Education under Stalin

Question 1

Under Stalin the campaign against illiteracy was…

Answer 1

relaunched

Question 2

The Sixteenth Party Congress of 1930 adopted new targets to…

Answer 2

eliminate illiteracy and ensure that primary schooling was compulsory during the First Five-Year Plan

Question 3

The government recruited ___ million volunteers from ____ to ____ workers and peasants

Answer 3

3
Komsomol
educate

Question 4

How was Stalin’s war against illiteracy organised in a military fashion?

Answer 4

Volunteers were called “cultural soldiers”, organised in “cultural battalions” and tasked with fighting a “cultural war” against illiteracy

Question 5

Stalin’s illiteracy campaign took place in the midst of Stalin’s campaign to…

Answer 5

collectivise agriculture. As a result, teachers were attacked as they were associated with the government and therefore considered the enemy

Question 6

Around ___ per cent of teacher’s were physically attacked in the first year of the campaign

Answer 6

40

Question 7

Teachers were also poorly ____ and poorly ____. They often arrived with no ____ or ____ materials

Answer 7

equipped
supported
textbooks
writing

Question 8

In spite of the unpromising start the campaign was…

Answer 8

successful

Question 9

During the first Five-Year Plan what per cent of Soviet adults had attended a literacy course?

Answer 9

90

Question 10

The literacy courses were not wholly successful, but approximately ___ per cent of people were literate by the end of the First Five-Year Plan, a significant improvement from ___

Answer 10

68
1928

Question 11

By 1939 what per cent of Soviet citizens were literate?

Answer 11

Over 94 per cent

Question 12

How did literacy rates reflect inequalities in society?

Answer 12

While around 97 per cent of men were literate only 90 per cent of women could read and write

Question 13

Educational culture became obsessed with…

Answer 13

statistics and centrally enforced targets. Therefore although literacy rates shot up, there was no focus on the full educational development of the students. Nor was there any official attempt to encourage students to read or write for pleasure

Question 14

Nonetheless, ___ ____ was one of the successes of Stalin’s first decade in power

Answer 14

mass literacy

Question 15

Under Stalin, the government established tight control of the _____. From ___ to ___ the government ordered extensive changed to what was taught in ____. _____ changes were a response to criticisms of the People’s Commissariat for _____ and Educational standards in schools in the ___

Answer 15

curriculum
1932
1935
schools
Curriculum
Education
1920s

Question 16

The reforms to the curriculum reflected…

Answer 16

the values and methods of Stalinist society

Question 17

In order to ensure that young people became good workers on collective farms or in government factories, schools emphasised…

Answer 17

discipline, hard work and traditional skills

Question 18

In order to ensure that children became obedient citizens, schools began to emphasise…

Answer 18

patriotism and respect for great Russian leaders

Question 19

Teachers too were expected to embrace the values and methods of the…

Answer 19

command economy

Question 20

What was education expected to turn young people into?

Answer 20

Good workers

Question 21

In ___ a decree ordered curriculum reform. The decree abolished the ____ focus that had been put forwards in 1918

Answer 21

1931
polytechnic

Question 22

The 1931 decree ordering curriculum reform stated that core subjects such as maths and science should form the basis of a…

Answer 22

socialist education

Question 23

What did Stalin abolish?

Answer 23

The progressive methods of education that were advocated in the 1920s

Question 24

What did Stalin’s education system stress?

Answer 24

Regimented discipline

Question 25

A 1932 decree introduced new standards of discipline - what were these standards?

Answer 25

Teachers were required to ensure that students attended regularly and were punctual, and were also required to set regular homework
There was a national code of conduct which covered the correct way to stand and sit in classes
Students could also be expelled from school for misconduct

Question 26

What was school discipline supposed to prepare students for?

Answer 26

School discipline was supposed to prepare students for the labour discipline that they would experience in Soviet factories under the Five-Year Plans

Question 27

What was launched in 1933?

Answer 27

In 1933 a new series of textbooks was launched to support the new curriculum

Question 28

When was a system of national examinations introduced?

Answer 28

1935

Question 29

The system of national examinations introduced in 1935 were designed to…

Answer 29

grade the workforce of the future so students with good grades could be identified and trained for management posts, and less successful students would be assigned more manual jobs

Question 30

History teaching became more…

Answer 30

nationalistic, stressing the history of the Russian nation rather than the history of class struggle or the international working-class movement

Question 31

When was the Decree on the Teaching of Civic History issued?

Answer 31

May 1934

Question 32

What was the Decree on the Teaching of Civic History?

