Vocational education institutions of the sphere of education and culture in the European North of Russia in the 1950s – 1980s

Introduction. The Soviet system of education and cultural services for the population needed substantial number of personnel, which included preschool teachers, primary school teachers, librarians, and club workers. These mid-level specialists were trained mainly by regional colleges. The article presents a study of the vocational educational institutions that trained specialists for educational and cultural institutions, as part of the system of vocational education in the European North of Russia. Materials and Methods. The research is based on the principles of research objectivity, historicism and reliability. The main research methods applied for the archival documents and statistical materials were statistical analysis and comparison. Results and Discussion. The analysis of the statistical data used in the study made it possible to compile registers of vocational educational institutions that trained specialists for the field of education and culture in the European North of Russia in the 1950s – 1980s. Based on the information available in the central and regional statistical collections, as well as in the statistical reporting of the vocational educational institutions under consideration, it was possible to trace the dynamics of the number of students and graduates of technical schools and schools in the field of education and culture, to identify shares in the total number of students and graduates of all secondary specialized educational institutions by regions of the European North of Russia, including two Finno-Ugric republics, Karelian and Komi. Conclusion. The reform of vocational education in the 1950s had a negative impact on the number of trained specialists in the field under study. In the future, their number increases significantly, which indicates the progressive development of colleges in the studied area. Despite the positive dynamics of the number of students and graduates, their share in the total number throughout the system of secondary specialized education in the European North of Russia remains at a low level. Nevertheless, the positive vector of the dynamics of their numbers indicates the demand for specialists of this profile in the national economy of the studied regions, as well as the Finno-Ugric republics located within the boundaries of the territory of the European North of Russia.