Viekšnių miestelio mokyklos iki 1918 m.

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Parapinė mokykla; Pradinė mokykla; Viekšniai, mokykla, istorija; Viekšnių mokyklos; Parochial school; Primary school; Viekšniai schools; Viekšniai, school, history.

ENIn the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania parish deans were in charge of primary education. Sometimes the documents of church endowment contained a requirement to establish parochial schools. The act of endowment of the Viekšniai church of 1636 does not include any obligation tor its deans to maintain a teacher. However, the decisions of the synod of the Samogitian diocese of 1636 include a requirement to maintain a teacher at each parochial church. It is unknown of the deans of Viekšniai fulfilled this requirement. There are no data about the existence of a parochial school in Viekšniai until the middle of the 18th century. It is indicated in a later report that a parochial school operated in Viekšniai from 1764-1779 Juozapas Čekevičius worked as a teacher. in the early 19th century the parochial school operated almost every year. In 1819 and later children were taught to read and write Polish, lead Lithuanian, arithmetic, and Catechism. The teacher received a salary from the pupils' parents. After the uprising of 1831 Russian began to be taught. In 1848 the school was closed down by authorities, restored in 1855, and definitively liquidated in 1863.In 1845 a school of the Ministry of State Property was founded; in 1865 it became a state primary school maintained by the rural district. Only Russian Orthodox believers were entitled to Work as teachers there. The children of noble families often attended illegal private schools, where attention was focused on teaching Polish. After 1905 Lithuanian Catholics were allowed to work as teachers in the schools of the Kaunas governorate, and Lithuanian lessons could be introduced. In 1891-1914 a girls' school operated at the Russian Orthodox church, but Catholic children did not attend it. Before 1912 three more state primary schools were opened in Viekšniai. Sunday courses for adults took place at the ist primary school from 1909. In 1911 a four-year public school was founded in Viekšniai. In the period of German rule, in 1915-18, only one primary school operated in Viekšniai.