The Parochial School Sector in the Russian Empire (1866–1886): The Shift from the Purview of the Zemstvos to That of the Holy Synod

This study explores the movement of the parochial school sector in the Russian Empire from the purview of the zemstvos to that of the Holy Synod. Its chronological scope is from 1866 to 1886. The study’s findings revealed that 1884 was a watershed year for the country’s parochial school sector, as that is when the Russian Emperor signed into law the so-called Rules on Parochial Schools. This event brought to an end the 18-year period of parochial schools being under the purview of the zemstvos in the Russian Empire, during which this sector had descended into a state of crisis – a 4-times drop in the number of parochial schools in the country relative to 18 years earlier. However, different dioceses in the Russian Empire fared differently during that period. Specifically, the Kiev Diocese lost 25 % of its schools in a 16-year period (from 1,349 schools in 1866 to 1,064 schools in 1882), but the figure was almost restored in the subsequent 5 years (1,275 schools). There was a similar situation in some other Ukrainian dioceses (e.g., the Podolia Diocese). The experience of the Kiev Diocese indicates that the local clergy and zemstvos were able to reach a compromise in the area of public education. A completely opposite example is the case of the Lithuanian Diocese, where the number of parochial schools dropped more than 50 times in the same 16-year period (from 430 to 8) – but then increased nearly 100 times in the subsequent 5 years (from 8 to 792). Thus, the period 1866–1886 was peculiar geographically – the greatest success in preserving the school potential in 1866–1882 was achieved by Ukrainian dioceses, whilst the most dynamic rehabilitation of the parochial school sector in 1882–1886 was exhibited by Baltic and Belarusian dioceses