Answer 32

History lessons, and new Soviet history textbooks, focused on the achievement of great men such as Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great

Question 33

The Decree on the Teaching of Civic History emerged at the same time as the cult of Stalin - what is the significance of this?

Answer 33

The new focus on great Russian leaders was part of the hero-worship that was becoming a feature of Soviet culture at the time. The new educational focus was designed to make students respect Stalin and love their country

Question 34

What per cent of children were enrolled in primary schools by 1932? Why was this significant?

Answer 34

Official figures show that they achieved the enrolment of 95 per cent of children
This was a dramatic increase from the 60 per cent enrolled in 1928

Question 35

Stalin’s prime objective in the 1930s was industrialisation - what did this mean for education?

Answer 35

The government was unwilling to spend money on education beyond what was necessary to ensure the workforce could operate government factories

Question 36

____ were maintained in the higher levels of education to keep costs down

Answer 36

fees

Question 37

The Communist Party and trades unions offered _____ and _____ to help students access higher education. However, the system favoured the sons and daughters of ____ ____. Indeed, the _____ was part of Stalin’s broader policy of _____ loyal party members

Answer 37

scholarships
grants
Party
officials
scheme
rewarding

Question 38

In spite of educational fees, higher education grew significantly during the 1930s - what showcases this?

Answer 38

The number of universities increased by around 800 per cent, from 105 in 1914 to 817 in 1939

The number of students receiving a university education increased from 127,000 in 1914 to 811,000 in 1939

Question 39

Secondary education also expanded - what showcases this?

Answer 39

By 1939 approximately 1.5 million Soviet citizens, seven per cent of the child population, completed their secondary education compared to just 216,000 in the last years of the NEP

Question 40

What did Stalin introduce in July 1943?

Answer 40

A decree introducing gender segregation into secondary schools

Question 41

Stalin’s final attempt to ensure discipline at school came in July 1943 when a decree introduced gender segregation into secondary schools - what did this decree entail?

Answer 41

Where possible, local soviets were encouraged to ensure that male and female students did not share the same buildings. Stalin felt that interaction between the adolescent male and female students was likely to lead to distraction and ill-discipline

Question 42

Educational expansion continued after the Second World War, and by 1953 official figures showed that…

Answer 42

Almost 100 per cent of children aged 8 to 12 gained the full four years of primary education
Around 65 per cent of children aged 12 to 17 gained some secondary education
Around 20 per cent of children aged 15 to 17 completed secondary education

Question 43

In addition to the network of primary schools, secondary schools and universities, the Soviet Union also established…

Answer 43

Labour Reserve Schools (LRS)

Question 44

When and why were Labour Reserve School’s established?

Answer 44

Labour Reserve Schools were established by the Ministry of Labour in 1940 in order to train young men between the ages of 14 and 17 in specialisms in industry

Question 45

In a sense, the LRSs were a form of…

Answer 45

industrial conscription. Quotas for compulsory recruitment were issued. For the period of their education they were provided with accommodation and food, but no pay

Question 46

During the Second World War the LRSs became an important part of _____ _____

Answer 46

Soviet industry

Question 47

During the Second World War the LRSs became an important part of Soviet industry - why was this the case?

Answer 47

Young men could avoid military service by enrolling in a LRS and then be deployed to fulfil a specialist role in a factory in order to facilitate war production

Question 48

The LRSs started recruiting _____

Answer 48

women

Question 49

Conditions in the LRSs were…

Answer 49

harsh and students who deserted could face sentences of between one year in prison and ten years in a gulag

Question 50

During the Fourth and Fifth Five-Year Plans, LRSs played an important part in providing…

Answer 50

the skilled labour necessary for economic reconstruction

Question 51

Between 1946 and 1952, the LRSs recruited ___ million young people and trained them to work in metallurgy _____ production, _____ and _____ construction, and as _____ workers

Answer 51

4.2
electricity
industrial
military
railway

Question 52

During the period of the NEP Soviet industry had been run by “bourgeois specialists”, people who had been born into privileged classes prior to the revolution. Stalin wanted to replace these people, who in his view were enemies of socialism, with a new generation of…

Answer 52

“red specialists”

Question 53

What happened to the university staff who had been employed before 1928 in the late 1930s?

Answer 53

They were purged and replaced with red specialists

Question 54

What did University courses reflect?

Answer 54

The need of the economy and there was a significant expansion of courses dealing with construction, transport and factory production

Question 55

By 1953 the university sector had been extensively reconstructed - how many students were enrolled in Soviet universities at this time?

Answer 55

approximately 1.5 million