“The only requirement is to teach children to read and write”: students of the zemstvo school of Laishevsky uyezd
Using the example of Laishevsky uyezd, the author considers the functioning of the most common type of schools of the second half of the 19<sup>th</sup> - early 20<sup>th</sup> century, zemstvo schools. Most of the students were Orthodox peasants. Tatars, as a rule, studied at Muslim educational institutions, and representatives of other classes also rarely sent their children to zemstvo schools. The lack of cavernous rooms and necessary equipment prevented conducting effective education and covering the entire rural population. In addition to financial difficulties, there were psychological ones - peasants perceived education as something abstract that did not bring practical benefits, and often did not want to send their children to school. The inaccessibility of schools for children from other villages, poor sanitary conditions, and the use of child labour in agriculture reduced student attendance. To make education more attractive for peasants, the zemstvo introduced applied subjects that allowed them to learn some kind of craft. Although after graduating from school there was an opportunity to continue their studies in secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions, the majority of students did not use that right due to poverty. Apart from the applied significance of education, the zemstvo paid attention to the moral upbringing of children at lessons of Religious Education, History and Geography. This task was obstructed by the low morality of the teachers themselves. But despite multiple difficulties, the literacy rate in the rural environment increased.