Ukrajinský vyšší pedagogický institut v Praze Other

The Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian Higher Pedagogical Institute was a teacher training school that operated in Prague from nineteen twenty-three to nineteen thirty-three. It was opened by the Ukrainian Public Committee and received financial support from the Czechoslovak government for its operations.

Initially it was a two-year school. It trained teachers for primary schools and for extracurricular education. From nineteen twenty-five the institute introduced a four-year course so that it could also train teachers for secondary schools. Several notable figures served as heads of the school. The first was Leonid Bileckyj, who held the title of director until nineteen twenty-five. He was followed by rectors Simovyč and Harmašiv.

Teaching took place in several departments. There was a literary and historical department where Levko Čykalenko taught anthropology, ethnography and archaeology. Furthermore there was a mathematics and natural sciences department. From nineteen twenty-four a music and pedagogy department was added. The singer and musicologist Dmytro Levitskyj taught voice theory there.

During its existence, a total of seventy-eight educators taught at the institute. The school was completed by one hundred and seventy-eight students, of which thirty-one obtained a doctorate. Many graduates later worked in Carpathian Ukraine.

The institute was also involved in publishing specialized literature. Forty-four scripts and three volumes of Works were created there, which were published between nineteen twenty-nine and nineteen thirty-three by the Sijač society operating at the institute. A further eleven works were published by the Ukrainian Publishing Fund in Prague.

From nineteen twenty-four, matriculation courses operated at the school. They were intended for people who did not have a certificate of completed secondary education. In nineteen twenty-five these courses became a gymnasium, known as the Ukrainian Gymnasium in Czechoslovakia.

The institute's office moved several times. It was located on Žitná Street number fourteen, then on Malátova Street number nineteen and on Školská Street number eight. From nineteen thirty-two it was in the House of Agricultural Education.

In nineteen thirty-three the institute was closed because it no longer received financial support from the Czechoslovak government.