The U.S.S.R. educational system

Abstract

To approach the subject of education in the U. S. S. R. from an objective viewpoint is really difficult owing to a combination of factors exogenous to the system that makes it peculiar with respect to other countries. In this context it is necessary to outline with the greatest possible clarity what is the “official version” of the U. S. S. R. of the underlying realities that are persistent and which are promoted in the system. At times these are contradictory to the fundamental objectives of education in the country, while in other cases they are the result of a more exact interpretation of definite planning. Concepts such as, for example, “human morality”, “the love of the Native land” or “internationalism” aquire a different character in the U. S. S. R. It is therefore necessary to clarify the content of some concepts. The management of education in the U. S. S. R. is primarily controlled and directed by two Ministries and a State Committee, strongly influenced in its decisions by the norms dictated by the P. C. U. S. Like almost all authoritarian countries a strong centralization and bureaucracy are indespensible instruments in the development of its Educational and Administrative Policy. The levels of the education systems correspond, in general, to those adopted in other countries, although with some different ways of functioning and different contents. Among others, its financing, selection of students, specialisations (especially in secondary education), etc. Finally, the direction of education followed in the U. S. S. R. is distinguished chiefly by the extension of the net of pre-school centres, the increase of resources through night schools and correspondence, the improvement of the organisations that carry out extracurriculum activities and the progressive introduction of the “school of the full working day”.