THE NEW SOVIET EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-02771R000100290002-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 3, 1998
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: July 1, 1959
• Content Type: REPORT

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SQ?XE *P
July 1939
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!R T EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
Last year the widely praised and apparently successful
Soviet educational System bect,ase the object of attack, discus-
d reform by the Communist Warty. Behind the attack
led by Mikita Khruashchev lay sernous economic and Ideological
problems for the Soviet Union.
The educational cr1e Ls developed as a result of the
increasing number of aeaon1 ay school graduates who were re-
fused admission to the univ r5Lti a s and were untrained for
work in factories and colle'tiTer. Between 1953 and the end
of the 1958 academic year 30me 3,500,000 graduates of regular
secondary schools were not admitted to the universities for
which they had been prepared. The gap between the number of
secondary school graduates and first-year admissions to the
universities increased steadily from 1952 when there were
315,000 raduates and 2601 GOO admissions, to 1958 when there
were 1,340,000 graduates art only 210,000 admissions. The
number of full-time student > .ire. u::xivertsities dropped steamily
from a high of 300,000 In 1 5 4 to a low of 210000 in 1958.
The necessity for re-vtrr i ng the educational system wa;
introduced by Nikita Khrus , chav as Poilowa t s
An the work of our aan.ool s and higher educational
establishments there are fundamental shortcomings...
the time has come to rasha radically the entire
system of education....
n? the shortcomings Khru{r, Ieh;av noted that the school system
separated from life ... f1 1 . =3roduction.,a was not suited to
practical education," and did " aot prepare youth for useful
The policy and program top the school reform appear in four
papers as follows: Khruahc:hev' a address to the 13th Komsomol
Congress in April 1938; hie mumor dum "On Strengthening the
Ties Between School and 141 a and on the Further Development
of Public Education in the Count: y" delivered to the Pre-
sidium of the Party Centrei C ittee in September 1958; the
theses of the same title approved by the Plenum of the Party
Central Committee and the Council . of Ministers of the USSR In
November 1958; and the School Law enacted by the Supreme
Soviet in December 1958.
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labor." He said that the )&.s .c conception of the secondary
schools at that time, n ly that their task was to prepare
students for higher education gird to impart academic knowledge
unrelated to production, ":i s `incorrect." As a first task
he said:
"It is evidently necg3zaL r, In educating and bringing;
up children in the s ioo i, to prepare them psycho-
logically from the ,e.--'y . ii?st grade for taking future
part in socially use"-ii rork, in labor, in creating
values necessary for he development of the socialist
state.,..
ie most important t . 1ere is to issue a slogan
and make this slogan ,ac: > for all children entering
schools--that all chi:f drv n must prepare for useful
for participata.on In the building of a co u-
t society.
tt... an indispensable oon 1ti on, is to train all boys
and girls, while in ;iohoolr-, for participation In
physical work at pla3.x>8, factories and collective
and state farms, in any cork that benefits society."
Graduates of the 14-;fear schools not only lacked technical
training, they were unwilling to aeoept manual work, The
schools were charged with falling to prepare students for
life--that is, for produc f-on, and with contributing to an
unhealthy separation betw.n mental and manual work. In his
speech before the 13th Xl; aromo1 Oongress in April 1958 Khrushchev
criticized the young Comznuia.1s t leaders for the lack of disci-
pline among the youth of 'the ? ouatry, for their unwillingness
to work, and for their boui'gec i.s ideas which maintained a class
society, accused youtl of having a "lordly contempt for
labor" and of being ttloafers. He said that the first and
foremost task now was to trai`si youth to do physical labor,
that the failure to t'lneulc;atr_~ the deepest respect for the
fundamental principles of t oc.wa11ast society" must be remedied,
and demanded that the mpomo:.. take an active part in carrying
out the reforms to be mask- in the schools and elsewhere.
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A. Eaerption a
The drastic r'v1sion Ot tLe 01-ducatioz a1 system, beginning
with the academic year 19!-1-1 63 and scheduled for completion
within three to five ye art,, . &3signed to meet the shortage
of vocationally-.trained a.t;,a - iotivated manpower and to elimi-
nate the political unrest apeart adod by intellectuals. The
primary object of the schools wit be to support the economic
program by training the recjuired manpower.
Fundamental changes la the educational system call for:
(i a compulsory work-stud: program concentrating on vocational
and polytechnicai training throu ,hoot the entire school system;
(2) stringent political and Ideological requirements for ad-
mission to higher educational iri tttutions; and (3) ideological
indoctrinatl.on to create tsia ideal Co unist-roan envisionec by
the Soviet Union.
The new school plaza calls fcr eight years of compulsory
education for all students . taL'ting at the age of seven. In
order to make room for the anew vocational-technological courses,
which will be both theoret.i..al & d practical, the social sci-
ences and humanities w1 1 b+i ra used.
