Education under Khrushchev

Question 1

Summarise educational reform and expansion from 1953-85

Answer 1

While education grew under Stalin, the essential structure and curriculum stayed the same from the mid-1930s to 1953. Therefore Khrushchev believed that education, along with much else in the Soviet Union, was in need of reform. Khrushchev’s reforms proved unpopular, and Brezhnev restored much of the Stalinist curriculum after Khrushchev’s fall

Question 2

Khrushchev _____ the number of schools in towns and cities

Answer 2

doubled

Question 3

What did Khrushchev invest in?

Answer 3

Teacher training and recruitment

Question 4

The number of teachers rose from ___ million in 1953 to ___ million in 1964

Answer 4

1.5
2.2

Question 5

The level of teachers’ education improved under Khrushchev - what shows this?

Answer 5

In 1953 only 19 per cent of teachers had a university education; that rose to 40 per cent in 1964

Question 6

Perhaps the most important reform in terms of improving access to education was…

Answer 6

the abolition of fees for students attending secondary school and university

Question 7

When were fees for students attending secondary school and university abolished?

Answer 7

1956

Question 8

What was introduced in 1959?

Answer 8

The establishment of special funds to help maintain poor students who attended secondary schools. The fund paid for clothes, footwear, textbooks and school dinners

Question 9

As a result of Khrushchev’s reforms…

Answer 9

the proportion of 17 year olds who completed secondary education rose significantly from about 20 per cent in 1953 to about 75 per cent in 1959

Question 10

By ___ Khrushchev believed that the Soviet curriculum was in need of _____. The Soviet curriculum stayed much the same from ___ to 1955. Indeed, of the 61 textbooks in use in 1958, ___ had been initially written in ___

Answer 10

1956
reform
1931
61
46

Question 11

What did Khrushchev’s 1956 reforms reintroduce?

Answer 11

Polytechnic education

Question 12

Why did Khrushchev reintroduce polytechnic education?

Answer 12

The reintroduction of polytechnic education reflected the needs of Khrushchev’s industrial policy

Question 13

The main difference between Stalin and Khrushchev in regards to the link between economy and education

Answer 13

Whereas Stalin’s economy needed disciplines and literate workers, Khrushchev’s new light industries needed workers with more sophisticated skills

Question 14

How did the reforms introduced by Khrushchev reflect the impact of the war?

Answer 14

High mortality rates in young men led to a shortage of skilled labour in the 1950s

Question 15

As a result of the reforms education became more…

Answer 15

practical

Question 16

Education became more practical under Khrushchev - provide evidence for this claim

Answer 16

This is evident from the amount of time in class devoted to different subjects
- In 1947 50 per cent of curriculum time went towards humanities + in 1959 10 per cent of curriculum time went towards humanities (a -10 per cent change)
- In 1947 8 per cent of curriculum time went towards practical training + in 1959 28 per cent of curriculum time went towards practical training (a +20 per cent change)

Question 17

The reforms of December 1958 took Soviet schools further in the direction of…

Answer 17

polytechnic education

Question 18

What did the 1958 reforms reflect?

Answer 18

Khrushchev’s suspicion of the prejudice instilled by traditional education. He complained that academic education made students believe that they were too good to work in factories or on farms

Question 19

Khrushchev’s reforms were set out in the December 1959 Education Law - what did the law do?

Answer 19

• Made education compulsory for children ages 7 to 15
• Restructured education for students aged 16 to 19, so that most students would complete their education through a combination of education in schools and vocational training in local factories or on local farms
• Ensured the most academically gifted students would be given places at special schools that focused on academic education
• Introduced a new course, “the fundamentals of political knowledge”, for all 15 year olds to ensure they knew the benefits of the Soviet system and the essentials of Marxism

Question 20

Khrushchev continued to reform education. His final reforms were part of his broader policy of de-Stalinisation - what were they?

Answer 20

• Stalinist discipline was replaced in November 1960 when a new code of conduct was introduced which abolished the rules about correct sitting and standing postures
• In 1961 Khrushchev ordered a new emphasis on learning foreign languages. Again this reflected a rejection of Stalin’s emphasis on cultural isolation
• The requirement to set homework was also dropped, and final exams, introduced by Stalin in the 1930s, were replaced by continuous assessment
• In June 1952 teachers lost the right to expel students who were underachieving

Question 21

Khrushchev’s reforms were _____ and _____

Answer 21

unpopular
failure

Question 22

Why were Khrushchev’s reforms unpopular?

Answer 22

They were unpopular because most parents wanted their children to get an academic education, rather than complete vocational courses . This view was particularly common among Communist Party members

Question 23

Why were Khrushchev’s reforms a failure?

Answer 23

The reforms were a failure because they were never fully implemented

Question 24

• By ___, when all schools were supposed to offer courses to students up to the age of 19, only ___ per cent of schools had complied with government regulations
• The slackening of discipline was generally ignored by teachers, who continued to set _____ and insist on correct _____ and _____ postures
• Curriculum reforms were not implemented in ___ per cent of schools

Answer 24

1962
65
homework
standing
sitting
47

Question 25

What were the most successful aspects of Khrushchev’s reforms?

Answer 25

Those that improved education for the academic elite. These reforms were welcomed by party officials, and the number of special schools increased significantly

Question 26

___ Art and Sculpture schools in 1959 + ___ Art and Sculpture schools in 1966

Answer 26

5
50