First schools for general education in Subotica were formed in the 18th century, when the first education bills were passed. Maria Theresa issued the first Racio Educationis (Education bill), which introduced compulsory schooling for children aged between 7 – 10. The second half of the 18th century brought with it the founding of vocational schools. The first Technical school in the world was founded in Paris, in 1794.
A group of engineers and technicians started the initiative for founding Technical High School in Subotica, in April, 1945. By the decision of the Presidency of the National Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Voivodina, Technical School in Subotica was founded on June 8, 1945. During the summer, the principals and the teachers were appointed, and the location for the school building was decided, 38 Wilson Street, which is today’s 38 Maksim Gorki Street.
It has been decided that the schooling of the first generation will last two years. The classes were held from 5 pm to 9 pm, and the teachers were members of the Engineers and Technicians Club, after their working hours, without financial compensation. On Sunday, November 4, 1945, at 3 pm, the classes for 256 students begin, in four educational fields: construction, geodesy, mechanical engineering and electrical engineering. Four classes in Serbian-Croatian and three classes in Hungarian teaching language were formed. Due to the shortage of teaching staff, several of the best technicians from the first generation of the graduate students, who have just completed their education, took up the post of teachers.
In the following years, the School has expanded, new educational profiles were added, the number of students encreased.
Based on the decision of the National Board of Subotica, on September, 1961, new Technical School with mechanical engineering and electrical engineering departments is formed.
For a while, the Technical School was housed in two buildings: at what used to be 53 Wilson Street (today’s 53 Maksim Gorki Street) and at 8 – 10 Matije Gupca Street, better known under the name “Little Mesc”.
Since 2010, the School bears the name of Ivan Sarić, the Yugoslav pioneer of aviation from Subotica.