In the second stage o.,,' thu secondary level (9th to 11th
or 12th grades), students ya-,_11 hold regular jobs and study
mainly in their spare time. Diffarent arrangements for
classes will be mad and students will enroll in accordance
with their interests, capa d.li`Aes and school quotas, which
will be determined by the I corumj ; plans of the country.
The present sprawling L.y stem of factory training schools,
industrial trade schools, cinitng scho la, labor reserve building
schools, trade union techn#.ea:l 5o co1J, and factory apprentice-
ship schools of the econom. c acun i.Ie and departments, which
have lagged behind the requ,i ente of industrial and agricul-
tural production, are to bt reorganized to fit the new school
system,
Three basic types of tchoc is have been set forth In the
new educational theses as follows:
t-. !t V?rF.i. ~'~j/Llii+iEZl.~4y Lac UULLUa
rat-education sohcois? camb1ned with a regular
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devoted to trad$ pa*otwoe and p
~re+e -year geneie.l + du~~ati canal l
-poly-technical
d of the time
n,
zed secondary ixdu ational teohnicu s.
vide Bourses which will pre-
,r edueatiQxna1 institutions.
'or positions as junior special-
Sine* most students
r the universities or higher--
ll in terminal v b eationai-
'ieet enrollment is expected
eorre4p rad4z oe $thoola. No s ntlon has
ber q stud, `nt; who will o*960 their etudes
eight-year ,o ujvory schooling, because of
laced on en't;nee to higher oftcational
the vooat .onalized Oe 3or 1ax r schools are s .l r to the
terser labor reserve sekiool.L t414eh could not meet the manpower
s e r e .A mn tstration had ' a .n':. ,.: ned that these schools pro-
vided . nera . secondary 4 u 3ation until last ear when i t
a itted that et'' G., ed c ltu `+ l content. The new curr1c
id se ;:_)1 =hews on a further declins in
l,iberal arts courses: '4c:.' w:l,. trs.in a text technio.r,
but they will not graduato tr_t .y edueated men and women.
exception to the Y {irk--su'
iftdtdt H
ge suen.ow a
c.he v s a.1 : theta
d children who early show #clal
parti.' i tl a.c f ie d'"'"*. t t , a, ' '}y
art-`~-thc 'e wo'414 be aD eriate seeor,
ary s ooje w=011 Vol arrpa for the corres-
ponding colleges and p Q: esaionai schools.
to onhiderabb ,e t .:.sodas. an. during the r'or ulation
to preserve and develop t Llr talents. Ndueators and scientists
snaary level has b eh s
its i udent boJj t,:) be
oonevitive exin n ?tions -,14-11
his introduction of the a* ns
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were particularly concern o I t..ist the education of this group
Should not be i.nt rrupted `).v -ior?k assi nts. They pointed
out that the most products re :res.rs in a s tudentrss life were
between the ages of 16 to mae that interference with their
intellectual development i..3r1 C this period would be a lose
to the State. This very xu l' , carefully selected group will
be separated from the mull Ltu le and accorded special treatment.
For the rest, even those for scientific and prof'es-
y of education will have to be rein-
careers, a continult-
ed through evening WVI cc: s o s nce courses pursued in
Lon to regular jobs. ?o.'~ them a high premium. will be
on perststerce.
The vast majority of ito ter t e now know that they can not
fora 31 ier educssstit? . e State expects to increase
corpespox dence courses at tl* eecond*X7 level but university
facilities and full-time e-,irvIlvionts will not be expanded.
ght percent of this ll tte _~ enrol ent= (210,000 in 1958)
will be reserved for vets a grid those with two or more rears
of loymen who must cadet=a =it h.i.n their on ranks for ad-
.ssion. This policy has acts .ly been the practice for two
Candidates will be selected by oars itteeos which in-
sentatives of 1,-* : de union and the Party. Pd-
on will. depend, in 4lit:.on to academic perfo c snee, upon
o-political recox en atloi from the students' places of
ent Komsomol 4 u ti . It is apparent that the other
ant oil the ua verol.t m of ent, reserve d for open
ve exam nations, 4111 come mainly from the group of
ed youth selected and spe~3t ily trained it the lower
balance
ghrashohe"v' in
diium in Se to her 195
study in higher education
vnd= to the Central
as follow
seems advisable teat arscxst school$ of higher educs~-
n
struction
n offer the fires two ol- three years of i
that young people 3ombi,rhe their studies with a job.
Id make it possible to aelset from among, the
or of yours peop1e who want to on with
ucation, thvss viao have demonstrated that this
was not a p83ein t ncy, that they wally had
for l.earnin and the patience and .r dustry to
pursue it. Only thee, be.nning with the third year,
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?z pt for the time :.--u,4ulr
ad' sable to free stu en
could the privileges :,e ";.rated--the students could
be released from the..-. warn for three days a week.
