Within a few years a certain extension has been given to the schools carried on by the clergy, the teachers being permitted to teach through lettres d'obédience given by the bishops; these schools numbered 19,508 in 1890, with nearly 600,000 pupils.

In Caucasus in 1888 there were 19 lyceums, gymnasia, and Realschools; 5 normal schools, 16 high schools for girls, with a total of 10,056 pupils (6,036 boys, 4,020 girls); 31 town schools, 9 special schools, 5 schools for indigenes, with a total of 6,660 pupils; 104 private schools, with 3,813 pupils; 876 primary schools, with 51,529 pupils; 151 Armenian schools, with 11,129 pupils; 395 schools of varied character, with 18,335 pupils; 2,046 Musselman and Jewish schools, with 24,750 pupils. In Siberia there were 1,446 elementary schools, with 49,118 pupils. The statistics of schools in the capital, St. Petersburg, at date of May 30, 1890, were as follows :

The length of school year is not specified for the schools of elementary grade, but a general statement is made that the common schools are never closed, except for the summer holidays, i. e., from May 25 to August 20, on Sundays and other public holidays. It was also resolved at the congress for technical and industrial instruction, held in St. Petersburg in 1891, "that tuition shall go on during at least ten months in the year." This would naturally mean a continuance of all schools in which there is to be technical training during all but two months of the year. In the secondary schools, or gymnasia, the school term is from August 16, or thereabouts, to about the middle of June. The holidays include a fortnight at Christmastide, the same at Easter, sixteen church holidays, and Sundays.

The ages of pupils throughout the different grades of schools are not definitely stated, but the city schools are, generally speaking, for pupils between 7 and 12 years of age. The same limit of age is noticeable in the asylums; in the maternal schools children enter as early as 3 years of age. At 10 years boys are presumed to be prepared for the gymnasia, and from 10 to 11 years of age girls enter the institutes. In the military schools instruction commences with the tenth year. The gymnasial student is supposed to be prepared for entrance into the university at 18 years of age.

FINANCE.

INCOME.

The income for educational purposes is derived from governmental subsidies, provincial and communal funds, which are made up in part from proportionate taxes upon personal property, and from an income tax. In the communes the taxes are levied by the communal authorities according to estimates presented to the higher authorities. To this may be added a supplementary tax of 10 per cent to form a provincial school fund. The village schools only figure for a comparatively small amount in the governmental budget, as the different local authorities are presumed to raise a sufficient income for the proper maintenance of such schools. The communal societies of towns or villages establish schools without government subsidy. City or village societies which desire to establish peoples' schools engage themselves, either by municipal or communal decision, to guarantee the existence of such schools. Private individuals can also open schools if they will observe the conditions' upon which such schools are usually established, a simple declaration to the authorities being all that is at first requisite.

The funds for the secondary schools are contributed by the state to the amount of 52 per cent of the aggregate expenditure for the gymnasia, progymnasia, and technical schools, the remainder being made up by fees (about 30 per cent) and by grants from the zemstvos, the municipalities, etc. The Cossack schools, both for boys and girls, are

1 For supervision and programs of these schools see pp. 211, 227, and 230.

maintained by the separate voiskos. The school funds of the voiskos in 1888 were 2,720,123 rubles ($1,582,231). The church contributed the sum of 725,252 rubles ($419,195) in 1887 and 1,645,681 rubles ($951,203) in 1888.

The governmental authorities being desirous of attracting students to the university give at least $138,500 annually as scholarships, donations to needy students, and general aid where most needed. This amount is often increased to about $279,000 from other sources. The budget of the ministry of public instruction contributes about 3,500,000 rubles, or $1,953,000 annually for the universities. In order to develop the technical schools, especially that division of district and urban schools which tends to instruct in village industries, the Government added a fund of $64,818 to the budget for 1891, but a considerable portion of that sum was set aside for the industrial division of district schools.

EXPENDITURE.

The expenditures of the Government for education are not explicitly given for a late date; the actual ordinary expenditure included in the budget of the ministry of public instruction in 1891 was 22,935,781 rubles, or $12,798,165. The aggregate expenses of the zemstvos in 1887 was 44,131,775 rubles ($24,669,530), of which 17 per cent was spent for education, i. e., $4,193,810. The latest expenditures which can be given in detail, and which serve to show how the funds of the different ministries and the Holy Synod are expended for educational purposes, may be more clearly understood by the following presentation for the year 1885:

a These totals do not agree with the summarization of the items given above, but there is no means of knowing wherein the variance lies.

