ministry, are distributed in three classes according to the probable or actual period of absence from the Kingdom-those for less than one year, others for more than one year and less than five years, and still others for a longer term. Foreigners teaching in Italy shall have conferred upon them the dignity of the Italian professor of equal rank, and under certain conditions legal validity is given the course of lectures conducted by them.

The projected law also determines the value of the studies pursued outside the Kingdom, those pursued by foreigners in Italy, and the value and status of fellowships. In general the studies and examinations pursued in foreign countries in the State institutions or those of established reputation are accorded the same value as studies and examinations in equivalent schools of the Kingdom. The fellowships are not restricted, as hitherto, to graduates, but are granted also to university students doing special work in laboratories, libraries, and foreign archives. Every year a certain number of fellowships shall be granted students and graduates from the high schools, normal and professional schools and special institutes for a period of not more than two years of study abroad.

To give a rapid development to this plan and cooperate with the State institutions in Italy and abroad for its accomplishment is now the most important task of the Italian Association and of such similar associations as may be established in allied and friendly

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

BUREAU OF EDUCATION

BULLETIN, 1919, No. 37

EDUCATIONAL CHANGES IN

RUSSIA

וי

By

THERESA BACH

DIVISION OF FOREIGN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS
BUREAU OF EDUCATION

[Advance Sheets from the Biennial Survey of Education, 1916-1918]

ADDITIONAL COPIES

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C.

AT

5 CENTS PER COPY

Δ

EDUCATIONAL CHANGES IN RUSSIA.

By THERESA BACH.

Division of Foreign Educational Systems, Bureau of Education

CONTENTS.-Introduction: Historical development-Secularization of schools-Administration of schools: Provisional Government; Bolshevik régime-Parents' associations--Abolition of restrictions: National and religious groups; Private instruction-Educational ladder-Teachers' training institutions-Reform in spelling-New textbooks and other publications-Higher education: New universities and facultiesTechnical education-Adult education.

INTRODUCTION.

HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT.

In the press reports bearing upon conditions in Russia since the outbreak of the revolution in March, 1917, little mention has been made of the tremendous changes that have shaken the entire educational system in that country. One needs only read Vyestnik Vremennavo Pravitelstva (Messenger of the Provisional Government), Russia's official gazette for the publication of the acts and decrees promulgated by the various ministries and other administrative bodies since the revolution, to become impressed with the deep and far-reaching reforms that have uprooted the entire system of the old education built on principles of autocracy and the privileges of the few. A school system of such a type could not exist in a country striving for democracy. This was realized by the Provisional Government headed by Prince Lvov and later on by Alexander Kerenski.1

To eradicate the evils of that system, to throw the schools open to the humble and the poor, to establish "a single absolutely secular school for all citizens," was the task at which the new authorities set to work.

In this report an attempt is made to indicate the outstanding features of the new laws and regulations since the early days of the revolution. Unfortunately because of the scarcity of material it is impossible to tell at present how far the acts and decrees promulgated by the various authorities and outlined in this report have

The Provisional Government with Prince Lvov at its head was organized soon after the outbreak of the revolution in March, 1917, with the understanding that it should hold power only until the Constituent Assembly should meet to decide Russia's future form of rule. Its first cabinet consisted of former members of the executive committee of the Imperial Duma. In July of the same year a more radical cabinet was formed under the leadership of Kerenski. A few months later (i. e., in November) the Provisional Government was overthrown by the Councils of Workers, Soldiers, and Peasants Deputies, and the Soviet Government, with Lenin as Premier and Trotski as Minister of Foreign Affairs, was established instead.