Public education system in the USSR- the education system that existed in the Soviet Union.

Education in the Soviet Union was closely connected with the upbringing and formation of personality traits. The Soviet school was called upon not only to solve general educational problems, teaching students knowledge of the laws of development of nature, society and thinking, labor skills and abilities, but also to form on this basis the communist views and beliefs of students, to educate students in the spirit of high morality, Soviet patriotism and proletarian internationalism .

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In total, by 1920, 3 million people were taught to read and write. The 1920 census on the territory of Soviet Russia recorded the ability to read in 41.7% of the population aged 8 years and older. However, this census was not universal and did not cover such territories of the country as Belarus, Volyn, Podolsk provinces, Crimea, Transcaucasia, mountainous regions of the North Caucasus, part of Turkestan and Kyrgyzstan, the Far East, as well as some areas of European Russia and Ukraine, Khiva and Bukhara .

Average number of years of education for the population over 9 years of age:

1797	1807	1817	1827	1837	1847	1857	1867	1877	1887	1897	1907	1917	1927	1937	1947	1957	1967	1977	1987
0,127	0,148	0,179	0,222	0,270	0,320	0,367	0,435	0,516	0,592	0,762	0,930	1,112	1,502	3,376	5,442	6,048	6,974	7,861	8,833

1920s

In area primary education The main problem in the 1920s remained the elimination of illiteracy. In 1923, by decree of the People's Commissariat of Education, the “Down with Illiteracy” Society was created. Over 1.2 million people were united by urban patronage organizations designed to help the village in raising culture. In order to speed up education, it was necessary to increase the load on suitable school premises: despite the fact that by 1924 the number of students (with an absolute reduction in the population) was brought almost to the level of 1914 (98%), the number of schools was only 83% of the pre-war level. The main influx of students during this period were street children, whose number reached 7 million people in these years. In 1925-28, as access to education was ensured for all school-age children, universal compulsory primary education was introduced by orders of local Soviet authorities. This is how laws on universal education were adopted: in 1924 in the Ukrainian SSR; in 1926 in the Belarusian SSR; as well as in the TSFSR and in some republics of Central Asia in the late 1920s. But only after the elimination of homelessness as a mass phenomenon (by 1928 - already only 300 thousand), by September 1930, there were grounds to state that universal primary education of children had actually been introduced.

Soviet schools are being rebuilt in accordance with the “Regulations on the Unified Labor Polytechnic School”. In the history of the formation of the USSR, the 1920s are characterized as years of searching for bold and original solutions. Integrated training, the laboratory-team method, and the project method are being widely introduced in schools. The languages ​​of the majority of the population of the republics are taught in schools. In the 1920s, secondary education in the USSR lasted seven years. The next stage was vocational education, which included vocational schools, technical schools and institutes. In fact, the Soviet school system took shape by 1922: primary school (4 years of study), basic seven-year comprehensive school and senior level of comprehensive school (9-10 years of study in total).

Great damage was caused to the public education system and the spread of literacy by the First World War and the Civil War. Due to persistent shortages of funds, by the 1922–23 school year the number of schools had dropped to 88,588 and the number of students had dropped to 7,322,062 (it was not until 1926 that the number of schools had increased to 111,046 and the number of students to 10,219,529). The situation was aggravated by hunger and devastation in many areas of the economy; full funding for the education system was restored only by 1924, after which spending on education grew steadily.

Year	Expenses on education (in rubles)	Percentage of budget
1925-26	520 000	12,36 %
1926-27	691 000	11,96 %
1927-28	895 000	12,42 %
1928-29	1 123 000	12,78 %
1929-30	1 781 000	13,37 %

Changes in the number of primary schools and students enrolled in them in the 1920s:

	Number of primary schools	Number of students
1914-15 1	104 610	7 235 988
1920-21	114 235	9 211 351
1921-22	99 396	7 918 751
1922-23	87 559	6 808 157
1923-24	87 258	7 075 810
1924-25	91 086	8 429 490
1925-26	101 193	9 487 110
1926-27	108 424	9 903 439

1. Within the borders before September 17, 1939

By the 1927/28 academic year, the number of students in the USSR increased to:

• There are 11,589 thousand students in secondary and primary schools of all types.
• In the same year, 189 thousand studied in secondary specialized educational institutions.
• There are 169 thousand students in higher educational institutions.

Significant successes have been achieved in the fight against illiteracy; in total, up to 10 million adults were taught to read and write in 1917-1927 (for more details, see the article “Educational Education”). The USSR Population Census of 1926 revealed 56.6% of the literate population aged 9 to 49 years (80.9 among urban and 50.6 rural). Overall, the number of students and teachers increased significantly during this period.

The number of teachers increased from 222,974 in 1922/23. to 394,848 in 1929/30 The number of students in all schools in the USSR increased from 7,322,062 in 1922/23. to 13,515,688 in 1929/30 Of them:

• in primary schools from 5,993,379 in 1922/23. to 9,845,266 in 1929/30
• in junior high schools from 736,854 in 1922/23. to 2,424,678 in 1929/30
• in secondary schools increased from 591,645 in 1922/23. to 1,117,824 in 1929/30

The number of students in higher educational institutions increased from 127,000 to 169,000 in 1927/28 compared to pre-war 1914. In 1930 there were 272,000 students in the USSR. The number of higher education institutions increased from 91 in 1914 to 148 in 1927/28 (272,000 in 1930).

Moreover, although the country's scientific potential was seriously damaged during social upheaval, it began to recover from the 1920s. The number of scientific workers has increased significantly. By 1927 there were 25 thousand of them, that is, twice as many as before the revolution. In 1929, 1,263 scientific institutions (including 438 and their branches) were already operating in the USSR.

In 1932, unified ten-year labor schools were introduced in the USSR.

In 1933-37, compulsory 7-year education was implemented in cities and workers' settlements. Already in the 1938/1939 academic year in the USSR, 97.3% of children who completed primary school went on to secondary school.

In total, during this period the number of students in the USSR in all schools increased from 13,515,688 in 1929/30. to 31,517,375 in 1938/39 Of them:

• in primary schools from 9,845,266 in 1929/30 to 10,646,115 in 1938/39.
• in junior high schools from 2,424,678 in 1929/30. to 11,712,024 in 1938/39
• in secondary schools from 1,117,824 in 1929/30. to 9,028,156 in 1938/39

Overall, significant progress has been made in public education. Thus, the number of students in the USSR in the 20 years after the October Revolution in 1937 compared to the pre-war year of 1914 increased by 3.5 times (in secondary schools by 20.2 times), and the number of higher educational institutions increased by 7.7 times.

By the end of the 1930s, significant success had also been achieved in the fight against illiteracy: according to the 1939 census, the percentage of the literate population was 87.4%, and the gap in literacy between the rural and urban population had significantly decreased. In just 16 years (from 1923 to 1939), more than 50 million illiterate and about 40 million semi-literate people of different ages studied in the USSR. Among the recruits, literacy was no longer a problem. And the share of conscripts with higher and secondary education in 1939-1940. accounted for a third of the total number of conscripts.

