A Report about the activity of the Ekaterinburg District Religious School
The extract published is taken from the report of S. V. Kerskiy, a Synodal auditor, who had observed the activities of the Ekaterinburg District Religious School in the period of the Church reforms. The Report describes the material property of the School (its buildings, classrooms, church, library, living-rooms and student financial support). A description of the teaching staff and the students is given, together with an analysis of its educational and pedagogical work. The educational process as well as living conditions in the apartments and hostels is given in details. The Report provides information on the school-books and teaching methods. The Synodal auditor described the teachers’ work assignment and suggested to correct it by changing the curriculum. Due to the drafts of the Report kept in the State Historical Archive of Russia it became possible to find out the Religious School teachers’ names (A. M. Krotkov, P. A. Krotkov, N. A. Diomidovskiy, G. A. Plotnikov, M. Naumov and A. G. Dergachev); this information has become even more precious as most of these persons were mentioned in the memoirs of D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak who had graduated from the Ekaterinburg Religious School just before the auditor S. V. Kerskiy came there to make his report. Both Mamin-Sibiryak’s memoirs and the documents from the State Archive of Sverdlovsk Region made it possible to get more information about the life and professional activities of the above mentioned persons. The Synodal auditor appreciated highly the material equipment of the School, the teachers’ work and administration efforts as well as the students’ level of educatedness.