During the last two `~?E-r 3 cf situ it ram be found
is work performance :tnd g+ rte *I behavior must continue to
even after the studc:tt i ained admission to the univer-
part of the oo.fl.e * c.ara iczlt .
sry the Party. Only 4te: c yproximately thr
higher education stud it '.nave proved his right to education
her testing for ideoiea,ricill and polittca
on a full-time basis. A "Ugh pr m ur has been placed on
rartho d.oxy .
T1w beginning of the
and the School 1 'orr col,wt 1d
Some 3,000,000 new worker3 wi i.
the muvower no *do o the ? ovt
seven-year plan 1959-1965)
:.Qt by accident but by design.
be required annually to meet
during this period 1s1.1: rot be t
would normally be e y e t:. to g
.y about 800,000.
t:.ad rats
In 19,10 the number q-_"
as pgraaaed in the
rpu lati (15 to 69
large and the n ibex
Into the labor force from
' t OJ, as decrease tr t "i- 0, in
1953 (caused by the
birth-rate during the gar ;ears . The econ tc manpower
t
vertl.r the stthool population
problem could partially be met ty d
into factories,. mines an ~01.Lecttves. Ie new stt d -as-you-
work plan whl.cti starts wt's t o nth year of - school has been
devised to supply Soviet jo redaction with this needed labor
power. orgniloory educat 7:)n 113 to be out back from 10 to
earn; those who with to ;a rat: secondary school after the
8th year may do so In cone Ano tirn with a regular job or in an
apprenticeship relation to In-haa tryl and those who on to
higher education will oozi t tnu~ to devote a considerable propor-
tion of their time to a r u1 r job.
which
force in earl
oat outspoken la tl3eir 11t1cal critici n 'ter the
Congreas india':=ien cf Stalin in ?ebruary. As polit-
continued thr-.I ?h:,ut the year and reached a second
poi syste-e
si,gr ed to meet ideological-
tcc the surface in the Soviet Un .on
36.. Students and 3utelleetua.is were
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1 .,
Ing the Hungarian
i 1 e
d
e
f - the ia
D
. e
hat the would
inquiry had not be? n tra#to
~ted.
d other large cities
in handwritten
The official
asses in
a have walked out
4R
Banda:. The spier L ij
ri;i attL t; ing on the new freedom
tvals and
ty whth was me*
herod from
realms or
n;
scitenti.a is
the only man
et soc la1143t realism." Twel,,
Pav3
.
W ,~..
it Jobs for agreai:lia'.t Stalin was not
for the past.
1e - Writers Union expelled two
or the same cria 1.
and sent to the factories.
MIOTJr0L
ap
unable to control y heir na ;-...zra , iitellectu*1. curiosity and aon
vert them into trusted Co ui i Its . poring th. Hungarian revolu-
tien, he said, they demondtr t:rti, hold meeti s passed resolu-
- f, ^^^v.Aincr
A,e;>tnder nachev, t`.-he asta who defecated in Rangoon
said that etuderk"~'3 r?7spresorlt d the most progressive
cr nt~#
rNW
h uletion ti t,Ilit the Soviet syae" m had been
`
ti.ona
to zr t
jV443, Vis LSi
kv, occurred do y etutent ? a aaw rtlvtera tty,
l to atlons
achnioai high :3chWA, d the lnternattionae
nstitute
gever'
rated news about t he ' hunt
rn December 1956, etu er ?
b'tiiettfe--revs which the! h
Weate broa lca t$ and Polish
Soviet line was questionee by
Koee'ov aztd other large cities -v
which w40 ease
o-ra
of
a n d . rner?.l1:~ d natatied complete freed
see a and stories.
e :reasion. udintsev' a tit 1 , : Alone was published in
official journals .end pre T: be a bromerang to the Party.
young intellectuals sccla, ljie4 it and R .nt$ev wax compelled
to say that he had not ink{ndc,d: the message which they read
into it.
.
A with tk,: ,an>itaetian of Stalin,. wrote a
Other books and porn be "- e symbols of the
Scores of leningra d students V4I'e sent to tibe pia and
other dtZctp1tnar.Y measutee ea talaen against students through-
out the U$8 graver they dt nided that .. talini ation rhould
inolude other re poneib1O be v or the Party. Two fourth
year students at a Radio !ngi nd r.1ng Institute, both with rood
r+1lat9rt , v ere ast rt.10ing 9174918. questions emirs questions
atad.aeas of the
But the ~ tirn r' 3-xd. ?_i r rase'rtvu ,.xa a
*not in
rton and.
functions
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had been stimulated by do rl }e.d's Man That Shook
thou h th
e students wire re
e
pa
p
r %A4w.npec Bre(fl took UP
the -'
Imoblem
l~ n' ~ Case )f~t Questions became an open issue.