ED 91-14

It will be observed that the ministry of public instruction only expends about 4,500,000 rubles more for education than do all the other departments together for such purpose. Of the amount paid out for education the Government only accords to the village schools a subsidy of about 14 per cent of the whole amount. The state maintains only one school for 9.078 inhabitants in the provinces where there is no zemstvo, one for 46.555 inhabitants in those provinces which have a zemstvo, and one for 163.116 inhabitants in the Baltic provinces, so that it will easily be understood that the zemstvos, or provincial assemblies, have the principal maintenance of the public schools. The average expenditures of the zemstvos is 65.5 per cent. of the whole amount expended on the schools, but these expenditures increase from year to year. The governments where there is no zemstvo furnish about 69 per cent of the total funds for education.

SUPERVISION AND ADMINISTRATION.

STATE SUPERVISION.

The educational institutions of Russia are under both state and local control. The supreme control is vested in the Czar, who, by means of the information imparted to him by his cabinet' and other officials having schools under their charge, and by means of the functionaries who report to the minister of public instruction, is able to extend his knowledge to all branches of the school system throughout the Empire. The ministry of public instruction, which is the central authority for the greater proportion of schools is divided into three sections-administration, education, and learned societies. The second section, with which this account alone deals, is presided over by the minister or in case of his absence by an official who acts as his deputy. A scientific council acts as aid to the minister; its duties include the final adjustment of questions pertaining to elementary instruction, the giving of advice in regard to text-books, and the publishing of an annual list of books authorized by the minister. These books are of two kinds-manuals, employed ordinarily, and auxiliary works, which teachers may need from time to time. Connected with the ministry is a commission charged with the examination of candidates of both sexes who may be desirous of obtaining a diploma giving them the right to teach without having passed through the training schools, graduation from which gives such right. Since 1883 a special division for technical and industrial schools has been created in this ministry.

The twelve educational circuits into which the Empire is divided, i. e., St. Petersburg, Moscow, Dorpat, Kief, Varsovia, Kazan, Kharkof, Vilna, Odessa, Caucasus, Orenburg and western Siberia, have each a curator in charge, who is appointed by the minister of public instruction. The curator is assisted by one or more provincial or district inspectors, whom he appoints as his aids. In St. Petersburg there are

For the other ministers having charge of educational institutions see Control.

four inspectors, each in charge of a separate class of schools. Each educational circuit may include several provinces. The curator has general supervision of city schools and of normal schools, even appointing the directors of the latter. The jurisdiction of the curator and governmental inspector extends over all educational institutions of the circuit, even to the universities. Since 1885 the inspector is vested with a part of the rights which were formerly held by the rector of the university. The inspectors are required to visit public and private educational institutions quite frequently and to furnish reports of their observations. Such functions are not to be conferred upon the clergy.

LOCAL SUPERVISION.

In each of the provinces where there is a provincial assembly, or zemstvo, the schools are under the charge of school councils presided over by the archbishop, and of which council the governor of the district is a member. These councils do not report directly to the minister except in such extreme case as an illegal act. In the provinces where there is no zemstvo there are neither school councils nor inspectors. In such case the directors of the gymnasia have general control of the schools. The school council of the district-there are from five to twelve districts in a province-is composed of two members of the district administrative council and of representatives of societies which have founded schools or are patrons of schools. The members are appointed by the minister of public instruction, by the orthodox ecclesiastical authorities, and by the provincial school council. The district council' looks after primary education, its members visiting the schools; encourages the establishing of new schools and the amelioration of the condition of those which exist; attends to the furnishing of school material; proposes to the provincial council that certain schools be suspended if they are prejudicial to the public welfare; delivers certificates to teachers, both men and women, and indicates which members of the teaching force should be recompensed or promoted; furnishes annual reports of the schools of the district to the provincial school councils, and through them to still higher educational authorities.

The provincial school council is composed of the head of the diocese, the president, the governor, the school director, and two members of the administrative provincial council. The curator of the educational circuit takes part at the session of the council. The provincial school council exercises a higher grade of supervision than the district council.

It is stated (see Russia under the Czars) that on June 12, 1884, a law was passed which abolished school councils and transferred all their powers to the bishops and their nominees among the clergy, but as this system of school councils was in vogue for years, and as references are sometimes made to such councils in different parts of the Empire, it is surmised that the council may still exist in certain localities, and hence its duties are here inserted.

2 Other statements give the fullest control of school matters to the curator and place the council in the position of an advisory council only.