Educational Reforms - Alex II

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  • Created by: Fern
  • Created on: 07-04-14 17:47

Educational Reforms 

Causes

  • In the 1850's Russia, at 90%, had the highest illiteracy rate of any European country - especially low compared to Western Europe. This obviously limited Russia's potential for advancement and success as a country.
  • Only about 600,000 children were being educated in the late 1850's - a tiny proportion of the total population. In addition to this, a large majority of the children being educated were the offspring of the upper classes.
  • The other reforms created a need for education to be increased due to the intellectually demanding roles created, which needed educated Russians to fulfill them. This included roles in the judicial system and local government. The success of these reforms and advancement of these areas was as such dependent on educational reform.
  • An "industrial revolution" also required education to succeed. This was to provide entrepreneurs capable of leading and creating industrial enterprises, aiding Russia's industrial success. The growing transport system would require administrators and engineers to aid its effective functioning, as one example of this.
  • The reformation of Russia required a move away from traditional values and a new way of thinking - this had to be integrated within the mentality of the country. In order for reform to succeed, the people had to be capable of aiding it's success.
  • The increasing industrialization occurring would also create more skilled jobs for the working class - the peasants who had migrated into the cities. These would require more education than farming knowledge.
  • Due to the emancipation of the serfs, peasants now had increased responsibilities and demands - without the help of their landowner they had to run and manage a successful farm. This would require an increased skill level - especially if agricultural production was going to increase, which would require competence, efficiency and the use and understanding of new technology. Profit could only be obtained using basic maths.

Effects

  • In 1864, the "Education Edict" provided primary education for all children - in theory,
  • However, little was actually done to implement these proposed changes, and the reforms that were required by the edict did not fully occur. It is certain that all children did not achieve primary education of a competent level, or even primary education at all, during Alexander II's reign.
  • This can be seen as another example of how organisational and administrative inefficiency within the Russian government was inherently destructive towards reform occurring - even the best efforts and intentions of the Tsar could not guarantee successful reform. An incompetent political system meant improvements were sporadic and fragmented - implemented far better in some areas due to variances in competence by staff.
  • Although a slight improvement was seen, education and literacy rates in Russia remained far below the standards of Europe and especially the Western nations. By the 1890's - still under 30% of the population were literate. This obviously hampered the success of the country in many other fields.
  • More success occurred within the growth of universities during the 1860's. The amount of students in university went from over 8000 in the 1850's to over 15,000 in the 1880's. This was obviously an improvement - but students were under 2% of the total population.
  • The education of the populace was also aided by a relaxation of censorship in 1865 - books were controlled after being published and not before. This meant people were more exposed to Western ideas - contributing to reform and education.
  • However, these developments resulted in the creation of an educated class called the "intelligentsia". They frequently formed 'learned' societies where opinions could be expressed and debated. They were almost always critical of autocracy and as such the government can be seen to have created its own opposition.
  • This caused Alex II to reduce the reform occurring in education as a result - students were discouraged from learning subjects that involved critical thinking such as English and History at university, and he was less enthusiastic about the issue of primary education.

Overall summary

In summary, a small progression was achieved in the field of education and the population gradually became more literate - which helped industrialization and other reforms occur by introducing skilled workers. The agricultural production and efficiency of Russia was partially improved by these changes - but minimally. The changes were badly implemented and sporadic in their effect - although universities were minimally better in their expansion than primary education. Also, the changes were limited by the rise of the intelligentsia which criticized autocracy and lead the regime to view education as dangerous. Russia improved minimally but was still far behind the Western nations.

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