Certain political movements1 were the means of the closing or suspension of a few secondary or higher grade institutions-as on March 24, 1879, the closing of the Medico-Chirugical Academy, on January 3, 1880, the closing of the Institute of Civil Engineers, on April, 1890, the temporary closing of the University of St. Petersburg. In the higher grade institutions the tendencies towards socialistic ideas are most noticeable, but these changes have not materially affected the general tone of educational effort. Decrees have been promulgated from time to time, which deal especially with such upheavals, such as the decree of October 15, 1891, which directed university councils to act as special tribunals for the trial of students who have committed political offense or committed any act detrimental to the law of public safety. Efforts are also being made by the authorities to eliminate, as far as possible, the anti-Russian feeling which has developed from the years of teaching by German and French professors, and by giving a firmer basis of instruction from the Russian standpoint, to bring about a more patriotic sentiment tending to educate a people more in sympathy with the endeavors of the Czar to unite his subjects of all nationalities and religions in one common band of brotherhood. Such may be said to be the main features of education in the vast Empire of Russia.

TECHNICAL AND ARTISAN EDUCATION IN RUSSIA.'

By M. ANOPOFF, Director of the Nicholas Industrial School in St. Petersburg.

A most interesting report on technical education in Russia has been compiled by M. Anopoff, director of the Nicholas Industrial School in St. Petersburg. It gives an exhaustive review of all that has been done during the last twenty years in Russia in this important branch of national education, and is of special interest as furnishing information in regard to the most recent legislation respecting schools which have been or are about to be founded. M. Anopoff limits his statements to full details of intermediate and elementary technical and industrial institutions without entering into a description of the higher schools. The value of this report is so obvious that quite a complete digest is here presented. The report is followed by a fairly complete résumé of the first congress of technical and industrial educators, which was held in January, 1890, in St. Petersburg.

Technical and industrial education in the narrow sense in which I use the term, says M. Anopoff in his book on the present condition of lower grade of technical and artisan instruction in Russia, acquired its right to recognition in com

As is stated by Mackenzie Wallace in his admirable work on Russia, "the Russian educated classes are extremely impulsive," "are fettered by no venerable historical prejudices, and are wonderfully sensitive to the seductive influence of grandiose projects, especially when they excite patriotic feelings."

2 The artisan class forms the connecting link between the town population and the peasantry.

Digest of M. Anopoff's books, prepared by Mr. Edmund Noble, of Boston, Mass.

paratively recent times. From the earliest period our Government has endeavored to improve general education and spread it among the people, but middle and low grade technical and industrial education (not taking into consideration the Practical Technological Institute at St. Petersburg and the Imperial Technological School at Moscow, later merged into higher educational establishments) did not begin earlier than a quarter of a century ago. Nor is this statement discredited in any way by the fact that prior to that time there existed some low, middle, and special high grade educational establishments, since such establishments existed for purposes which, with a general resemblance, differed much in detail from those that constitute the essence of technical and industrial education. The explanation of this must be sought in the fact that these establishments, belonging as they did to different governments, were made to answer to the needs of each government, and in the further fact of the lack of a unified system of general education. The only exceptions to the narrow and special character of the above-named establishments were afforded by the special extra classes and commercial divisions of the Realschools (changed from Real gymnasia by edict of May 15, 1872) and by the second-class and first-class village, district, and city schools (edict of May 31, 1872).

Twenty-five years seems a very short period in which to establish the general work of popular education on a firm footing and to achieve the results anticipated by the promoters of the work, yet the statistics afford abundant proof of the development of technical and industrial education, and of its spread to the remotest parts of the Empire. This success in educational work is due to several causes; to the zeal of the Government in carrying it on; to the industrial progress made by the country; and, finally, to the manner in which the efforts of the Government have been seconded by the city and district authorities, by various societies, and by private individuals.

This constant opening of new establishments and the consequent increase in their number soon necessitated some general plan of organization for technical and industrial education, and the task of drawing up such a plan was conferred, by an edict of the Imperial Council of February 21, 1878, upon the ministry of finances. In 1881 an imperial order was issued for the transfer of most of the above-mentioned establishments from the ministry of finances to the ministry of public instruction, in which a special division was formed in 1883 for technical and industrial education. To this special division was given the work of drawing up the general educational programme, and of elaborating measures for insuring a better direction of educational forces generally. The principal regulations for the industrial schools, presented to the Imperial Council by the minister of public instruction, received imperial sanction in 1888, and the minister was instructed to form a special temporary commission from the representatives of the ministries of public instruction, finance, internal affairs, and imperial domaims, to indicate the localities in which industrial schools ought to be opened at the expense of the Government, to determine the special subjects which they should teach, and to outline the rules and regulations by which these schools should be guided. This commission met under the presidency of Mr. Ilyin, director of the St. Petersburg Technological Institute, and its work, after being examined by the Imperial Council, received imperial sanction on June 26, 1889.

