OF COMPULSORY SCHOOL
ATTENDANCE IN OUR LANDS - 1774
COMMEMORATIVE POSTAGE STAMP
In 1774 the empress Maria Teresa introduced the compulsory school attendance in the Czech lands for children aged 6 to 12 in an attempt to improve significantly the general level of literacy of the population. The General School Rules, officially published on 6.12.1774, regulated among others also the school network. The parish or trivial schools were set up in communities with a parish church; the main subjects were reading, writing and arithmetics. The main schools, teaching also practical vocational skills, were set up in regional towns. The normal schools, set up only in the major towns, offered an even broader curriculum and the primary preparation of teachers; they were also called the "model" schools. The compulsory school attendance in the Czech lands was introduced with a considerable time advance in comparison with most of the other European countries. At that time it was quite an extraordinary official act.
