The Public Education System in Voronezh Governorate in the Period 1703–1917. Part 1

The article discusses the system of public education on the territory of the Voronezh province in 1703−1917 years. In this part of the article, the attempt is made to restore the picture of the activity of the public education system in the period of 1861–1900, as well as to evaluate its effectiveness. There were used as materials the statistical data from the Memorial books of the Voronezh province, extracts from the report of the minister of education, as well as the Memorial books of some educational institutions, for example, the Voronezh men's gymnasium. In conclusion, the authors state that the public education system on the territory of the Voronezh province in the period of 1861−1900 achieved the significant success. On the territory of the province there was a whole network of secondary, lower and primary educational institutions. In the period from 1862 to 1900 on the territory of the Voronezh province, the number of children studying has increased 4 times, taking into account the natural population growth. In absolute figures, this value was even higher and increased by more than 10 times from 9938 students in 1862 to 102902 students in 1900. At the end of the 19th century, the importance of primary education in the province was given to the primary schools of the spiritual department, which made up the majority of all public schools. However, despite the success of public education, by 1900 more than 75 % of school-age children still remained outside the school.