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Austrian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences 11-12 (2016) /rTW History and archaeoloqy
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- ISSN 2310-5593 (Print) / ISSN 2519-1209 (Online) -
УДК 37.014 (477.54) "1917/1921" DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.20534/AJH-16-11.12-10-14
D. O. TSEPKOV 1
1 Postgraduate student of the Department of Ukrainian history, H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University (Ukraine)
LOCAL REGULATORY BODIES OF EDUCATION ON THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE DURING THE REVOLUTION OF 1917-1921 YEARS (USING THE EXAMPLE OF THE KHARKIV GOVERNORATE)
Abstract
Purpose: to study the structure, main tasks and peculiarities of the functioning of the regional regulatory bodies of education in the Kharkiv Governorate, created by different governments, that struggled for power in Ukraine during the revolution of1917-1921 years.
Methods: comparative, chronological, system analysis and quantitative research methods. Results: Using the example of the Kharkiv Governorate, the struggle for power in Ukraine during the fight for national liberation of 1917-1921 years is considered. The activity of different governments on the territory of Ukraine in the scope of regional education management is analyzed. The place of education in the revolutionary plans of the Central Rada, the Hetmanate of P. Skoropadskyi and the representatives of the Soviet government is defined.
Scientific novelty: For the first time, the basic subdivisions of the local regulatory bodies of education in Kharkiv and their activities during the revolution of 1917-1921 years are studied. A comparative analysis of different models of education management, created by the Ukrainian and Soviet governments is made.
Keywords: zemstvo; ukrainization; teacher's conference; governorate department of education; state bodies' structure.
INTRODUCTION
The fight for national liberation of1917-1921 years is one of the most difficult and controversial periods in the history of Ukraine. The revolution that began in St. Petersburg in February, 1917 swept Ukrainian lands, raised the local national question. The Central Rada was established to represent Ukrainian people's interests to the Interim Government. Later, the General Secretariat was founded. It was the first Ukrainian government. The newly formed government could not solve many questions, so the process of the struggle for power was intensified. National (by turns the Central Rada, then the Hetmanate of P. Skoropadskyi and the Directorate) and monarchical (the Volunteer Army of A. Denikin) political forces and the Bolsheviks struggled for Ukrainian lands. Each of these forces had its own idea and views on the future of Ukraine and Eastern Europe. They tried to get the victory not only with the help ofweapons but also through the dissemination of their ideology among the population. Education has become one of the most effective channels of their own ideas popularization. Therefore, each of these forces paid great attention to the estab-
lishment of the local regulatory bodies of education, that had to create schools (national as well as Soviet, labor).
The question of the establishment and the activities of the local regulatory bodies of education in the Kharkiv Governorate during 1917-1921 years has not been a subject of a special scientific research. However, it is necessary to highlight the modern Ukrainian scientists who while exploring the issues of the educational policy during the revolution casually touched Kharkiv. These are monographs of A. Borovyk, V. Maiboroda, V. Lypynskyi and an article N. Ivanova. Moreover, scientists N. Sorochan, S. Zhukov have revealed the activities of the individual local authorities in the field of education management in their articles.
THE STUDY'S RESULTS
In the period from March to June, 1917, i. e. before the proclamation of the I Universal, the Central Rada did not make serious steps to reforming the regulatory bodies of education. Educational districts were the basis of education management in the times of the Russian Empire. The eponymous educational district was in charge of the educational processes of the Kharkiv Governorate.
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In addition, the Kharkiv educational district also included Voronezh, Tambov, Kursk, Penza governorates and the Region of the Don Cossack Host. The Head of this educational district in 1917 was I. A. Krasuskyi, a professor of Kharkiv Institute of Technology [17, 2].
With the beginning of the February Revolution of 1917, educational districts were subordinated to the Ministry of Education being a part of the Interim government. The governorate zemstvo and the special department ofpublic education at the local district council were a separate structure, that managed education in the governorate. H. I. Korkushko was the Head of the department in the period from 1917 to may, 1918. [2, 55].
