Стака Скендерова и њен значај за почетке формалног васпитања и образовања женске омладине
Staka Skenderova and her significance for the beginnings of formal upbringing and education of female youth

Summary/Abstract: Staka Skenderova was among the first initiators of schooling and education for young women and, as such, holds a significant place in the history of education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially Serbian education. At that time (19th century), educating girls and young women was seen as entirely unnecessary, which she did not accept, and she resolutely embarked on a mission to open secondary schools and educate young women. We are aware that even today, women find it difficult to achieve equality with men in every segment of society, and how it was a century and a half ago, when very few dared to embark on such an uncertain mission, we try to uncover through such studies, which would also be the focus of our research. The aim of the work is to preserve the memory of the existence, activities, and pedagogical work of significant personalities and phenomena, and their contribution in the field of educational work. In line with the set research problem, we used the method of theoretical analysis and synthesis and the historical method based on the analysis of available, relevant literature. We believe that the results of the study have broader social and pedagogical implications because the ideas about the schooling of the female population at that time lead to today’s formal domestic and international normative-legal standards guaranteeing the right to education without any discrimination on any basis, including gender. In the mid-19th century, in a society structured on typically patriarchal principles, Staka Skenderova lived by what are now considered the values of modern society – she fought for women’s equality in formal (school) education and upbringing, achieved cooperation and communication while respecting her own identity and the identity of others, showed social empathy, and sought to reduce the gap between the rich and the poor. From this temporal distance of a century and a half, we can rightly say that she was a contemporary of her time, laying the foundations for formal (school) education and upbringing of girls in Bosnia and Herzegovina, thus equating their rights with those of the opposite sex. The importance of such studies lies in preserving the memory and the need to prevent the existence, activities, and work of significant personalities and phenomena from being forgotten, and their contribution to the field of educational work. The issue of schooling female children and enlightening women, as the main idea pursued by Staka Skenderova in the mid-19th century, resulted in significant advances by the early 20th century in terms of women’s involvement in education and various segments of social and humanitarian work. Based on the analysis, we can conclude that Staka Skenderova, with her school, is one of the significant figures in the educational and cultural history of Sarajevo and the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She was one of the few women who, in the mid-19th century, dared to enter the public sphere, which was inaccessible to women. She made an important undertaking and her work is still relevant today and attention should be paid to it, primarily because in the conditions when women’s human rights in different cultures mean different emancipation plans, the concept she offered, which was acceptable to different ethnic and religious groups of society in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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