. The conditions were most difficult in those regions in the Kingdom that stayed longest under the Turkish rule. The basis for educational regulations was found in those of the Kingdom of Serbia. From an early on, children were indoctrinated about the one “three-name” nation. The educational system was geared toward nationalizing Muslims into Serbs. The proportion between the number of schools and the size of population was the smallest in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where territorial diffusion of schools was also unbalanced. The number of elementary schools in the Velika Kladusa region grew slowly. This region had the largest illiteracy rate in the Kingdom. Despite that, the people of this region demonstrated their desire for learning so records can be found of villagers themselves paying the teachers’ salaries and donating land and material for construction of schools. In Velika Kladusa itself the four-year elementary school opened just before the World War II. The standard of living and the number of schools grew somewhat faster during the mid-1940s, mostly due to Nurija Pozderac, an agile national deputy.