With the proclamation of the I Universal in June, 1917 and the creation of the first Ukrainian government, the General Secretariat, the question of creating the Ukrainian school is often raised at the meetings of the Ukrainian authorities. To reform education in Ukraine fast and fundamentally, it was necessary to change the regulatory bodies' structure. Moreover, the Kharkiv educational district also included Russian governorates. District and volost departments of education as a part of the relevant local district councils had been additionally generated by June, 1917 [3, 42]. DuringJuly-August, 1917, the plan of creating the Ukrainian schools in all the Ukrainian governorates for the 1917/1918 academic year was approved. At the end of1917 the schools of the Kharkiv Governorate began to report to the governorate zemstvo on the number of schools with Ukrainian language of teaching. According to the statistical information given by 159 primary schools of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv district as of 20 December, 1917, 44 schools with Ukrainian language of teaching in the first form were established (37 of them — on the initiative of the district and volost zemstvos), there were still 108 schools with Russian language of teaching, 7 schools did not submit such information. In addition, the task of the governorate zemstvos was to place parish schools under the management of the local authorities [5, 3-154].
After November 7, when the power in Petrograd was seized by the Bolsheviks, and the adoption of the III Universal, the Central Rada became the only state body that exercised the education management in the Kharkiv region [1, 46]. Educational departments at governorate, district and city councils did not provide an adequate level of education ukrainization in most governorates, including the Kharkiv one [1, 48]. In this regard, on November 10 the position of a governorate commissioner
of education was introduced in many governorates. In the Kharkiv region from November until the beginning of December, 1917 this position was held by a famous historian, professor of Kharkiv University D. I. Bagalii, and from December 8 N. Syniavskyi [3, 45].
But the most important issue was reforming the activity of the educational districts. On 28 December, 1917 the Central Rada signed a decree on the elimination of all three educational districts that had been "inherited" by the UNR from the Russian Empire: Kiev, Kharkiv and Odessa [15, 111]. On January 14 the Central Rada adopted another decree and liquidated the directorate and the inspectorate of public schools. The greatest problems arose during the liquidation of the Kharkiv educational district, since by the moment of the decree adoption the Kharkov governorate had been seized by the Bolsheviks. Only from March, 1918, after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed and the Bolsheviks left the territory of the UNR, the process of reforming the educational authorities in the Kharkiv region was resumed. The education management in Kharkiv Govermorate moved to the educational commissariat, which had to include 7 people: four Ukrainians, and three ethnics (the Poles, Jews and Russians). The work was distributed between commissioners [17, 1].
The first staff of the commissariat was formed of Ukrainians, the Poles and Jews. Among the Ukrainian teachers' union there was O. N. Syniavskyi, a former governorate commissioner of education and a teacher of a Ukrainian school, M. A. Plevako — a director of a Ukrainian gymnasium, O. I. Sokolovskyi, a member of the city council and a secondary school teacher, V. N. Fisenko — a teacher of mathematics of a Ukrainian gymnasium. L. I. Feldman became a member of the commissariat being a teacher of a Jewish gymnasium, K. I. Okonskyi — a teacher of a Polish trade school. On 25 April, 1918, the final cut of the staff of the commissariat was approved. H. I. Yushchenko was also included as a representative of Russian teachers. O. N. Syniavskyi was appointed the chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Commissariat of Education [15, 112]. However, it was not clear how the powers would be distributed between the educational departments at zemstvos and district commissariats, so technically, there was a diarchy in the education management.
On 29 April, 1918 as a result of a military coup a Hetman P. Skoropadskyi came to power in Kiev. On 3 May the changes happened in the central government in Kyiv:
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M. Vasylenko became a minister of education [19, 6-7]. On May 15-17 there was a meeting of representatives of governorate and district zemstvos in Kiev, where the cultural policy issues were discussed, in particular, the local authorities' participation in the education management. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Kharkiv Governorate [16, 135]. In general, it was decided to continue the previous policies in education initiated by the Central Rada. The main tasks were: further ukrainization of education (particularly teachers training) and the final elimination of the educational districts and the district commissariats of education, placing the power to the educational departments in zemstvos for further decentralization of the education management.
