Directorate of Public Schools

an educational-administrative organ in Russia, under whose jurisdiction were primary, higher primary (urban), and superior primary schools. The directorate was established in 1874. Previously, as of 1869, there had been one inspector of public schools in each province.

The Directorate of Public Schools primarily exercised political supervision over the schools, saw to the reliability of the teachers, and ensured a “spirit of instruction” favorable to the tsarist government. In each province in the European part of Russia, there was usually one director of the public schools, who was subordinate to the trustee of the educational district; in each district, there were one to three inspectors subordinate to the director. In areas with a sparse network of schools (Siberia, the Far East, Middle Asia), a single directorate served several provinces or regions. There were progressive figures among the directors and inspectors of schools, such as I. N. Ul’ianov, who promoted the development of Russian pedagogy and schools. The Directorate of Public Schools was abolished in January 1918.