USSR: Education and Young People Flashcards
What did Communists like Lenin believe education achieved?
Communists tended to believe that education was important.
Lenin believed that a high level of education, with basic literacy, was an essential part of building socialism.
Socialism required industrialisation which required a well-educated workforce who could understand the complex process of industry.
Education served the long-term goals of the revolution by laying the foundations for industrialisation.
What purpose did Lunacharsky think education served?
Other Communists like Lunacharsky, believed that the primary goal of education was to allow the individual students to flourish.
He believed that therefore, the revolution should liberate the student, rather than education serving the goals of the revolution.
What were some initial questions education raised?
Should Communists continue with traditional forms of education or create a new kind of revolutionary education?
Should Communists work with educated people even though they were part of the original elite?
How should Communists educated the millions of workers with little to no formal education?
What were the initial problems the Communists faced in terms of education? (3)
Low levels of literacy, only around 32% of the population could read and write by 1914.
Educational inequalities, Russians tended to be better educated than non-Russian.
Urban education > Rural education.
What made initial education problems more complicated?
Practical problems and ideological debates made things even more complication by the notion that after 1918, Russia was in a state of transition rather than an actual socialist state.
Therefore, some Communists argued that in the short term, compromises were vital between socialist principles and the need to rebuild society after the Civil War.
In October 1918, what did the party do? (5)
-Established unified labour schools to provide free polytechnic education to all children aged 8-17
-Banned religious instruction in schools.
Introduced co-educational schools, ending gender segregation of schooling.
-Abolished corporal; punishment, homework and exams.
-“Promised” free breakfast for schoolchildren and free medical exams.
-Education became compulsory.
What new form of education did the government propose in 1918?
Government proposed the creation of factory schools or professional schools where people learnt about skills required to work in factories.
How was secondary school designed under Lenin?
It was designed to be educational
How did the Civil War affect education? (3)
Under the conditions of the Civil War, there was insufficient resources to invest into the education system.
Free compulsory education not actually achieved.
Schools did not have resources to provide free meals or medical check-ups.
As a period of compromise, how did the NEP affect education? (5)
Financial issues meant cuts in educational provision:
Forced some schools to close to save money.
Introduced fees to pay for primary and secondary education for all except the poorest children.
Scrapped plans to open up children’s homes for the 7 million children orphaned due to the Civil War.
In the first 18 months of the NEP, the number of children in education halved, as did the number of schools.
When were primary school fees abolished and how did this affect the next few years? How many children of primary school age were in school by 1928?
As the economy stabilised, the education system expanded. From 1927, the fees for primary schools were abolished. From then on, the majority of children received a four year primary education.
By 1928, about 60% of Soviet children of primary school age were in school.
10% more than before the revolution.
Despite expansion during the 20s, what were the remaining inequalities?
Such as in towns and cities, children in education tended to get the full four years of primary education, whereas in the countryside, children were unlikely to complete even three years of education.
What were secondary schools like in the 20s? (4 points)
Under the NEP, education was funded locally rather than by the Commissariat for Education.
Central government had difficulty controlling the curriculum.
Rather than follow the educational programme of polytechnic schools that had been outlined in 1918, local soviets took over existing schools by the Tsarist regime.
Schools tended to be dominated by children of the wealthy: 97% of students paid fees. Around 90% of middle-class students started secondary school and only 3% actually finished.
Vast majority of teachers in the former Tsarist schools were trained before the revolution, therefore they continued to teach in the traditional way. Their approach to subjects like history remained traditional. Government wanted teachers to teach the history of class struggle and of the working class. Teachers ignored this and continued to teach the achievements of the Tsar.
Why was reducing illiteracy important for Lenin and what did he do to tackle it?
Lenin believed that ending illiteracy was crucial to building socialism.
Tackling it was a central educational aim.
Decree on Illiteracy produced in 1919 which required to all illiterate people between the ages of 8-50 to learn to read and write.
How did Trotsky handle illiteracy? Was he successful?
Trotsky also shared Lenin’s view about the importance of literacy.
As a leader of the Red Army, he introduced education for all soldiers.
As a result, literacy rates increased from 50% in 1918 to 86% in 1921.
Campaigns continued after the War was won.
By 1925, 100% of soldiers in the Red Army could read and write.
How did Lunacharksy attempt to combat illiteracy?
Lunacharsky set up a network of reading rooms in towns and villages.
Six week courses in reading and writing, designed to “liquidate” illiteracy.
Did literacy rates increase during the Civil War?
Outside the Red Army, the Civil War saw a decline in literacy.
Communist Government published 6.5 million textbooks containing simple rhymes that taught people the advert.
Rise in the number of people who could identify letters.
This campaign did not lead to an increase in genuine literacy.
Why were literacy campaigns set back during the Civil War? (3)
Majority of teachers in 1917 did not support the regime.
Advocated Western-Style democracy.
Teachers went on protest at the new government.
Government prioritised military victory over education.
Many schools requisitioned by the army and turned into stores or barracks.
Education ceased.
War economy did not produce or distribute educational products.
Schools had one pencil for every 60 students by 1920.
War disrupted education across the country.
What did the NEP mean for the literacy campaign?
Economic conditions initially led to the scaling back of the already small literacy campaign.
To save money, the government closed down 90% of the reading room network which was established during the Civil War
What did the government announce in May 1925?
In May 1925, the Government announced an initiative to ensure that all adults were literate by October 1927, the tenth anniversary of the revolution.
What did workers do to help the literacy campaign? Were they successful?
Workers set up libraries and reading groups in factories to educate workers.
Minor success, such as metal Workers Union reporting an increase in literacy from 86% in 1925 to 96% in 1926.
What happened at the Sixteenth Party Congress in 1930?
The Sixteenth Party Congress of 1930 adopted new targets to eliminate illiteracy and ensure that primary school was compulsory during the Five Year Plans.
Government recruited 3 million volunteers from the Komsomol to educate the workers and peasants.
Campaign was organised in a military fashion and the volunteers were called:
“Cultural soldiers”
Tasked with fighting a “cultural war” against illiteracy.
Took place in the middle of Stalin’s campaign to collectivise agriculture.
What was the result of Stalin’s illiteracy campaign?
Teachers were attacked and associated as government workers.
40% of teachers attacked
Some teachers locked in schools and were then set on fire.
What were the problems with Stalin’s illiteracy campaign? (4)
Teachers were also poorly equipped and poorly supported.
Often had no textbooks or writing materials.
Little to offer the peasants who turned up to schools.
Unable to provide school meals for free.
What were some successes of the FYP illiteracy campaign?
During the Five-Year-Plan, 90% of Soviet adults had attended a literacy course.
Courses were not wholly successful.
But 68% of people were literate by the end of the FYP.
A good improvement from 1928.
By 1939, over 94% of Soviet citizens were literate.
How literacy rates reflect social inequalities?
Whilst around 97% of men were literate, only 90% of women could read and write.