Statistics on changes in the percentage of the literate population:

		1917	1920	1926	1937	1939	1959	1970	1979
Rural population:	Husband.	53 %	52,4 %	67,3 %	-	91,6 %	99,1 %	99,6 %	99,6 %
	Women	23 %	25,2 %	35,4 %	-	76,8 %	97,5 %	99,4 %	99,5 %
	Total	37%	37,8%	50,6%	-	84,0%	98,2%	99,5%	99,6%
Urban population:	Husband.	80 %	80,7 %	88,0 %	-	97,1 %	99,5 %	99,9 %	99,9 %
	Women	61 %	66,7 %	73,9 %	-	90,7 %	98,1 %	99,8 %	99,9 %
	Total	70,5 %	73,5 %	80,9 %	-	93,8 %	98,7 %	99,8 %	99,9 %
Total:	Husband.	58 %	57,6 %	71,5 %	86 %	93,5 %	99,3 %	99.8 %	99.8 %
	Women	29 %	32,3 %	42,7 %	66,2 %	81,6 %	97,8 %	99,7 %	99,8 %
	Total	43 %	44,1 %	56,6 %	-	87,4 %	98,5 %	99,7 %	99,8 %

In the 1930s, the following regulations were issued concerning the Soviet education system:

1940s

In total, 34,784 thousand people studied in USSR schools in the 1940/41 academic year. Of them:

In the initial ones - 10,060 thousand. For seven-year-olds - 12,525 thousand. In the average - 12,199 thousand.

The number of teachers in 1940/41 was 1,237 thousand.

In the 1940/41 academic year in the USSR there were 3,773 secondary specialized educational institutions with 975,000 students. Higher education in the USSR in the 1940/41 academic year was represented by 817 educational institutions, in which 812,000 students studied.

In 1940, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR issued a decree “On establishing tuition fees in senior secondary schools and in higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships.” . According to this decree, from September 1, 1940, paid education was introduced in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, technical schools, pedagogical schools, agricultural and other special secondary institutions, as well as higher educational institutions.

For students in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, technical schools, pedagogical schools, agricultural and other special secondary institutions, the fee ranged from 150 to 200 rubles per year. Education in higher educational institutions cost from 300 to 500 rubles per year. Tuition fees averaged approximately 10% of the family budget in 1940 (with one worker), in 1950 and further until the abolition of fees in 1954 - about 5%.

To encourage outstanding figures in science, technology, culture and organizers of production, the Stalin Prizes, awarded annually since 1941, were established in 1939, on the 60th anniversary of Stalin.

Taking into account the increased level of material well-being of the working people and the significant expenses of the Soviet state on the construction, equipment and maintenance of the continuously growing network of secondary and higher educational institutions, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR recognizes the need to assign part of the costs of education in secondary schools and higher educational institutions of the USSR to the working people themselves and to In connection with this, it decides:
1. Introduce tuition fees in the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades of secondary schools and higher educational institutions from September 1, 1940.
2. Establish the following tuition fees for students in grades 8-10 of secondary schools:
a) in schools in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as in the capital cities of the Union republics - 200 rubles per year;
b) in all other cities, as well as villages - 150 rubles per year.

Note. The specified tuition fees in grades 8-10 of secondary schools will be extended to students of technical schools, pedagogical schools, agricultural and other special secondary institutions.
1. Establish the following tuition fees in higher educational institutions of the USSR:
a) in higher educational institutions located in the cities of Moscow and Leningrad and the capitals of the union republics - 400 rubles per year;

b) in higher educational institutions located in other cities - 300 rubles per year...

Number of students in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War:

	Schools	Higher education institutions	Secondary specialized institutions
1941/42	17 765 000	313 000	415 000
1942/43	14 036 000	227 000	316 000
1943/44	17 966 000	400 000	503 000
1944/45	24 656 000	585 000	812 000
1945/46	26 094 000	730 000	1 008 000

1950s

In the 1949/50 school year, there was a decrease in the number of students, as children born during the war years were enrolled in schools, when the birth rate in wartime conditions (especially in enemy-occupied territory and in the front line) decreased significantly.

In 1956, 35,505 thousand people studied in various educational institutions in the USSR (this number does not include 14.9 million students in retraining and advanced training schools). Of them:

In general education schools - 30,127 thousand. In schools of the labor reserve school system - 1,365 thousand people. In technical schools and secondary specialized educational institutions - 2012 thousand. In higher educational institutions - 2001 thousand.

The number of teachers in 1950/51 was 1,475 thousand; in 1955/56 - 1733 thousand.

In 1950, there were 162.5 thousand scientists in the USSR. By 1955, their number had grown to 223.9 thousand and 2950 scientific institutions (1180 of them were research institutes and their branches).

The USSR population census conducted in 1959 demonstrated that illiteracy among the country's population had been almost completely eradicated.

In 1958, there were 29 polytechnic institutes, 30 mechanical engineering, 27 civil engineering, 7 aviation, 27 mining and metallurgical, 18 transport, 15 electrical engineering and communications institutes, 13 fisheries and food industries, 10 chemical engineering, 2 meteorological and hydraulic engineering and 2 shipbuilding .

1960s

In 1975, there were 856 universities (including 65 universities) operating in the USSR, with more than 4.9 million students studying. In terms of the number of students per 10 thousand population, the USSR significantly exceeded such countries as Great Britain, the Federal Republic of Germany, France, Japan and others.

As of January 1, 1976, there were 6,272 vocational and technical educational institutions in the USSR, with 3.08 million students enrolled.

At the beginning of the 1975/1976 academic year, there were 167 thousand secondary schools in the USSR, with 48.8 million students studying. As of 1975, the training of teachers and educators was carried out at 65 universities, 200 pedagogical institutes and 404 pedagogical colleges.

Vocational Education

Extracurricular education

The activities of out-of-school institutions were based on the general principles of communist upbringing and education: free education, education in a team and through a team, continuity of the education process, connection with life, with the practice of communist construction, scientific nature of education, taking into account age and individual characteristics, development of initiative and amateur performances. For example, the children's club "Young Leninist" of the city of Tomsk, organized in 1923, included a bookbinding, carpentry, shoemaker's workshop, a cinema, a pioneer drama theater, a shooting range, a radio workshop, a technical station and a technical library, a photo circle, modeling and drawing clubs

At the beginning of 1971, there were 4,403 palaces and houses of pioneers and schoolchildren in the USSR, over 7,000 children's sectors at palaces and houses of culture, 1,008 stations for young technicians, 587 stations for young naturalists, 202 excursion and tourist stations, 155 children's parks, 38 children's railways, about 6,000 children's choreographic, art and music schools, 7,600 children's libraries, as well as pioneer camps, labor and recreation camps, sanatorium-type rest homes for children, and so on.

Correspondence education

In the Soviet Union, in order to ensure accessibility of education for all categories of citizens, for the first time in the world, a system of correspondence education was created, covering all educational levels and to date having no precedents in the world.

