The role of Bessarabian private schools in the educational system of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century

This article analyzes the situation, incorporation and mechanisms of functioning of private educational institutions in Bessarabia and their role in the educational system of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century. Although private educational institutions in tsarist Russia functioned throughout the 19th century, a clear rise in the educational system was recorded only in the second half of the century. Private schools in the Russian Empire were divided into three categories in accordance with their curriculums: the first category was consistent with gymnasiums and non-classical secondary schools, the second category corresponded district and city schools, and the third one corresponded primary schools. Although these institutions were not providing any guarantees to the students, their number had been annually growing. The Ministry of National Education promoted the policy of rapprochement private schools from peripheries to central ones. The first step in this direction was the decision to introduce compulsory teaching of Russian in all private schools. All measures undertaken by the Ministry of National Education were aimed at the unification of curricula of private schools with programs of public institutions. Private schools supplement the ministerial schools, providing educational opportunities to those who were not accepted in public schools.