Activities of the Society for the Guardianship of Elementary School in Tomsk in the Years of P.I. MakushinsPresidency in the Sphere of Public Education Development

Nowadays much issaid and written about the development of civil society, one of whose elements is a high level of individual responsibility and the developmentof associations and organizations independent of a direct interference and regulation on the part of the government. The historical experienceof the pre-revolutionary Siberia knows a lot of similar examples. One of them is the activities of the Society for the Guardianshipof Elementary School in Tomsk that was established in 1882 on P.I. Makushins initiative and existed up to 1906. According to the Statuteof the Society, it intended to promote the development of elementary education through feasible material help. In 1888, when it became possiblefor the city to sponsor new schools, the Society transferred two of its four schools, the Slobodskaya and the Mukhino-Bugorskaya ones,with all their belongings. In 1901 the Society opened another 2 elementary schools in the outskirts of the city, the Yalykovskaya and theBolozerskaya schools. In the fall of 1887 the repetition courses for men were launched. Classes took place every evening except Saturdaysand Sundays. Three years later similar courses for women were opened. Another important sphere of the Societys activities was the organizationsince February 1883 of public Sunday readings. In the first year there were 11 readings already. Later, especially after the librarybuilding that the Society could use had been built, these events became more frequent. The topics and lists of books and brochures suggestedfor public Sunday readings had been approved beforehand and reported to the Tomsk Province Director of Public Schools and Colleges. Inresponse the following permission arrived: … there are no obstacles to the reading of the listed books in public in the free library auditorium.The courses were especially popular with the Tomsk community and were attended by 300 to 450 persons. Readings were traditionallyorganized according to the established scheme: serious reading (articles on history, biographies, geography); fiction (the best works ofRussian and foreign literature); vocal and musical elements. Thus, we can conclude that the in the first decade of its existence the Society hadplayed a great role in the proliferation of literacy and culture among the population of Tomsk, trying to use different forms and methods ofeducational activities. It is noteworthy that the experience of the Tomsk Society served as a model for similar societies in other towns ofTomsk province: in 1884 a Society was established in Barnaul. In 1885 - in Kainsk, in 1899 - in Kolyvan, in 1902 - in Biisk.

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