Education under Stalin Flashcards
Under Stalin the campaign against illiteracy was…
relaunched
The Sixteenth Party Congress of 1930 adopted new targets to…
eliminate illiteracy and ensure that primary schooling was compulsory during the First Five-Year Plan
The government recruited ___ million volunteers from ____ to ____ workers and peasants
3
Komsomol
educate
How was Stalin’s war against illiteracy organised in a military fashion?
Volunteers were called “cultural soldiers”, organised in “cultural battalions” and tasked with fighting a “cultural war” against illiteracy
Stalin’s illiteracy campaign took place in the midst of Stalin’s campaign to…
collectivise agriculture. As a result, teachers were attacked as they were associated with the government and therefore considered the enemy
Around ___ per cent of teacher’s were physically attacked in the first year of the campaign
40
Teachers were also poorly ____ and poorly ____. They often arrived with no ____ or ____ materials
equipped
supported
textbooks
writing
In spite of the unpromising start the campaign was…
successful
During the first Five-Year Plan what per cent of Soviet adults had attended a literacy course?
90
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 ___
68
1928
By 1939 what per cent of Soviet citizens were literate?
Over 94 per cent
How did literacy rates reflect inequalities in society?
While around 97 per cent of men were literate only 90 per cent of women could read and write
Educational culture became obsessed with…
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
Nonetheless, ___ ____ was one of the successes of Stalin’s first decade in power
mass literacy
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 ___
curriculum
1932
1935
schools
Curriculum
Education
1920s
The reforms to the curriculum reflected…
the values and methods of Stalinist society
In order to ensure that young people became good workers on collective farms or in government factories, schools emphasised…
discipline, hard work and traditional skills
In order to ensure that children became obedient citizens, schools began to emphasise…
patriotism and respect for great Russian leaders
Teachers too were expected to embrace the values and methods of the…
command economy
What was education expected to turn young people into?
Good workers
In ___ a decree ordered curriculum reform. The decree abolished the ____ focus that had been put forwards in 1918
1931
polytechnic
The 1931 decree ordering curriculum reform stated that core subjects such as maths and science should form the basis of a…
socialist education
What did Stalin abolish?
The progressive methods of education that were advocated in the 1920s
What did Stalin’s education system stress?
Regimented discipline
A 1932 decree introduced new standards of discipline - what were these standards?
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
What was school discipline supposed to prepare students for?
School discipline was supposed to prepare students for the labour discipline that they would experience in Soviet factories under the Five-Year Plans
What was launched in 1933?
In 1933 a new series of textbooks was launched to support the new curriculum
When was a system of national examinations introduced?
1935
The system of national examinations introduced in 1935 were designed to…
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
History teaching became more…
nationalistic, stressing the history of the Russian nation rather than the history of class struggle or the international working-class movement
When was the Decree on the Teaching of Civic History issued?
May 1934
What was the Decree on the Teaching of Civic History?
History lessons, and new Soviet history textbooks, focused on the achievement of great men such as Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great
The Decree on the Teaching of Civic History emerged at the same time as the cult of Stalin - what is the significance of this?
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
What per cent of children were enrolled in primary schools by 1932? Why was this significant?
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
Stalin’s prime objective in the 1930s was industrialisation - what did this mean for education?
The government was unwilling to spend money on education beyond what was necessary to ensure the workforce could operate government factories
____ were maintained in the higher levels of education to keep costs down
fees
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
scholarships
grants
Party
officials
scheme
rewarding
In spite of educational fees, higher education grew significantly during the 1930s - what showcases this?
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
Secondary education also expanded - what showcases this?
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
What did Stalin introduce in July 1943?
A decree introducing gender segregation into secondary schools
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?
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
Educational expansion continued after the Second World War, and by 1953 official figures showed that…
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
In addition to the network of primary schools, secondary schools and universities, the Soviet Union also established…
Labour Reserve Schools (LRS)
When and why were Labour Reserve School’s established?
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
In a sense, the LRSs were a form of…
industrial conscription. Quotas for compulsory recruitment were issued. For the period of their education they were provided with accommodation and food, but no pay
During the Second World War the LRSs became an important part of _____ _____
Soviet industry
During the Second World War the LRSs became an important part of Soviet industry - why was this the case?
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
The LRSs started recruiting _____
women
Conditions in the LRSs were…
harsh and students who deserted could face sentences of between one year in prison and ten years in a gulag
During the Fourth and Fifth Five-Year Plans, LRSs played an important part in providing…
the skilled labour necessary for economic reconstruction
Between 1946 and 1952, the LRSs recruited ___ million young people and trained them to work in metallurgy _____ production, _____ and _____ construction, and as _____ workers
4.2
electricity
industrial
military
railway
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…
“red specialists”
What happened to the university staff who had been employed before 1928 in the late 1930s?
They were purged and replaced with red specialists
What did University courses reflect?
The need of the economy and there was a significant expansion of courses dealing with construction, transport and factory production
By 1953 the university sector had been extensively reconstructed - how many students were enrolled in Soviet universities at this time?
approximately 1.5 million
