Imperatives for the development of primary education in the activities of the Zemstvo Liberal Party of Northern Ukraine (1870s)

Abstract

The publication examines the main imperatives of the development of primary education in the practical activities of the liberal party of northern Ukraine in the 1870s.

The author came to the conclusion that the field of public education was the object of systematic and constant attention from representatives of the opposition aristocratic front of northern Ukraine, in particular at the stage of the 1870s. Despite the long-standing negative attitude of the peasantry towards zemstvo educational institutions, which was directly related to the inertia of the illiteracy of the population of the communities, the great modesty of their financial capabilities and the lack of proper communication between the institutions of local self-government and the peasantry, as the main stratum of the state's society, nevertheless, thanks to the efforts of the members of the zemstvo liberal party, it was possible to build a fairly progressive system of popular education in the region, which, without any exaggeration, became one of the outstanding achievements of the practical activity of the zemstvo liberal movement in the north of Left-Bank Ukraine in the 60s-80s of the 19^th century.

The main imperatives of the activities of the liberal zemstvos were: protecting the existence of the special school fund of the Borzna district as a financial and economic tool for ensuring the proper functioning of the public education system; regular filling of the libraries of zemstvo primary schools with modern educational and methodological literature, by creating zemstvo book stores; providing educational units with preferential, often interest-free credit resources under the guarantees of executive bodies – zemstvo boards, to implement current needs and projects of educational institutions; initiating the creation of the institute of a school inspector in each district of the Chernihiv province, with the aim of systematic control over the activities of zemstvo schools, including – preventing manifestations of abuse of office and corruption; protecting the rights of zemstvo bodies in the field of management, supervision and monitoring of educational institutions; personal patronage of educational institutions by members of the zemstvo opposition in the guise of trustees and guardians; systematic concern for the constant increase in the financial well-being of zemstvo employees – teachers, by increasing salaries, bonuses, bonuses and allowances; consistent adherence to the principles of progressive taxation as an act of social justice in financially providing for the needs of the public education system of the region; a clear demarcation of the competence of zemstvo self-government institutions and central government institutions in providing primary public schools and secondary and higher education institutions; the requirement for annual official documentary reporting on the activities of educational institutions to the zemstvo self-government bodies.

In general, we can argue that the activities of the zemstvo liberals of the Northern Left Bank in the field of public education were an act of progressive asceticism, which was aimed at forming at least a minimally educated society in the Ukrainian lands of the Russian Empire and laying the foundations of civil society.