International assessment

The Soviet education system, especially in engineering and technical specialties, despite its shortcomings, occupied a leading position in the world according to political opponents of the USSR.

see also

• Education by country
• essay “How I spent the summer”

Notes

1. THE USSR. Public education- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
2. Universal education // Russian Pedagogical Encyclopedia. T. 1. M., 1993 URL:www.otrok.ru/teach/enc/index.php?n=3&f=82
3. Literacy // Great Soviet Encyclopedia M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978.
4. Myshko N. S. Growth of the educational level of the population of Kazakhstan during the period of building socialism (1917-1937) / dis. Ph.D. ist. Sci. Ust-Kamenogorsk 1984-201 p.
5. History of Russia of the XX - early XXI centuries / A. S. Barsenkov, A. I. Vdovin, S. V. Voronkova; edited by L. V. Milova - M.: Eksmo, 2006 P. 330, 400
6. Literacy / Russian Pedagogical Encyclopedia. T. 1. M., 1993; URL: www.otrok.ru/teach/enc/txt/4/page95.html

3. Legislation on universal secondary education in the USSR

Since 1949, the USSR began implementing universal compulsory seven-year education. In the 1950/51 academic year, there were 202 thousand secondary schools, in which almost 35 million people studied.

The introduction of universal secondary education requires resolving the issue of the radius of school service for high school students. In 1923, when planning primary schools, a three-kilometer radius for the service of students by these schools was established. As you know, children of eight years of age entered school at that time. Since 1944, children aged 7 years have been admitted to the school.

If universal seven-year education in the country was introduced without relatively large expenditures on the construction of school buildings, since the premises of primary schools were mainly used, seven-year schools, secondary schools, etc. were enlarged, then even with the introduction of universal secondary education it was impossible to raise the question of densification existing school buildings. The construction of a large number of new schools would be required. Determining a rational type of school building helped to construct new buildings for secondary schools with greater savings and in a timely manner.

The Ministry of Education of the RSFSR reports lists of mandatory standard educational and economic equipment for primary, seven-year and secondary schools, the buildings of which are built according to standard designs and put into operation since 1952. Thus, newly constructed school buildings can be put into operation only if they are fully educational and household equipment. These lists are so significant that, provided they are supplemented with some devices and tools necessary for polytechnic teaching, they can satisfy all the needs of teaching in a secondary school. The responsibilities of the public education authorities were to provide all newly built schools with educational equipment according to these lists, as well as to establish control over the acceptance of new school buildings, the construction of which was carried out by other departments, mainly economic ones. The same task faced the departments of public education in equipping previously constructed school buildings with teaching aids.

Rational planning of the school network presupposed accurate calculations of funds, school equipment, materials for the construction of school buildings, and the cost of educating each student in primary, seven-year and secondary schools. Detailed information on these issues is given in the article by N. A. Pomansky - “Planning the costs of maintaining schools for general education.”

Schools for working and rural youth acquired exceptional importance in the overall system of universal secondary education. Their network expanded every year, since the desire of young workers and peasants for education was very great. It would be extremely advisable to draw up a national economic plan for schools for working and rural youth with the participation of public organizations of factories, factories, collective farms, and state farms, in order to make it possible to more rationally plan these schools and ensure the actual implementation of the plan. There was a growing need to plan the construction of special buildings for schools for working youth in large industries, their equipment and the provision of full-time teachers.

The implementation of the directives of the 19th Congress of the Communist Party on the implementation of secondary education could be successful subject to the organized participation in this matter of Komsomol, trade union organizations, and the entire Soviet public. Back in 1930, the Central Committee of the CPSU invited all party organizations to consider the introduction of universal education as the most important political campaign for the entire coming period. At the same time, it was proposed that party committees at least twice a year hear at their meetings reports from the party part of the executive committees on the work to develop universal education.

The great tasks facing public education authorities in implementing universal secondary education should not have overshadowed the current tasks of completing universal seven-year education, which required daily care.

In the 1954/55 academic year. In 2009, schools began introducing modernized curricula and programs, according to which labor lessons were introduced in grades I-IV, practical classes in workshops and experimental areas in grades V-VII, and various labor workshops in grades VIII-X. Since 1954, apprentice production teams began to be created everywhere.

According to the Law of December 24, 1958 “On strengthening the connection between school and life and on the further development of the public education system in the USSR,” providing for the restructuring of secondary schools, universal compulsory eight-year education was introduced in the country.

In an effort to speed up the implementation of general secondary education in the country, the law established that complete secondary education will be provided not only by general education, but also by special secondary educational institutions.

On February 15, 1960, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution “On the organization of schools with extended days.” Boarding schools were widely developed, although there was an overestimation of the importance and prospects for the development of this type of educational institutions. In pursuance of the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR (1959) “On measures for the further development of preschool institutions, improvement of education and medical care for preschool children,” a research institute of preschool education was created in 1960 in the system of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the RSFSR.

The third stage of development of universal secondary education and the Soviet school includes the 60-70s.

The main directions of work in the field of public education were formulated in the Party Program adopted by the XXII Congress of the CPSU (October 1961): implementation of universal compulsory secondary education; improving the public education of children of preschool and school age; creating conditions that ensure a higher level of education and upbringing of younger generations; further development and improvement of higher and secondary specialized education.

In connection with the introduction of eight-year compulsory education, the organization of boarding schools and extended-day schools, and the expansion of the network of evening (shift) schools for working and rural youth, the need for teaching staff has increased significantly. Therefore, it was decided to increase the number of students in pedagogical institutes and teacher training colleges. As an exception, one-year pedagogical classes were created at the best secondary schools. Persons with a pedagogical education and wishing to switch to teaching work received the right to enroll without exams in the last year of pedagogical universities.

In the 60s The process of school consolidation has intensified. At the end of the 6th Five-Year Plan, there were more students in secondary schools than in eight-year and primary schools combined. During the seventh five-year plan alone (1961-1965), 14 thousand new schools were put into operation, 5 thousand more than in the sixth, and 10 thousand more than in the fifth five-year plan. The number of student places increased by almost 6.5 million.

Among the organizational, pedagogical and program-methodological measures, one should mention the introduction of the so-called linear, or ascending, principle of studying history at school (the elementary course of history of the USSR was eliminated, and its systematic course began to be taught from the 7th grade). In addition, schools with in-depth study of foreign languages ​​appeared at this time. According to the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On improving the study of foreign languages” (May 1961), an additional 700 secondary schools were opened to teach a number of subjects in a foreign language, and classes with more than 25 students were divided into two groups for foreign language classes. The Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics in 1963 revised the existing ratio of studying foreign languages ​​at school and found it expedient to establish that henceforth 50% of students studied English, 20% French, 20% German, 10% Spanish and other languages.

