This year Rokiškis celebrates its 525th birthday!
The name of Rokiškis was first mentioned on 21 September 1499. It was first mentioned on the 14th of September in a privilege granted by Grand Duke Alexander Jogailaitis of Lithuania to George Astikaitis for crossing the forest near the Livonian border.
On this occasion, the Museum of the Rokiškis Region initiated a campaign inviting Lithuanian museums to search their collections for exhibits related to Rokiškis.
The Lithuanian Museum of Education also joined this initiative by sharing two photographs.
Teacher training courses began in 1919, when the Statutes of the Primary School Teacher Training Course were approved in September. The statutes were amended in 1921, when the Ministry of Education published the rules for teacher training courses. The teacher training courses were taught by famous pedagogues of that time – M. Biržiška, A. Busilas, J. Norkus, A. Purėnas, V. Ruzgas. Different teacher training courses were organised to improve the quality of teaching of individual subjects, and the pedagogical courses for primary school teachers made a significant contribution to the improvement of teachers’ qualifications in the fields of biology, mathematics, woodworking, cardboard-making and other areas. Courses were held in different cities of Lithuania – Kaunas, Šiauliai, Marijampolė, Telšiai, and in 1927 in Rokiškis. The biology courses organised in Rokiškis in 1927 were led by Vincas Ruzgas, who was also the founder and long-time director of the Pedagogical Museum (now the Lithuanian Education Museum).
Information compiled by Silvija Jankauskaitė, curator of the collection of the Lithuanian Education Museum
