"Sólin blessuð vermi skólabörnin" : barnafræðsla í Fljótunum í Skagafirði 1880-1946

Abstract

Þessi rannsókn byggir á athugunum mínum á barnafræðslu í Fljótum í Skagafirði 1880–1946. Litlar skrásettar heimildir er að hafa fram til 1894, en skýrslur Harboes og sýslu- og sóknarlýsingar gefa hugmyndir um almenningsfræðslu á nítjándu öld. Heimildir sem fengust með rannsókn á æviskrám og endurminningum benda til lítillar formlegrar fræðslu fram undir lok nítjándu aldar. Hins vegar virðast prestar hafa rækt eftirlitshlutverk sitt og staðið fyrir kennslu heima á prestsetrunum. Frá og með 1894 eru skýrslur sem tengjast styrkveitingum til farkennara mikilvæg heimild um fræðslu í byggðarlaginu. Úrvinnsla þessara gagna leiddi í ljós að eftir að styrkhæf farkennsla hófst í Fljótum var hún regluleg fram að setningu fræðslulaganna 1907. Opinbera barnafræðslu í Fljótum má að flestu leyti telja sambærilega því sem gerðist utan kaupstaða á landsvísu 1903–1904 og sambærilega við barnafræðslu í héruðum við Húnaflóa á sama tíma. Sama má segja um menntun og bakgrunn sveitakennara. Allir nema einn þeirra sem kenndu þar til fast skólahald komst á í Fljótahreppunum höfðu formlega menntun að baki, ýmist kennarapróf, gagnfræðapróf eða búfræðinám. Athygli vekur að aðeins þrjár konur voru í hópi þessara kennara. Um helmingur sveitakennaranna var lengi við kennslu og einn þeirra áratugum saman. Fast skólahald komst á í tveimur þinghúsum í Holtshreppi kringum 1930 en í Haganeshreppi var byggður heimavistarskóli í byrjun fimmta áratugarins. Átti sú ráðstöfum sér langan og stormasaman aðdraganda sem meðal annars einkenndist af pólitískum deilum og trúmálum. Deilan leystist svo farsællega þegar skóli var byggður í landi Barðs í Flókadal, í samstarfi Haganeshrepps og kvenfélagsins Vonar á Siglufirði. Árið 1973 gerðist Holtshreppur aðili að skólanum. Skólahald var á Sólgörðum allt þar til skólahald í byggðarlaginu lagðist af vorið 2018.

This thesis is based on my study on the history of children's education in Fljótin, Skagafjörður 1880–1946. Until around 1894 there are only few documented sources to be found on the subject, though Harboe's reports and descriptions from the county and parishes give a general idea about nineteenth-century public education. Sources, obtained by studying biographies and memoirs, indicate that until the end of the nineteenth century formal education was limited. On the other hand, priests seemed to have exercised their mentor role and provided education in their vicarages. Reports on scholarships for traveling teachers, from 1894 and onwards, were an important source of information on education in the local community. Processing of this data revealed that home schooling, that began in Fljótin and was provided by traveling teachers, was practiced on a regular basis until the enactment of the Education Act in 1907. Public children's elementary education in Fljótin can be considered comparable to what was practiced in the rural areas in 1903–1904 in general, as well as in the area around Húnaflói at the same period. The same can be said about the education and background of rural teachers. Until the establishment of a permanent school in Fljótahreppur, all teachers, except one, had formal education. The education consisted of a teacher's exam, a secondary school exam or an agricultural education. It is noteworthy that only three women were among these teachers. About half of the rural teachers were teaching for a long period of time and one of them for decades. Permanent schooling was established in two iv parliamentary buildings in Holtshreppur around 1930, and a boarding school was built in Haganeshreppur in the early 1950s. The arrangement had a long and stormy prelude, which was characterized by political division and religion, among other things. The dispute was then resolved successfully by building a school in the land of Barð in Flókadalur, in collaboration with Haganeshreppur and Von, the women's association in Siglufjörður. In 1973, Holtshreppur became a part of the cooperation. A school was operated in Sólgarðar until the spring of 2018, which was the last year of schooling in the area.