The October and November (1964) Plenums of the CPSU Central Committee recognized the delimitation of the spheres of activity of party, Soviet, trade union and Komsomol bodies as unjustified and erroneous, as a result of which, in particular, industrial and rural regional departments of public education were created locally. As a result, the regional level of education management was weakened, as well as the joint creative activity of teaching staff in the city and village. Other shortcomings in the field of education were also eliminated. In those years, a broad discussion arose on the issue of bringing the content of education in secondary school into line with the requirements of social, scientific and technological progress.

The party carried out a great deal of organizational work to improve the management of public education. In 1966, the Union-Republican Ministry of Education of the USSR was created, the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR and the Scientific Methodological Council were formed, as well as the All-Union Council on Secondary School Issues, which included all the ministers of education of the Union republics.

In accordance with the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On measures to further improve the work of secondary schools,” new curricula, programs and textbooks were introduced into school practice. A systematic course in the fundamentals of science began to be taught from the fourth grade, which made serious changes to the structure and content of the school. To deepen knowledge in physics, mathematics, natural sciences and the humanities, as well as to develop the diverse interests and abilities of students, elective classes of students’ choice began from the 8th grade. Schools with in-depth theoretical and practical study of individual subjects have been opened.

However, the task of universal secondary education for young people has not been fully resolved. There was a significant dropout from day and especially evening schools. New methods and technical means of teaching were not sufficiently introduced into the educational process. The training of teachers was not always and not always closely linked to the practices and demands of educational institutions. All this was brought to the attention of the ministries of education and local public education authorities.

By 1970, the implementation of compulsory eight years of education had largely been completed.

A mobilizing role in improving the work of educational institutions was played by the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On the completion of the transition to universal secondary education for youth and the further development of secondary schools” (June 20, 1972). Public education authorities were asked to complete the introduction of new curricula and programs for all school courses by 1975; equip all secondary schools with the required number of classrooms; expand the network of evening schools and their branches at the places of work of young people and strengthen their base.

To stimulate the constant growth of the qualifications of teaching staff, improve their skills and creative initiative, systematic certification of teachers was introduced, and the titles of “senior teacher” and “teacher-methodologist” were established. Departments for advanced training of secondary school principals began to be created at pedagogical universities, and departments of pedagogy and psychology began to be created at republican institutes for teacher training.

At that time, 2.7 million teachers and educators worked in secondary schools. The vast majority of teachers in grades IV-X (XI) had higher pedagogical education. 186 teacher training institutes, over 4.5 thousand teaching staff, and more than 200 correspondence and evening departments at permanent pedagogical educational institutions and universities were involved in improving the qualifications of teaching staff.

In the 70s such fundamental documents as “On the 50th anniversary of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after. V.I. Lenin”, “On measures to further improve the working conditions of rural secondary schools”, “On the state of public education and measures to further improve general secondary vocational, secondary specialized and higher education in the USSR”, etc. Supreme Council of the USSR in 1973, he approved the “Fundamentals of the legislation of the USSR and Union republics on public education.”

Universal secondary education was designed to ensure the preparation of young generations to acquire a profession, to perform diverse social functions, and to actively participate in the labor and socio-political life of the country. With each new stage in the development of Soviet society, these tasks of the education system expanded and enriched, and at the same time the education system itself was improved.

An even larger step in the development of the general secondary education system was made during the tenth (1976-1980) and eleventh (1981-1985) five-year plans. During this period, the general education level of the population increased significantly.

In 1982, the population with higher and secondary (complete and incomplete) education was about 149 million people; per thousand people of the employed population there were 846 people with higher and secondary (complete and incomplete) education. During the Tenth Five-Year Plan alone, over 25 million people received secondary education, including 20 million people who graduated from day and evening secondary schools.

In the 1981/82 academic year, about 40 million people studied in general education schools, including over 10 million students in schools and groups with extended days and boarding schools. More than 99% of eighth-grade graduates continued their education in secondary schools. About 5 million people studied in secondary schools for working youth in the 1980/81 academic year.

Work continued to further improve the educational process at school. Much more attention began to be paid to the labor education of students, their professional orientation, as well as ideological, political, moral, aesthetic education and physical development. In December 1977, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted a resolution “On further improvement of training, education of students in secondary schools and preparing them for work.”

Work on training and advanced training of teaching staff has improved significantly in accordance with the requirements of schools and other educational institutions. The number of teaching staff has increased and the composition has improved. In 1980, there were 200 pedagogical institutes and 427 pedagogical schools operating in the country. Over 1,150 thousand people studied there. In addition, 67 universities trained school teachers. The training of labor teachers, Russian language for national schools, primary military training and physical education, aesthetic subjects and other educational courses has been improved.

At the XXVI Congress of the CPSU, the results of this stage in the development of public education were summed up: “An important milestone has been reached - the transition to compulsory universal secondary education has been completed. The main thing... is to improve the quality of education, labor and moral education in school, to get rid of formalism in assessing the results of the work of teachers and students, to actually strengthen the connection between learning and life, to improve the preparation of schoolchildren for socially useful work.”

The fourth stage in the development of the comprehensive school began with the adoption of the reform of the comprehensive and vocational school. School reform was called upon to play an important role in solving one of the key problems of Soviet society - the formation of a harmoniously developed personality. The school reform, with its provisions, eliminated the discrepancies revealed by life between individual, private provisions on issues of public education and the real course of development of the education system. It was aimed at improving the structure of secondary education, improving the quality of general education, labor and professional training of young people, wider use of active forms and methods of learning, strengthening connections between family, school and the public.

The Soviet school has always fulfilled its main functions, but, unfortunately, in those days it did not free itself from formalism in teaching and education, liberalism in assessing students' knowledge. A significant portion of school graduates did not have a solid knowledge of the fundamentals of science or the necessary educational and work skills. Schools often provided poor labor training and vocational guidance for students, especially for work in the field of material production. At the April (1984) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee it was stated that the main work of children is learning, a solid mastery of knowledge. Without this, it is impossible to reliably ensure the participation of young people in communist construction.

Throughout the history of the Soviet public education system, the Soviet government has always brought up cardinal problems of school development for discussion among teachers and the broad masses of workers. The work on preparing the school reform was also of an exclusively democratic nature. The commission of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on school reform included, along with prominent figures of the party and government, prominent scientists, organizers of public education, heads of educational institutions, ordinary teachers, representatives of mass organizations of workers and creative unions. The reform took into account proposals from republican and local party bodies, ministries, departments, scientific institutions, teachers and experienced methodologists, materials from the August (1983) teachers' conferences, press statements, and letters from workers.

Considering that the reform issues affected the interests of every family, all workers and were of fundamental importance for the further rise of the economic power and spiritual potential of the country, the formation of a new person, the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee considered it appropriate to publish the draft reform for public discussion. Speeches by organizers of public education, teachers, scientists and cultural figures, workers and peasants, and the parent community were organized in newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Field visits of educational leaders took place. The Ministry of Education of the USSR created groups to take into account, consider and summarize citizens' proposals.

