The System of Public Education in Baku Governorate in the Period between the Second Half of the 19^th Century and the Early 20^th Century. Part 2

This work analyzes the system of public education in Baku Governorate in the period between the second half of the 19^th century and the early 20^th century. This part of the work examines the timeframe 1900-1917. The key sources used in putting this work together are the annual Reports on Educational Institutions in the Caucasus Educational District, which provide data on the region’s schools under the purview of the Ministry of Public Education, and a set of related documents from the Russian State Historical Archive (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Wide use was made of the statistical method. The authors researched the reports for statistical data on the following: the types of the region’s educational institutions, the number of schools in the region, the region’s library holdings, and the region’s student body (information related to student demographics, including ethnicity, religion, social estate, and gender). The use of the statistical method helped identify some of the key distinctive characteristics of the development of the system of public education in Baku Governorate in the period 1900-1917. The authors’ conclusion is that the system of public education in Baku Governorate had markedly distinct characteristics. A large segment of the region's population was Muslims. Most members of this community preferred their children only to receive an ecclesiastical education, with it being discouraged that school be attended by girls. With the Baku Directorate for Public Schools tasked with the job of altering the community’s attitude toward secular education, the efforts did overall bring some fruition by 1914. More specifically, starting in 1900, the total number of educational institutions in the region rose 3.2 times, and its student body increased 3 times. The numbers of Orthodox Christian students and Muslim students in its primary schools virtually evened up - a testimony to most Muslim parents in the area coming to realize the importance of mainstream education for their children. However, there was a holdover that strongly persisted - it being discouraged that girls attend school.