Girls’ primary secular education in Perm province in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries

The article is devoted to the primary education for the female population in Perm province from the second half of the 19th century to 1917. The main types of primary schools subordinated to the Ministry of National Education that began to spread in the province since the introduction of local government are considered. Due to them, from year to year the number of schools where girls could be trained was increasing. Zemstvo one-class schools for people of both sexes, located in villages, were the most numerous schools. Special girl’s schools were rarely opened. The reasons preventing the school attendance by rural girls are analyzed. The author states that the traditional ideas of peasants on the role of women in family life was the most significant reason. For the same reasons, the vast majority of girls did not finish the full course of primary school, having learned to read and to write a little. The article demonstrates the measures that promoted the attraction of girls to rural schools: the introduction of needlework lessons, the arrangement of lodging houses, etc. The author compares the attitude towards primary education in the towns of the province, where, at the beginning of the 20th century, almost all girls of school age attended school. It is noted that adult women could be taught literacy in Sunday schools and at adult courses that became very popular during the First World War. Based on the archival data, the author concludes that the initial girls’ education in the province has made significant progress during the period under review.