The school reform was based on a solid organizational and material basis. Simultaneously with the preparation and public discussion of the draft reform, by decision of the commission of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, the development of specific practical measures to implement the provisions of the reform was carried out. The task was set: “Increase attention to the school and adjust the leaders of enterprises and associations, construction sites, collective farms and state farms accordingly. Basic enterprises play a decisive role in organizing labor training for schoolchildren. They must provide equipment, jobs, and qualified personnel for schools. Of course, certain material and financial costs will be required. The heads of ministries need to know this well and help enterprises. Schools, vocational schools and technical schools should become important workshops of basic enterprises.”

The Soviet Government considered it necessary that specific plans for the implementation of the reform be developed and approved taking into account local conditions in each union and autonomous republic, territory, region, city and district.

In the conditions of universal compulsory secondary education, the number of students in evening schools gradually decreased, but for working youth who had not previously received secondary education in a mass school, who had not completed their studies in secondary vocational schools and secondary specialized educational institutions, evening school remained the same in the 80s the main channel for obtaining secondary education. The structure of the network of evening schools has changed: the number of small schools has decreased, the number of branches and educational and consulting points directly at enterprises and in workers' dormitories has increased. The main form of education has become correspondence and session mode of classes. Special teaching aids, methodological and didactic materials designed for self-education were published.

Objective trends in the development of the education system in the country - the growth of secondary schools and vocational schools with secondary education, compulsory secondary education for youth - significantly changed the social goals of evening and correspondence schools. Over the past twenty years alone, the number of working youth who have not received secondary education has halved. However, a significant part of young people who did not have a secondary education were concentrated precisely in the leading economic sectors - in industry, agriculture, construction and the public service sector.

In the context of compulsory secondary education, an urgent need has emerged to strengthen the role of evening and correspondence schools in expanding the external form of completing general educational training for working youth. The resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On further improvement of general secondary education of youth and improvement of working conditions of secondary schools” (1984) indicated the need to expand the external form of secondary education. Daytime secondary schools where external studies were organized could not always provide effective methodological assistance to external students. Often adults took exams in classes with children's school students, which is psychologically unjustified. Meanwhile, the need to complete secondary education through independent preparation and subsequent passing of external examinations existed for a certain part of the working people. First of all, we are talking about those who, due to work or family reasons, could not systematically attend evening or correspondence schools and fulfill the full range of requirements for these forms of education. In addition, there was a certain group of people who attended a secondary school course, but did not pass a number of exams, and also interrupted their studies in secondary specialized educational institutions. Expansion of the external form of completion of secondary education is also possible through individual students of evening and correspondence schools who have the skills of independent study and excel in all subjects.

Her enslavement. For none of the peoples of the country will tolerate enslavement in any form. Vigilance and conscious activity are needed. July 1991 Appendix 1. Military-political assessment of the defeat of the USSR in the third world (cold) war “Our policy must cause fundamental changes in the Soviet system. It will be cheaper if these changes are the result of internal...

And France. Under this condition, the capitalist encirclement could not Stalin. Works, vol. 12, pp. 118-135, The past year was a year of great turning point on all fronts of socialist construction. This turning point took place and continues to take place under the sign of the decisive offensive of socialism against the capitalist elements of the city and countryside. The characteristic feature of this offensive is that it has already given us...

Which were hushed up, the general revival of cultural life), one cannot help but notice the negative consequences of not fully thought-out reforms (the deepening crisis in the education system, the decline of fundamental science). II. Breakthrough into space. Our wonderful compatriot K. E. Tsiolkovsky stated at the beginning of the twentieth century: “The planet is the cradle of reason, but you cannot live forever in the cradle... Humanity does not...

I looked at it and immediately rememberedooooooooooooooooooof...
Deja vu, in a word.

Original taken from pspspslipetsk in Total 50 photographs, objects of the Soviet school

There are only 50 photographs that will bring nostalgia to many, because they depict Soviet school items that we regularly used when we were schoolchildren. Photos from school life are also presented.

In 1918, the church separated from the state, and schools separated from the church, after which the principle of Soviet education was introduced. Already in 1930, the principle of universal compulsory free education was introduced in Russia. To reduce illiteracy among the population, until the 1930s, literacy schools and literacy schools operated in the public education system of the USSR.

In the USSR, a system of secondary schools was created, covering all segments of the population. There were secondary schools, evening schools, and schools for working youth.

The Soviet calculator and abacus, it was impossible to do without these school subjects in mathematics.

Primer 1958

Folders for papers with drawstrings.

Arithmetic for 1st grade (1965)

Logarithmic ruler

Teaching clocks, alphabet and abacus

Soviet school teacher's briefcase

Pencil case for pens and pencils.

Metal clips, which later replaced plastic clips.

A very necessary ruler, not only for lessons, but also as a cure for boredom.

Everyone used stencils: both teachers and students when designing wall newspapers, magazines, abstracts, etc.

Primer 1964

Soviet notebook

Certificate of completion of eight years of education

Where would we be without a portrait of Lenin... This item hung in every classroom, in the hall and in the director’s office

Relaxation game - table football

Nothing can be better than this designer. A huge number of parts with holes. You could do anything with them.

Soviet Lego.

How to tie a pioneer tie

Report card, pen and bottle of black ink Rainbow, which cost 12 kopecks in the early 80s

80s school uniform emblems

A school backpack that could be found in Soviet schools in the 80s

Polycolor multi-colored pencils are a good addition to school subjects

Soviet school canteen

Guys at a labor lesson

Preparing homework

Physical education lesson in 4th grade (spring 1945)

Knowledge Day began to be celebrated in 1984 in accordance with the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. In Soviet times, September 1 was a school day, beginning with a ceremonial assembly, after which a peace lesson and other shortened lessons were held.

During the Soviet years and in the current post-Soviet space, the stereotype of the Soviet school as “the best in the world” was widespread.

In schools there were Lenin rooms, primary cells of children's and youth organizations: for junior grades, October Stars, from 4th to 7th grade, pioneer detachments, and in senior grades, Komsomol organizations.

What is your first association with the Soviet school? Surely strict discipline and solid knowledge. Uniform for the whole country, and therefore carefully verified and infallible textbooks, a permanent school uniform and a strict but fair teacher - a dignified middle-aged woman, of whom even the parents of the students are afraid.

Decades later, the Soviet school appears in collective memory as something uniform, as a system with very precise and practically unchanged characteristics. But both reforms from above and personal innovations of teachers make it possible to evaluate the school system of the Soviet Union as a field of continuous experimentation.

First steps: unified labor school

The history of the Soviet school began with the experimental post-revolutionary decade. The first decision of the Soviet government on educational reforms was made in the decree on the separation of church from state and school from church. The entire education industry soon found itself in a dire situation that would seem familiar to educators in the 1990s. The old ideology has been rejected, which means that the old textbooks are unusable; all the rules - from admitting students to supplying schools - are changing.

In both cities and villages of the twenties, schools, especially small ones, often lived at the expense of the students’ parents: they provided heating, the necessary materials for classes and most of the teacher’s salary.

