A dél-dunántúli aprófalvak és szórványok település- és társadalomtörténete - Zalai Gyűjtemény 27. (Zalaegerszeg, 1987)

D-szekció - Kotnyek István: Településszerkezet és alsófokú iskolahálózat Zala megyében

ISTVÁN KOTNYEK: SETTLEMENT STRUCTURE AND NETWORK OF PRIMARY SCHOOLS * IN ZALA COUNTY 1770—1980) (Summary) Prevailing socio-economic conditions are always determinative when defining the main objectives of schooling and education. The first main objective in the area of primary education — as formulated by the first Ratio Educationis (1777) on a national level — was to establish in every settlement a primary school (instructing in the moth er-tongue). This objective was reinforced, refined and actualized by the Statute XXXVIII in 1868. The Satute also formulates a further objective — that of compulsory education. With the nationalization of schools in 1948 a new situation emerged, affecting in the main the maintenance of schools. Under the 1971 Council Act the councils were reappointed to establish and to maintain the institutions satisfying the basic educational needs of the population. A settlement structure composed of small villages is one of the main characteristic traits of Zala County. A further feature to be noted is the fact that in this county there emerged no towns the importance and influence on culture of which was similar to those in Transsylvania or Upper Northern Hungary. The average population in 1784 was 363, in 1870 512 and 776 in 1970. The number of population further changed during the demographic redistribution in the seventies: between 1970 and 1979 there occured an average decrease of 10,2% (in 23 settlements this rate reached resp. surpassed 30%). The development of the specific schoolimage of the county took a similar turn: already at the beginning of the 18

th century a disadvantage was apparent; as a consequence of huge efforts this handicap was diminished between 1868 and 1900, but even so the county could not catch up with the best before the mid 1970s. In the 1970s strategies generally taking into account the geographic traits of the county were developed and this brought about a significant progress in the primary education.