Az árkosi unitárius felekezeti oktatás története
History of Denominational Education in the Unitarian Parish of Árkos

Summary/Abstract: Religious education in Árkos (Arcuș) has a centuries-old tradition and historical significance. This article traces the history of the school through the centuries. In the early 1600s, the Árkos Unitarian Church was one of the strongest Unitarian communities in the area. The first documented source about Árkos’ denominational school is in the bishop’s minutes from his 1693 visitation, which mentions the salary of the schoolmaster of Árkos, but does not name him. The records of the bishop’s 6th May 1732 visitation includes János Uzoni (?–?) as the schoolmaster. In the 18th century, the parish was required to educate both boys and girls. The minutes of the bishop’s 1789 visitation are the first to describe in detail the schoolmaster’s property. There were 35 boys in school at that time. At the beginning of the 19th century, a girls’ classroom was built on the schoolmaster’s plot. Over the centuries, the number of pupils attending school fluctuated, as not all the school-aged children attended school. In 1817, the first Church curriculum for all its village schools was established, so it is known what subjects were taught in the schools. During the 19th century, pupils of the other denominations began to attend the Unitarian school. After the Compromise of 1867, Romanian Law 38 of 1868 dictated a radical reform of the education system. In the early 1870s, the Reformed and Unitarian schools were converted into public/state schools. The new school building had three classrooms and three teachers. Some of the annual reports of the Árkos parish committee on religious education from the early 20th century have survived. After the 1920 Trianon Treaty, the parish re-established the denominational school, but was obstructed in every conceivable way by the Romanian state. The parish built a new school in 1925. The state attacked not only the institution, but also the students: according to the state, children whose names were Romanian could not be enrolled in the denominational school. Between the two world wars the school ran relatively smoothly. After World War II, Árkos had one state school and one denominational school with 3 teachers in each school. (The parish also owned the state school building.) In 1948, the Romanian state took over the church school buildings, and denominational education was definitively abolished, not only in Árkos, but also in the whole country.

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