At the same time, it cannot be said that the Soviet government limited itself to repealing all previous laws and did not pursue its own educational policy. The Soviet school was built on the principle of a unified labor school. It was called unified because it replaced the previous class-based educational institutions. Social barriers between the village primary school, the real school and the gymnasium were destroyed. This does not mean that all schools became the same, but each of them now corresponded to a certain level of education, through which students could rise indefinitely. For example, the former primary school in the village was now considered a first-level school; Having graduated from it, the teenager could go to the district town and enter the seven-year school, which was considered a second-level school, and continue his studies from the level at which he graduated in the village. It was possible to complete secondary education in an advanced school, that is, a ten-year school.

These “levels” and “types” did not appear by chance: the word “class” was not used, students were divided into groups. Student committees and school-wide councils were supposed to contribute to the expulsion of authoritarianism not only from the language, but also from the real life of schools. How informal and stormy the social life of schools in the 1920s was can be read in Nikolai Ognev’s story “The Diary of Kostya Ryabtsev.”

From Ognev’s book one can also glean some ideas about experiments in teaching. Kostya Ryabtsev’s school lives according to the Dalton plan: students complete weekly and monthly assignments, consulting with teachers in “laboratories.” Not every school allowed a full-fledged experiment, but the rejection of the traditional subject system was universal. Even small rural schools, whose teachers could hardly be suspected of being innovative, moved from subjects to “complexes.” For example, first-stage students studied their region as an integral topic: geographical features, climate, flora and fauna, modern population, historical details, and economic portrait. The teacher reported something, the students had to obtain some data themselves through surveys or observations of nature. Changes also occurred in assessment: by the end of the 1920s. The “brigade method” spread, when students took tests not individually, but in groups.

The portrait of the Soviet school of the 1920s looks like the realization of the most daring utopian proposals. Follow not the textbook, but reality, give project assignments, stimulate teamwork - why not the program of some quantorium? Reforms in practical pedagogy were accompanied by a scientific boom, although not everything that psychologists and pedologists managed to create reached schools. Already in the early 1930s. experiments began to wind down.

Why did this happen? The new image of the school, which emerged by the end of the 1930s, corresponded to the ideology of “socialism in a single country” much more than the Dalton Plans and free school councils, where the student could criticize the teacher.

But the reasons for the turn of school policy in a conservative direction were partly economic. New methods required significant financial support both at the school level and in teacher education. Therefore, the People's Commissariat of Education took a simpler path: a uniform system of teacher training, uniform programs and textbooks for the whole country, unity of command at school, discipline in the classroom. Having established the tightest possible control over education, the government was able to quickly train an army of young teachers and introduce universal primary education.

Thaw as a premonition

The model of the Soviet school during the Stalinist period strongly resembled the pre-revolutionary gymnasium, where communist ideology replaced the Law of God. The similarity intensified when senior classes became fee-paying (since 1940) and separate education for girls and boys was introduced (from 1943 to 1954 only in cities). But already in the second half of the 1940s. changes have begun at school.

Attempts to reform the school were caused by real problems of post-war society: the school had lost its role and significance. During the war, few teenagers had the opportunity to attend school, and already in 1946, universities faced a shortage: they had no one to enroll in the first year.

In addition, discipline in the classrooms became noticeably worse, students attended classes less often, and in villages and small towns parents again stopped sending their children to school because their labor was needed at home - or simply because the children did not have any clothes, no shoes.

For some time, authoritarian disciplinary measures continued to be introduced (for example, the new Rules of Student Conduct required unquestioning submission of the student to the teacher), but other proposals were also made. Already in 1944, People's Commissar of Education V.P. Potemkin announced the slogan of “fighting formalism” in teaching. The point was to burden students less with cramming definitions and rules, and to focus them more on understanding the topic, retelling it in their own words, and conducting laboratory and practical classes. Criticism of “formalism in education”, which ignores the interests, inclinations and characteristics of the child, immediately appeared in the press.

One of the main innovations in pedagogy in the late 1940s. turned out to be a requirement for an “individual approach”, caused by the widespread repetition of years in the post-war years. Standard programs did not work in classes made up of mixed-age students who had years out of school behind them. During several discussions in the Ministry of Education with the participation of expert practitioners, the formulation “individual approach to each student” was born. Pedagogy includes ideas of respect for children's inner world and cognition as a creative process. It is no coincidence that one of the most popular books among teachers of this time was F. Vigdorova’s story “My Class”. The heroine of the book goes from memorized methods to understanding each student, to human relationships with children and their families.

In practice, the main efforts of the Ministry of Education were related to the material support of schools, training a large number of new teachers and eliminating the backlog of program requirements. How did this affect teachers?

On the one hand, the teacher was entrusted with additional responsibilities: he was still responsible for the progress of students, but it was impossible to inflate grades, and inspections from various regulatory bodies became more strict and meticulous than ever. On the other hand, the requirement for an “individual approach” meant that successful non-standard methods received the right to life as part of the teacher’s creative work. Moreover, the country has adopted the practice of collecting information about the experience of the best teachers. It was summarized both in special training manuals and on the pages of the Teacher’s Newspaper. Calls for abandoning formalism and vague ideas for school reform found a response within the teaching community. It was in the late 1940s - early 1950s. Many teachers began their work, who later became famous as innovative teachers, authors of “pedagogy of cooperation.”

Hidden diversification

An attempt at large-scale school reform occurred in the USSR only in 1958 - the so-called “polytechnization of the school.” Neither the concept nor the term were new to the USSR. From the very first years, the Soviet school developed as a labor school, which included in the program, in addition to the fundamentals of science, the development of practical skills. The slogan of the 1958 reform was “overcoming the separation of school from life.” From that time until 1966, when the reform was curtailed, a considerable number of hours in secondary school (according to some by-laws, up to a third) were devoted to industrial practice. Since there was no space in school buildings to create workshops, school leaders followed a simpler path: “school production teams” were sent to existing production facilities. Many schoolchildren of these years remembered trips to factories and poultry farms with entire classes.

Eight years of secondary education became mandatory, as did 1-2 years of work experience in production for all high school graduates. Without this, it was impossible to enter a university, and school graduates often went to the enterprise only to work out the required time. They were not interested in their work and quit without regret.

As modern researchers note, the main problem of the reform was the lack of clear requirements for the level of knowledge of a school graduate. Did the student have to have a profession or learn the skills necessary for low-skilled work? Students had to be prepared for practical activities, but for what, no one knew.

Students had to be prepared for practical activities, but for what, no one knew.

Simultaneously with the reform and partly under its influence, another innovation arose in the USSR: schools for gifted children. In the Soviet school, which was outwardly subject to uniform laws, hidden diversification continued: the original approaches of the best teachers developed, and now schools for children gifted in mathematics and natural sciences. Created by large universities in their own interests, these schools fell outside the general requirements of “polytechnicization.” An example is the system of mathematical schools, the program of which prepared students to study at serious technical universities and to enter academic science.