The new edict for the Realschools, of date 1888, does away with all the special extra departments in them, with the exception of those for commercial education, and in place of these divisions it requires the opening, at Government expense, of technical and artisan schools of the middle and low grades. Though these schools are required to observe the strictly defined plan drawn up for them, they still have the benefit of the results of the long practical experience of existing schools, whose work began and has been carried on under less favorable conditions. A close study of these establishments affords an opportunity to borrow the most beneficial features from them and to save the new schools from the errors which interfered with the development of the older schools.

Any adequate review of existing middle and lower grade technical and industrial educational establishments in Russia can not be limited to incidental facts and partial descriptions; it must present the amplest and most exact details regarding the schools; it must fully describe each of them, showing the results reached and the causes that interfere to prevent normal and further development. With these ends in view special attention is given to the history and growth of the various schools as well as to the interest shown in them by local societies, since it is to these societies, as well as to individuals, that the educational establishments referred to owe their origin and often the contributions necessary to carry them on. The present sketch deals only with boys' schools of higher, middle, and lower grade which have been founded to prepare artisans and factory workers. In other words, it has as its object the study of those new schools whose beginning dates back to the sixties, but which have up to the present failed to supply any positive and definite answers to the questions put to them regarding the degree of success they have attained in carrying out the objects for which they were founded.

The whole of the above-mentioned establishments for technical and industrial education are divided, according to the objects they have in view, into five groups:

FIRST GROUP.

The technical schools, whose course is that of the middle grade educational establishments. They resemble the Realschools, and have special departments according to the edict of 1872, but differ from them in giving greater prominence to professional studies. These technical schools make the same demands upon pupils as do the Realschools, and have a course whose period extends from six to eight years. Their aim is to provide the lads entering them with a general education, and also with that amount of technical and commercial knowledge which is necessary to qualify them for positions as assistant engineers or for acting as foremen' in any of the smaller industrial enterprises. Those who pass through the full course in these schools have the right to enter the high special educational establishments on the same footing as the pupils of the gymnasia and the Realschools; while in the matter of military service, they enjoy the privileges of the pupils of the educational establishments of the first two ranks. The pupils, besides taking part in the class studies, occupy themselves in the mechanical workshops or the chemical laboratories; considerable importance is also given to inspection of factories and practice in them during the summer vacations. To this first group belong, strictly speaking, only three schools: I, the high-grade artisan school at Lodzi; II, the technical school at Irkutsk, and III, the Kommissaroff Technical School at Moscow.

To the list of the middle-grade technical schools, however, may be added the establishment at Omsk and Kungursk, though the imperial edict classifies them with schools here placed in the second group. Yet in reality the Omsk and the Kungursk establishments differ from the schools of Cherepovetz, Simbirsk, and a few others, inasmuch as they require from pupils seeking admission proficiency in the course either of the city schools (edict of May 31, 1872) or of the district schools, while the other middle-grade technical establishments demand from pupils a mere knowledge of the course of the primary schools. There is also the difference that, while at Omsk and Kungursk the pupils.are taught the full course in algebra and trigonometry, these subjects do not enter into the course of the other schools, which in their general aims resemble the low-grade technical schools. The school at Lodzi, during its twenty years of existence, has educated 287 pupils, while the school at Irkutsk, during a period of seventy-six years, has graduated 91 pupils. If to these totals we add the 38 pupils graduating from the Komissaroff and Omsk schools, we shall find that in a period of seventeen years these four educational establishments prepared about 450 young men, who have since aided in the development of the national indus

'Described on page 199.

tries. About 35 per cent of the graduates are continuing their education, or have already completed it, at the high-grade special educational establishments; 40 per cent are engaged in various trade and industrial enterprises, while 25 per cent have turned aside from the special occupations for which the school fitted them to other callings.

SECOND GROUP.

To this group belong educational establishments in which such subjects of general education are taught as are found in the programmes of city, district, and twoclass village schools. For admission to these establishments the knowledge demanded is such as is given in the lower elementary schools, the course occupying from four to six years, according to the information possessed by the pupil at his entrance. In the matter of military service, pupils are given the privilege of the third rank,' with the exception of the Nicholas Artisan School at St. Petersburg, which enjoys still higher military privileges. The programme of subjects, so far as general education is concerned, is not fuller than the programme of the city schools as settled by the edict of May 31, 1872; but in addition to such general educational subjects, there are taught in the schools of this group physics, mechanics, the technology of metals and wood, bookkeeping, and other special subjects; the study of drawing and drafting also occupies a conspicuous place in the curriculum. It is the aim of these establishments to prepare master workmen for the factories, specialists in the ruder kinds of mechanical work, machinists, and draftsmen. A graduate from one of these schools has no right to enter the high special establishments, although the wide scope of his study leads him to desire to extend his education. In the greater part of the establishments there are systematic courses for the study of cabinet-making and carving. The cost of maintaining such courses is very great, and so, owing to want of means, the pupils learn their trade by doing work for customers. Many of the pupils after graduating enter the low-grade schools as teachers of trades, and so the establishments of this group, though not designed to prepare teachers of trades, and not having special classes for this purpose, yet seem to discharge the function of seminaries for the preparation of instructors in trades. A large number of these establishments often have boarding pupils. To this group belong the Alexandrovsky Technical School in the city of Cherepovetz, the Artisan School of Count Orloff-Davidoff in Simbirsk, and the Czarevich Nicholas Artisan School at St. Petersburg; also the various technical railroad schools of the country, but as these latter are under the control of the minister of ways of communication, and by being restricted in their aims, satisfy the needs of the railroad service. The description of them does not enter into the object of the present work.

