of great changes in the school's work. Conditioning the state subventions the then Hungarian authorities made an attempt to implement the assimilation policy with respect to the school. In the school year of 1870/71 the Hungarian Assembly approved the funds of 8000 forint to help the school, provided that the Ministry of Education had the right to choose the curriculum and the teachers. The Patronage refused this subsidy claiming that it was in contradiction with the School Foundation Act. The school was successfully run during this period by Vasa Pušibrk (who was the school's principal from 1871 till 1910). After the Basic Secondary Education Act was implemented in 1883, even greater challenges ensued regarding the preservation of the school's inner autonomy. Since then the Patronage was under direct supervision of the representatives of the Hungarian government, who carried out inspection twice a year and observed the advanced bankruptcy exam. According to the Secondary Education Act from 1883 the school management was obliged to considerably adjust the work and organization to the state schools, which required even higher subsidies. Apart from the school's fund, the school lived off school's activities and endowments and donations of many of national benefactors. With respect to this, the following should be mentioned: the endowment of Atanasije Gereski, the so-called Atanaseum, Dr. Nikola Krstić from Belgrade, Gedeon Dunđerski, the couple Pajević from Novi Sad, Teodor and Persida Mandić, Luka Milanović, Marija Petrović, Vasa Jovanović Čiča, the endowment of Đorđe Servijski and many others. During the 1870s the school's premises were no longer sufficient for the school's needs. The Board for Collecting Donations for the extension of the school's premises started with the work in 1897. During this activity, Baron Miloš Bajić (the grandson of Miloš Obrenović) donated 200 000 krones for the construction. The new building was constructed in the Renaissance style where the old one had stood according to the design by Vladimir Nikolić. The construction started on September 22, 1899 and finished on July 1, 1900. According to the 1899/1900 curriculum, the compulsory subjects were: Religious Sciences, Latin, Greek, Hungarian, German, Serbian, Geography, History, Natural Sciences, Physics, Mathematics, Geometrical Drawing, Philosophy and Calligraphy, while the optional subjects included: French, Shorthand, Instrument Playing (the violin, piano, tambourine, fencing, Octoechos and Religious Science for the Roman Catholics, Protestants and Jews). The activity of the students was particularly evident in starting numerous student newspapers. In the 19th