A powerful debate flared up in the press on the issue of creating mathematics schools, since the separation of the “elite” of the most capable students into separate schools was contrary to the nature of Soviet education. But the interests of progress turned out to be higher. At first, mathematics and programming classes arose in large schools in Moscow and Leningrad, and then physics and mathematics boarding schools were opened in the Novosibirsk Academic Town, at Moscow State University, and several specialized schools in the capitals. The students of these schools actually mastered a university curriculum in physics and mathematics with a greatly reduced humanities block. Most Russian winners of the world's most prestigious mathematics award, the Fields Medal, studied in Soviet mathematics schools.

Pedagogy of cooperation

During perestroika, the main demands and proposals for school renovation came from the lips of the teachers themselves: innovative teachers who had proven the effectiveness of their methods over the previous several decades. But it would be wrong to think that the development of innovative pedagogical ideas in the 1960-1970s. was carried out only by the efforts of a few single practitioners in different parts of the country. By this time, several research institutes had been formed within the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of the USSR: the theory and history of pedagogy, teaching methods, psychology and defectology. The ideas of psychologization of pedagogical approaches and practices, early identification of abilities, early professionalization developed in the interaction of scientists and practitioners.

However, it was the practitioners who most clearly expressed themselves during perestroika. Innovative teachers published their “Peredelkinsky Manifesto” in 1986. The meeting, which resulted in a report that went down in the history of pedagogy under this name, was attended by S. N. Lysenkova, V. F. Shatalov, E. N. Ilyin, Sh. A. Amonashvili and other pedagogical figures and teachers.

What ideas did the manifesto proclaim? First of all, he was not a beautiful fantasy. His conclusions came from decades of work by innovative teachers in different schools across the country. The changes caused by universal compulsory secondary education, and then by the virtual abolition of repetition, put teachers in a situation where weak students no longer dropped out of school. As in the post-war period, teachers throughout the USSR saw that standard methods did not work for the entire class. Innovative teachers showed themselves not in closed math schools that gathered the best, but by working with everyone who came to class.

“We do not go with the subject to the students, but with the students - to the subject,” they declared in the manifesto.

The main principle of the pedagogy of cooperation was to instill in each student the confidence that he would achieve success and understand the most difficult topic. The teacher’s task is to organize work with students of different abilities, without dividing them into groups, without making those who are lagging behind feel second-class. Each of the innovative teachers came up with the idea of ​​a supporting diagram that would help the student, when answering, remember and present the main idea of ​​the topic. The most famous is the system of reference signals by V. F. Shatalov.

A key tenet of collaborative pedagogy has been promoted by learning without pressure - especially for young children in primary school, where strictness and bad grades only discourage them from ever learning. No one gave grades as bad, some completely abandoned grades in elementary school. Other important ideas were dividing the material into large blocks, teaching ahead of time (the most difficult topics appeared 50 or 100 lessons before the program reached them), matching the lesson form to the content, and freedom of choice for students, sometimes even in choosing homework. Each of the innovative teachers used one or another form of student assessment of each other's work, but none of the children gave each other grades - they learned to analyze and discuss, and not just award points.

The pedagogy of cooperation included the principles of creative self-government and social work, as well as broad intellectual development. The authors of the “Peredelkinsky Manifesto” considered the Leningrad “Frunze Commune” to be one of the most successful examples of the creative development of children in real and useful matters for society. She inspired the whole movement of communards, widespread in the USSR in the 1960s, when, it would seem, there was enough social pressure in the pioneer organization. Summer labor camps and gatherings were perceived by the Communards as a more useful activity than the traditional pioneer activity; Participants in the movement developed a deeper understanding of responsibility, sincerity, and belonging to a team.

The pedagogy of cooperation made itself known during perestroika, but it was a deeply Soviet phenomenon on collectivist principles. Certain techniques and methods of innovative teachers have entered the practice of subject teachers, and self-government systems in universities and schools are still being built on the principles of the communard movement, but most Russian schools and teachers after the collapse of the USSR did not have the resources for pedagogical experiences. The course towards identifying elite, “special” schools continued, and it was in them that the experimental heritage of innovative teachers was applied to the fullest extent.

You can get acquainted with the academic research of the Soviet one in the collective monograph “Islands of Utopia: Pedagogical and social design of the post-war school (1940 - 1980s).” - M.: New Literary Review, 2015. In 2015, we published materials based on this monograph.

Let's remember what and how they taught in Soviet schools. Yes, we’re not just nostalgic, but with meaning. I’ll make a reservation right away: I’ll remember from my personal, leaky memory, I don’t specifically go into any reference books and pedivics, so if I mess up somewhere or forget something important, please correct me. Let's go!

Oh in general

A young Soviet man went to school when he was 7 years old. Some parents tried to push their child into studying at the age of 6, but teachers were lukewarm about this, because at 6 the child is not yet ready for systematic study, not only morally and psychologically, but also purely biologically.

The school week lasted from Monday to Saturday inclusive, with only one day off - Sunday.

The school year began strictly on September 1, the only exception was if September 1 fell on a Sunday (this happened to me in 1974, when I went to 2nd grade), then classes began on September 2. Actually, on September 1, there were almost no classes as such, especially in the lower grades, although everyone found out the schedule in advance and went to school with the necessary set of textbooks.

The entire school course was divided into three stages:

Primary school, grades 1 - 3

Secondary school, grades 4 - 8

Senior grades, from 8 to 10.

We will separately highlight such a subject as “Labor” - labor training. In the elementary grades it was limited to gluing all sorts of paper crafts and making crafts and various kinds of construction kits; in the middle grades, boys learned hammers and planes in the school workshop, and girls learned home economics.

1 - 3 grades

Grades 1 to 3 belonged to primary school. During this period, children (US!) were taught basic literacy and given primary ideas about the world around them.

Initially, in the 1st grade there were 3 (in words - three) main subjects: writing, reading and mathematics, in addition to them were drawing, music, physical education and natural history, once a week there was always a class hour, where they discussed all sorts of intra-class matters (they scolded poor students, praised excellent students, appointed duty officers, etc., etc.).

About a month or two after the start of school, the subject “writing” was replaced by “Russian language”, and “reading” by “literature”.

All classes took place in one class, the only exception being physical education. While it was still (and when it was already) warm, they did physical education on the street, in cold weather - in the gym. In my particular school - in the assembly hall :-)

The composition of primary school lessons did not change for all three years, except that a foreign language was added only in 2nd grade. The most popular language was English, but other languages ​​were also studied in schools, including a wide variety of exotic languages. I don’t speak the full set of European languages, and I can’t vouch for Swahili, but I know people who studied Chinese, Turkish and Farsi during their school years (not as an elective, but as part of the general curriculum).

All main lessons were taught by one single teacher - the class teacher; there were separate teachers for music, drawing (and even then not always) and for a foreign language.

