Mesonjetorja or the Albanian School was the first secular school in the Albanian language in Ottoman period.It was opened in Korce during the late Ottoman period. The school building serves as a museum and is located on the north side of Bulevardi Shën Gjergji .
The opening of the school was a result of the Albanian National Mpvement which aimed to create an independent Albania and to secure denied rights to Albanian people within the Ottoman Empire. Among others Mesonjetorja was an important center of cultural and patriotic education. The school’s importance was raised because until then giving lessons in the Albanian language was done in private and secret due to Ottoman rule. The school opened its doors on 7 March 1887 and since then the day is celebrated by Albanians as the “Day of Teachers”.In 1885, Naim Frasheri, a government civil servant in the education ministry, Sami Frasheri and along with other influential Albanians involved in the Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings managed to get permission from the sultan for the opening of a private Albanian boys elementary school in Korce.Financial support for the school came from a diaspora organisation Drita, an Albanian society based in Bucharest, while Albanians from Istanbul got Pandeli Sotiri to become its first school director. Both the Society for Albanian Writings and Drita had agreed in past times not to antagonize town notables who were under Greek cultural influence by founding Albanian schools. As such Drita sent one of its members Thimi Marko, a town native on a mission to discuss the matter and he met with the Orthodox Metropolitan and his council in Korçë.The Costandinople Patriachate refused have Albanian taught within existing Greek schools belonging to the Korçë Orthodox community. Pandeli Sotiri was sent to Korçë and opened the school on 7 March 1887.Due to a lack of education material Sami, his brother Naim Frasheri and several other Albanians wrote textbooks in the Albanian language for the school.During 1887, Pandeli Sotiri had to leave Korçë and administration of the school passed to Petro Nini Luarasi, a revolutionary and Thanas Sina. The Ottoman authorities gave permission only for Christian children to be educated in Albanian, but the Albanians did not follow this restriction and allowed Muslim children to attend.In the first few years, the school overall had some two hundred enrolled students of Muslim and Christian faiths.By 1888, the elementary school had 100 Christian and 60 Muslim students.