The staff expansion of the public education department of the Kharkiv governorate state council occurred during 1918. From January to May, 1918, the department had 13 employees, 8 of whom held staff positions and 5 were in their positions as temporary employees. H. I. Korkushko was the head of the public education department in this period, school education was managed by M. P. Andriyevskyi, out-of-school education — by V. O. Kravtsov. The positions of the heads of school statistics, professional education and preschool education were vacant [2, 55].
In August, 1918, the position of the head of school statistics was held by Yu. S. Maliar, and the head of professional education — K. V. Romanenko. During October-December, 1918, the number of full-time employees of the public education department increased to 19, the structure of the department had five subdivisions: school education (3 employees), out-of-school education (3), public education statistics (6), professional education (1), clerical work (5) and the head of the department (1). The department had two staff vacancies — the head of pre-school education and the specialist on libraries. In June, 1918, H. I. Korkushko applied for dismissal. On August 30, the new head of the governorate state educational department was appointed. He was a former member of the Valuisk district zemstvo council, H. V. Dakhno [5, 211-214].
There were changes in the staffing of the Kharkiv Commissariat of Education. In connection with a large task load as a director of a Ukrainian gymnasium, the commissioner of the Ukrainians, M. A. Plevako applied for dismissal. The commissariat instead nominated a teacher Ya. V. Bobruk from Slobozhanska teachers' union [18, 9-12]. However, later in the late summer of
1918, the fourth position of the commissioner from the Ukrainians was taken by O. I. Popov, a teacher of B. Hrin-chenko Kharkiv Gymnasium. [18, 20].
Since may, 1918 the main problem in the education management in the Kharkiv Governorate was the absence ofthe governorate commissioner ofeducation. The reports for the period of May-June, 1918 on the activities of the governorate commissioners of education in the Kharkiv Governorate contained the mark «vacant position» [18, 3-4, 9-12]. Only on June 17 a governorate commissioner was appointed. He was D. O. Tkachenko. But considering his personal request he had the status of «acting», because «never wanted to lose pension» [19, 80].
Because of the overthrow of the Hetmanate by the Directory and the later seizure of Ukraine by the Bolshevik armies, the project of education management launched by the Central Rada and continued by the Hetmanate Ministry in the Kharkiv Governorate has not been completed. In January 1919, the Bolsheviks seized Kharkov again.
On January 29, 1919 Provisional Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine was renamed the Rada of People's Commissars and the department of education was renamed the People's Commissariat of Education. The People's Commissariat of Education of UkrSSR, its structure and the hierarchy of divisions was formed like The People's Commissariat of Education of RSFSR. The main goal of the People's Commissariat of Ukraine was the school reform, the same model that was held in the Bolshevik Russia. In early 1919 the process of forming Soviet education and culture authorities was renewed in the Kharkiv region. The Governorate Department of Education (hereinafter — hubvno) was eastablished in January-February 1919. It was located in Sadovo Kulikovs'ka Street 9/2 (now the Darwin Street) [6, 1].
The Governorate Department of Education consisted of five subdivisions: school, afterschool, arts, science and common subdivision. There was a panel ofthree people at the head of each subdivision: manager, his deputy and the head of the school section. Each subdivision was divided into sections. For example, after school subdivision (organized on January 10, 1919) was divided into five sections: school, club, library, lecture and cinematic. There was a manager at the head of the section and there were inspectors too [6, 12-25].
