The System of Public Education in Astrakhan Governorate in the Second Half of the 19th and Early 20th Centuries. Part 3

This set of articles relies on reference and memorandum books from the period 1873-1917 to explore the development of the system of public education in Astrakhan Governorate. This is the third piece in the set. It addresses the period 1895-1907, which covers the entire reign of Emperor Nicholas II. The principal source used in this work is the Memorandum Books for Astrakhan Governorate spanning 1895-1907. Methodologically, use was made of sets of historical (historical-systematic, historical-comparative, historical-typological, historical-genetic, and historical-statistical) and general (synthetic analysis, content analysis, and systems analysis) research methods. The study’s findings revealed that between 1895 and 1907 the system of public education in Astrakhan Governorate witnessed brisk development, with the number of secondary and lower educational institutions in the region increasing 2 times and that of primary schools there growing 3.3 times. The largest growth was registered in 1898-1903, which can be attributed to demographic growth. The number of lower educational institutions in the region rose evenly year on year, whereas its secondary and primary schools posted a sharp quantitative increase in certain years. Despite the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 and the Revolution of 1905-1907, the system of public education in Astrakhan Governorate continued its brisk development. In fact, Astrakhan Governorate even outperformed some of the country’s other regions in this respect.