School District

School District 

(Russian, uchebnyi okrug), an educational-administrative unit covering several provinces in prerevolutionary Russia.

The school districts were first introduced in 1803. In that year six were established, each headed by a university. The Ministry of Public Education took over the management of the districts in 1835.

By the beginning of the 20th century, Russia had 12 school districts. The Moscow District included 11 provinces, the Warsaw District ten, the St. Petersburg and Caucasus districts seven each, the Vil’na and Kazan districts six each, the Kiev and Kharkov districts five each, the Odessa District four, the Orenburg and Riga districts three each, and the Western Siberian District two. Educational institutions in Irkutsk and Enisei provinces and Yakutsk Oblast were directed by the Main Administration of Civilian Educational Institutions of the Irkutsk Governor-generalship. The educational institutions in Turkestan Krai were managed by the Administration for Educational Matters, which was subordinate to the governor-general of Turkestan.

A superintendent (popechitel’) administered each school district. Under the superintendent were district inspectors, a superintendent’s council, provincial directorates of public schools and provincial (gubernskie) and district (uezdnye) school councils. The primary responsibility of a school district superintendent was to supervise the educational institutions controlled by the Ministry of Public Education.