-
p
eett
.gi
,'w
.,. +~{+~
~;L.il t IMA:e i a ;LJrlgd vetted open? "
s
h had oxoued the scientist ant
tec
h,nol
,
.
a-
ad by '--I& , let won
also pzcduc
i
t
,
e
el
rl
que't.oned t: , s, 'Late that h trained them
T
,
he
us opposition o Our Oeci in Poland and Hu
r
b
t th
ga
y
u
e
senes ibis. was 6111-0 swa$t4rxor :+ ,r.,0.~.,.-.a
i Coetrinate itt oiti ~ : ne with the a 'USA uia.ax.e t.t sy3rem
idi
mg deal with
)blem of ~ P r,..,.
youth. tr.lig
w s the first salon by the
Pr j_n that
l
pxo
~-e4 was not e1APj3r one of rowdyt a
gat to student dissent ..-z, eoT nd~ths to the a is r e v? B
3
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on throughout the t ISSR7 by z$ a# %tLalumma wan ors# saiens Q r r ~' ~
officials and '
'
e erD
ii1e mstf th d
?o oeiscussion
d
in tb S
oviet pre3P 1uportd th
,pee reforsma or Proposed
on ft I n AMAM4 V%4 o4-"' 4.
, , WjVj,+.a+.3z undOrIVIng- thin 'Mal r A,rm+-m.d a,vrx acr-ne tnOO17
a `te the eightL year of ac.lwo cl atly into factories,$ the
sai#' would prevent youth from obtaining the treasured " certif`i-
cate of turity, the dip--oi easontja . for admission to the
university. n other wort:;:.:, :a.t old eliminate the liberal
arts from their education. ;u postpone education toe more
advanoed age, they said, 1c ul,(u +ieprive the student of his
ft,ftt4
e
f
y
ars
or lei ruin
;.
the charge also w sn
de that
.
Cf.W4VWA-M culture wouJ-0 be
neglected. he inadequacy of and i.eai education Was noted and
it was pointed out that the eliaination of courses in this field
noun : Ica re said that atudent
I
t
ss
n
he pUot course
s
whicsh preceded the oorehenve ears of the System had be--
cols disinterested In tbe1x? stu .*s as soon as they knew tie*,t
they would not have an opPOrtax4ty to to the university.
ca4e6 Soviet ,,moth t bee+sn encoura
e t
g
o
social lbettenwnt thz eh educations
' r'ex i
.
s saw in
i the opportunity f,ir t ?ir chiithti n t
i
o r
se above
labor, to prepax*e ti Ives for pro#`aasi
l
o
careers
live more desi.rab1u e.-4a lives. Knowledge education
ted 114
once we acc
ep
fir intp3nsicle, ed
. vau asns
- t zr~..
aid weUl as x3oan 3rd
.. o upwar social mobility,
..+ u
d
r
4460
t , va1i es, his and aspirations
quid be developed to _ the _.f a. t cif his~intei,laat ca.,paoit
n x"ejex zte, arid the edational erThasj;a
i
''he
c
o~ etl acisnoes are to b t t
_au ly t3V-60 *3t fragmented courses. The
ht an+tt in ' of tar rise le ngthy doau-
tso .redtion or attenu.
he hue.ties as a result
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Sine many new vocational cu . rsem
the aurrioula, hu aanitieL cot ra s
and attenuated.
entitled ;' dut ation for acia.lly~Pro-
"With the new 3eve
,, ,
.
Soviet union the worla
tlon saws an even acr- :i
d to make the
'oducer, educa
d central
tec1moloaloal t mprove nt su h as mechanical de izat.i
aid + an
Th
on
eartto.e ea t
. -. ,_t ono say
rt r a unito ayste
'iox'tty of util _taU ?ie1 aie In tl
been reco ized, tits -Ox
*,sent ecat;
w eel of Lavor aativii4c.
sohoo
eta
to be introduced into,
have to be reduced
eea the
wGd be emlbers 0-
themselves. The new
et they or their, childr'n
ire 'in 1(919 InV8ent,d a succinct statera*nt
a new aiaaa, that is the "+aaaai fraction
abatt i it hh i
. .noiger and tech
iz 1r i lt
.z nae 1957. 1onethe -
this elite, creates aT:
SMUP will stand out 1ni t
uld be able to better
m, rather than eliminating
o
ww -wIww . ,[ majority which
III be directed into 'act .n a s, mines and farms--a majority
hich will be denied asses, to tlla 1 '
ar tir n ideasd
,, an F iture that Might onus } therm to stitque
on he oasis or thi
er
ern Polit ca2_ecanomic s rata w,
Soviet st hoo , ays tJia li yq^ h
anger support th h
eopes
and aspirations of t h e o .' it has booomo the means to
further only the economic, pci ti? ai and military ends or
the State
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