Education of the Jewish population of Podillia in the 19th century

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the processes of formation and development of education in the Podolsk province, in particular, among the Jewish population, to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the activities of Jewish schools at the end of the 19th century. The research methodology is based on a combination of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical (historical-genetic, historical-typological, historical-systemic) methods with the principles of historicism, systematicity, scientificity and verification. The scientific novelty lies in the thorough study, based on archival documents and other groups of sources, of the history of the development of education by Jewish children, the opening of educational institutions for them, and the activities of Jewish schools in the Podolsk province, which began operating in the second half of the 19th century. Conclusions. Since the time of socio-economic transformations in the life of the Russian Empire, corresponding processes have been taking place in the educational sphere. In general, in the state, including in the Podolsk province, educational institutions of various directions are gradually opening. These are primary schools, gymnasiums, schools (state, private), and theological seminaries. Thanks to the information and analytical-synthetic methods of research on this topic, the process of forming education among the Jewish population in the second half of the 19th century in Podillia is considered. The main problems that arose due to the discriminatory norm established by the government when entering Jewish children into gymnasiums and higher educational institutions are highlighted, which did not allow all those who wanted to receive secondary and higher education. We are making an attempt to analyze that due to the fact that Jews were the third or fourth largest population in the Russian Empire, and in the southwestern cities they received a significant degree of economic development, it was deemed necessary to open special schools, colleges, and gymnasiums for them. One of the versions regarding the acquisition of education by the Jewish population is their gradual rapprochement with the Christian population, as emphasized in his work by P. Chubynsky. It is also worth noting that the government decided to open schools for Jewish women, especially from low-income families. For them, private educational institutions are opened, mostly. At the end of the 19th century, the Jewish population of Podillia had a high level of education.