This paper examines the system of public education in Kars Oblast in the period 1878-1917. The present part of the work covers the period 1878-1908, which spans the timeframe from the incorporation of the region into the Russian Empire through to the commencement of preparatory activities related to the introduction of compulsory primary education in it. A key source used in this work is the annual Reports on Educational Institutions in the Caucasus Educational District, which provide data on the region's schools run by the Ministry of Public Education. The authors made an extensive use of the statistical method. The authors' conclusion is that the system of public education in Kars Oblast was characterized by a number of distinctive features. Creating the system of public education from scratch subsequent to the incorporation of the formerly Turkish-controlled areas into the Russian Empire required convincing the locals of the need to have their children attend Russian secular schools. By 1908, the region became home to a network of primary schools, four lower schools, and two secondary educational institutions. Instruction was provided to both sexes, which means education had become more accessible to the local population. While the region's student body had long been dominated by representatives of Christian denominations, the period 1907-1908 witnessed a sharp increase in the number of students of the Moslem faith too.