THIRD GRoup.

This group includes the artisan schools, with a curriculum of general educational subjects which resemble that of the elementary schools, and sometimes approaches in character the course of the two-class village schools. The majority of the schools of this group receive pupils who have graduated from the elementary schools. The establishments in this division are founded for the purpose of preparing master workmen in the "bush" or domestic industry, in the various industrial occupations of the village, and in factories. They give instruction in cabinet-making, blacksmithing, carpentry, carving, tailoring, shoemaking, bookbinding, harness-making, etc.; but only a very few of them can pretend to any systematic teaching of the trades, and the pupils learn their business by requesting orders from customers. They utilize the summer vacation by occupying themselves in the workshops during that period. In Group II delicacy of finish in the work done is indispensable, but in the present group it is not insisted upon. Boarding establishments exist in con

Described on page 199.

nection with only a few of the schools; in the majority the pupils are day scholars. This group includes the artisan schools of Kazan, Orenburg, Kishineff, Irbit, etc.; also artisan schools under the control of various charitable societies, such as those in Vladimir, Nizhni-Novgorod, Tver, etc.; further, such model workshops as that at Tamboff, the Birsky Technical school, and so on.

The schools of second and third groups, while resembling each other in their aims, vary greatly in their organization, as well as in the character of the general and special education which they give. One meets among them, in fact, very different types of educational establishments, beginning with the low grade technical schools and ending with the practical artisan workshops, without any provision for class instruction, even in writing and drawing. During the educational year 1888-'89 the schools of these two groups expended no less a sum than 875,000 rubles ($188,250) in educating over 5,000 pupils, about 2,000 of whom were boarding pupils. The pupils were prepared for the various trades in the following proportion: For locksmithing, 45 per cent; foundry work, 1.5 per cent; lathe turning, 1 per cent; blacksmithing, 3 per cent; cabinetmaking, 28 per cent; wood-carving, 2 per cent; shoe and harness making, 6 per cent; tailoring, 1.5 per cent; bookbinding, less than 1 per cent. About 4,433 pupils passed through the course, distributed, by trade, as follows: Locksmiths, 45 per cent; cabinetmakers, 20 per cent; shoemakers, 4 per cent; tailors, 0.15 per cent; bookbinders, 0.8 per cent.

FOURTH GROUP.

To this group belong the various special and general educational schools for adults, such as the building school, the school of printing, the evening and Sunday special classes of the Imperial Technical Society of St. Petersburg, and the artisan school at Riga. Instruction is given in the evenings and Sundays, when the working men are not occupied. Those who successfully pass through the course are entitled to the privilege of third or fourth rank' in military service, according to the degree of education received.

FIFTH GROUP.

This group includes the general educational low-grade establishments, comprising elementary, district, and city schools, with the extra "artisan" departments attached to them.

In order to increase facilities for technical and artisan education in Russia, the Minister of Public Instruction in 1872 transformed the Realgymnasia into Realschools with special complementary classes, and almost simultaneously introduced instruction in trades into the teachers' seminaries and into the low-grade schools. The regulations for the city schools (dated 31st of May, 1872) provide that pupils in such schools, when their parents desire it, may occupy themselves with trades like bookbinding and wood carving, with a view to the development of technical skill. The regulations also contain the following provisions: "When societies or private individuals in cities intimate their willingness to defray half the cost of practical instruction in trades and arts at the city schools, the Minister of Public Instruction will communicate with the Minister of Finances with a view to the granting of a subsidy for such purpose to the amount of not more than 300 rubles ($167) a year for each school." In the instructions issued by the Minister of Public Instruction (June 4, 1875) for the two-class and one-class village schools the following provisions occur: "Into the one and two-class schools, according to the means which they may have at their disposal, is introduced the teaching of trades and arts for boys and handiwork for the girls. In schools where the necessary facilities exist the pupils may also be instructed in kitchen and market gardening. One-class and two-class schools are opened by the Minister of Public Instruction in those locali

1 Described on page 199.