Writing and Printing

Clandestine Lithuanian schools

The clandestine Lithuanian schools (Lithuanian: slaptoji mokykla or daraktorinė mokykla) were illegal primary schools organized primarily in the Kovno Governorate, and to the lesser extent in Vilna and Suwałki Governorates, of the Russian Empire during the Lithuanian press ban (1864–1904). They were taught by teachers known as daraktorius. It was a form of resistance to the Russification policies enacted after the failed January Uprising of 1863 against the Russian Empire. All private schools in the Vilna Educational District were outlawed in December 1862. The intent was to replace them with government-sponsored primary schools that would teach in Russian and would promote the Eastern Orthodox Church thus facilitating Russification. Lithuanians, encouraged by the Catholic clergy, boycotted such schools and organized their own clandestine schools that taught basic literacy skills in Lithuanian. Such schools were illegal and persecuted by the Tsarist police. Based on available data, from 1872 to 1906, the Tsarist police discovered 349 clandestine schools in the Kovno Governorate and 332 schools in the Vilna Governorate. Based on the "temporary rules" of April 1892, school teachers and hosts faced the maximum punishment of 300 rubles or 3 months in prison. Despite prosecution, clandestine schools were wide spread which is reflected in relatively high literacy rates in the area. In the context of the Russian Revolution of 1905, private schools were allowed again on 1 May 1905, however clandestine schools are known to have continued until World War I.

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See also

• ▸Khowar
• ▸Bhutanese art
• ▸Chinese Australian Herald

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.