The Perm Provincial Zemstvo Target Scholarship Fund: Contradictory Results

The article examines the organization and activities of the Perm Provincial Zemstvo target fund for financing scholarships in higher education institutions.They were intended primarily for talented but low-income locals and zemstvo employees, who were traditionally considered better suited for long-term service in the region.The creation of the target fund in 1886 was a consequence of fifteen years of accumulated experience in paying scholarships at the expense of budget assignments and existing foreign practice.It was formed from the funds returned by the scholarship holders.After the accumulation of a certain required minimum amount (200 thousand rubles) determined by the members of the council, since 1910 all new scholarships for studying in higher education institutions in the Perm Provincial Zemstvo began to be appointed from the target fund.The author shows that the main problem in its activities was the steadily growing debts for the return of the allocated funds.Recipients often viewed them not as loans, but as a kind of "benefits".Regularly tightened rules for the assignment and return of scholarships could not reverse this negative trend.It was established that the target fund had no real prospects for development.With the beginning of the First World War, the provincial zemstvo council noted the upcoming decrease in receipts and the potential need to sell its securities.Therefore, a fundamental innovation in determining new scholarships for the Perm University being created was the provision on the renewal of annual budget assignments to replenish the target fund.This contradictory historical experience must be taken into account in the modern educational practice of preparing target students.