The process of establishing the Soviet state education and culture authorities in the Kharkiv region was hampered by the establishment of Denikin regime in June
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1919 that lasted until December 1919. During his stay in Odessa the Volunteer Army does not have dedicated regional institutions in the sphere of education but in general Anton Denikin's policy in the sphere of education had the same features as the overall culture had: first of all -the prohibition of Ukrainian language. According to the decisions of the Special Meeting, approved by General Denikin A. I. on the 10th of August, 1919, the study in the Ukrainian language in schools where the teaching had been in the Russian language before Ukrainian authorities came, was prohibited. The study in Ukrainian was permitted in private schools or for private funds. Teaching Ukrainian was abolished, and "Little Russian" language and literature were allowed as optional subjects. The study of the cycle "Ukrainian" (history, language and geography of Ukraine) was stopped [22, 234, 100-101]. On the 12th of December the Armed Forces of South Russia left Kharkov, the city was undertaken by the Bolsheviks for the third time in the period of the Revolution in 1917-1921.
On the 25 th of March in 1920 the first Ukrainian meeting of the heads of governorate departments of educationwas held, they approved the scheme of public education in UkrSSR [13, 48]. At the beginning of 1921 hubvno consisted of eight subdivisions: general; organizational and instructors; estimate and financial; social education; political education; professional education; supply; governorate committee for the protection of monuments of art (hubkopmys) [6, 8-10].
Apart from subdivisions to represent the interests of minority in Kharkiv region there were created three sections — Polish, Armenian and Jewish. Each of these sections had an additional subsection of preschool education. Their main task was to spread communist ideology among the minorities, especially young people [8, 36].
The staff of hubvno was constantly changing; sometimes the positions of the heads of subdivisions remained vacant for several months. While selecting the candidates, they considered the questionnaire, where the main point was about the attitude to the Communist Party. The majority of the accepted to a particular position wrote «sorry» [8, 16].
In general, the staff was similar in all subdivisions. Thus, according to the data of the 7th of October, 1921, each of the subdivisions consisted of: head, secretaries, heads of sections and committees, instructors, couriers and printers. But there were some differences depending on the functions of the subdivision. So, the organization-
al and instructional subdivision had two more statisticians and a researcher, the supply subdivision had warehouse managers (there were three in hubvno) and their employees. The Governorate Commissariat, in addition to the heads of sections, had the heads and employees of museums, archivists, artists, scientists and librarians. The ethnographic section was headed by M. F. Sumtsov and D. I. Bahalii was not only the head of the archives section, but also the head of the Central Historical Archives. There were also commandants and cleaners in the hubnvo. There were 291 workers in hubnvo in Kharkiv by the 7th of October in 1921 [7, 31-40].
Thus, during the revolution of 1917-1921 years in the Kharkiv Governorate various governments created their local representative bodies that took control of the educational process. Each power saw the role of education in the upbringing of future generations differently, just as the future. National governments (UPR General Secretariat, the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian State) wanted to ukrainize education and make it the foundation of formation of the Ukrainian nation. The Soviet government wanted to create a labor school, a place where young people assimilated the principles of teamwork and basic ideas of communist ideology.
As for the principles of creation and activities of the regional education authorities, they also differed in different governments. The government, which identified itself with the national liberation movement of the Ukrainian, created the local bodies on the basis of local democracy and decentralization. It can be proved with the attempt of elimination of the school districts that was a trace of imperial times where the leaders were appointed from the center, and replace them with educational departments in the counties where the authorities were elected at the local level. During 1917-1918 the representatives of the biggest minorities (including Russians) were involved into the education management in the Kharkiv Governorate too. The Soviet authorities established their own engine of education management on the principles of centralization and bureaucracy. It can be proved by the growing number of business units, and therefore officials, as well as strengthening the role of the central government and their orders in the management of education in the Governorate.
Acknowledgements
The study was conducted and funded by T. H. Shevchen-ko Scientific Society in New York (USA).
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Information about the authors
Denys O. Tsepkov, Postgraduate student of the Department of Ukrainian history, H. S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National
Pedagogical University
Address: 34 Ludwig Svoboda Avenue, 61204, Kharkiv, Ukraine, tel.: +3 (80) 503-111-60
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6372-0011
