The System of Public Education in the Kutaisi Province in 1846-1917. Part 1

A series of articles is devoted to the study of the education system in the Kutaisi province of the Russian Empire in the period from 1846 to 1917. Such methods of historical research as historical-system, historical-typological, statistical and others were used in the work. Their combination makes it possible to reconstruct a picture of public education in the Kutaisi province at a specified time, and also to pay attention to certain characteristics - the specificity of the region. This article, which is the first part of the series, analyzes the period from 1846 to 1884, i.e., the time of the formation of the education system in the Kutaisi province and the beginning of its integration into the all-russian one. The paper presents statistical data taken from the reports of the trustees of the Caucasian educational district and other archival materials, and examines the main problems that the educational administration of the Kutaisi province had to face in the process of integrating the regional public education system into the all-russian one. Also the article gives a brief analysis of national and foreign scientific works of pre-revolutionary, soviet and modern periods, dedicated to the establishment of the Imperial system of education in the Caucasus, as well as main sources: the Provisions "About the Caucasian educational district and schools" of October 29, 1853, Report of Trustees of the Caucasian educational district second half of the XIXth century, the Caucasus geographical Acts of the Commission, the Collection of laws of the Russian Empire, etc. The main geographical and socio-economic features of the Kutaisi province are briefly covered.