In first grade we were admitted to October. After so many years, I can no longer say what the deep essential meaning of this “organization” was, but we wore the October badge and it was believed that the entire class constituted one October detachment. Well, in the third grade, upon reaching the age of 9, we were accepted into the pioneers. This was already a much more meaningful step; it required at least memorizing the rules of the pioneers of the Soviet Union. Formally, it was possible not to join and, according to the stories of teachers and acquaintances, such cases happened. As a rule, due to a severe form of christosis of the brain in the parents.

Pioneers were accepted in different ways. The most popular option is in your own school, the most prominent ones are on Red Square, in front of the Lenin Mausoleum. The most outstanding inductees were brought to this event from all over the country. I was awarded an intermediate option - in the Memorial Hall of the Lenin Museum. It turned out pretentious, I still remember it.

4 - 8 grades

From the 4th grade, the student’s life changed dramatically. First of all, the class teacher changed. Secondly, lessons were now taught in subject classes and students moved from class to class. Well, naturally, each subject had its own teacher.

The composition of objects also changed, first of all, new ones were added, and some were lost.

I can’t say for sure what happened there under normal conditions in the 4th grade, because the school where I studied was experimental and, due to the experimental nature, a lot of things were done there through the backside. And the peak of this “through the ass” came precisely in my 4th grade. Further, either the right people received their dissertations, or the most zealous ones were inserted through the same ass to the very tonsils, but from the fifth grade everything more or less returned to normal.

In the 4th grade, EMNIP, geography and history appeared. History in the form of either the history of the USSR, or “Native History” is a short and very naive course on the history of Russia - the USSR, starting from the first Slavs to the last congress of the CPSU. Essentially - a set of stories and anecdotes on the topic. Well, according to the level and age of the students. I also remember the Natural History textbook for 4th grade, but we didn’t have the subject itself.

In the 5th grade there was already full-fledged physical geography and a full-fledged history began. Biology also began: grades 5 - 6 (until the middle of the 6th grade) - botany, 6 - 7 - zoology.

History was taught in accordance with the periodization of the change of socio-economic formations (according to Marx and Engels): the ancient world - the primitive communal system and slave states, the Middle Ages - feudalism, modern times - the dominance of capitalism, modern times - since the October Revolution, development and establishment socialist system. The emphasis was on analyzing the class structure of society, class struggle and social revolutions.

Physics began in the 6th grade, chemistry in the 7th grade, and human anatomy and physiology in the 8th grade.

In some schools, from the 8th grade there was specialization: a biology class, a math class, etc.

Also, somewhere in the 6th or 7th grade, I don’t remember exactly, the summer holidays were shortened by one month: practical training was scheduled for June. The specific implementation of this practice depended heavily on the specific school, its connections with scientific and industrial organizations, universities, etc. Often the whole “practice” boiled down to the fact that the children were herded to school, given the task of cleaning and left to goof off.

In the 8th grade, we crossed the 14-year mark, left the pioneer organization due to age, and many (but by no means all) joined the Komsomol. Now the Komsomol was already a completely conscious act. Everything there was already adult and individual: an application, recommendations of 2 members of the Komsomol or one from the CPSU, a membership card and membership fees (for schoolchildren = 2 kopecks/month. For comparison = 2 boxes of matches or two glasses of soda without syrup in a street vending machine, or one conversation on the phone at a street machine). The procedure for joining the Komsomol was quite lengthy; Komsomol tickets were awarded at the district committee.

The popular opinion was that membership in the Komsomol simplifies admission to a university and, in general, career growth. In fact, many of my classmates entered university without this. On the other hand, for some universities, membership in the Komsomol was mandatory (KGB Higher School, for example).

8th grade was a very important milestone: at the end of it, exams were held and students received a certificate. And based on the results of the certificate, a division occurred: some continued to study at school with an eye to a university, while others went to master working specialties at a vocational school.

9th and 10th grades

High school was going through its own changes. There was no longer any Russian language there, EMNIP, and chemistry was ending. But physics and biology were studied at a higher level. Biology was "General Biology", with elements of genetics, ecology and evolutionary studies. I don’t really remember what was there in physics, but social science definitely appeared - the foundations of Soviet legislation, in fact.

The story continued, the history of the USSR was studied in detail.

In the 10th grade we took astronomy, but for the most part we already passed it by.

But the main thing that happened in the 9th and 10th grades was preparation for entering a university. Tutors, additional classes, preparatory courses... Well, and another factor such as age and hormones. Boys and girls were already actively interested in each other. Therefore, there was practically no time left for school :-)

Well, everything ended with the Last Bell (May 25), final exams (very serious! With a bad certificate, you could immediately forget about the university!) and on June 25, graduation balls were held.

The graduation party usually took place at school (which, IMHO, is essentially correct, because it is not just a youth drinking party, but a farewell to school). It all started with the ceremonial presentation of certificates, then a feast. This feast was supposed to be non-alcoholic and teachers and parents made sure that it was so. But, naturally, it was impossible to keep track of everything, so some particularly prominent individuals got into trouble. But this was not a mass phenomenon. The classes, by the way, remained open (except for particularly valuable and dangerous premises, such as the library and the reagents room in the chemistry room), so that former schoolchildren could once again feel nostalgic in their favorite classes.

The ball began in the evening and ended at dawn. And we, for the last time, left such dear school doors. To a completely new, already adult, life...

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Labor education, yes, was different in different classes. And in different schools too. At my school, in general, it was a complete profanation, and my friend learned to drive and after school he automatically received a license.

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Didn’t you have vocational training in blue-collar jobs in a special plant in grades 9-10 - once a week?

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This was not the case at my experimental school. Perhaps due to the predominance of a very specific ethnic component among students and teachers. That's why I forgot to write about it. In others, yes, it was. But not only at factories and not only workers. For example, my wife had an internship at school as a junior medical staff in one of the hospitals. They even received a nursing diploma along with a certificate.

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It was a good time. And here you could learn to type on a typewriter. I really wanted to, but my friend dissuaded me. I regret it ALL my life, because this is exactly the skill I lack. And she and I went to the radio factory to tighten the sockets. (((

Original post by WoleDeMort

Let's remember what and how they taught in Soviet schools. Yes, we’re not just nostalgic, but with meaning. I’ll make a reservation right away: I’ll remember from my personal, leaky memory, I don’t specifically go into any reference books and pedivics, so if I mess up somewhere or forget something important, please correct me. Let's go!

Oh in general

A young Soviet man went to school when he was 7 years old. Some parents tried to push their child into studying at the age of 6, but teachers were lukewarm about this, because at 6 the child is not yet ready for systematic study, not only morally and psychologically, but also purely biologically.

The school week lasted from Monday to Saturday inclusive, with only one day off - Sunday.

The school year began strictly on September 1, the only exception was if September 1 fell on a Sunday (this happened to me in 1974, when I went to 2nd grade), then classes began on September 2. Actually, on September 1, there were almost no classes as such, especially in the lower grades, although everyone found out the schedule in advance and went to school with the necessary set of textbooks.

The entire school course was divided into three stages:

Primary school, grades 1 - 3

Secondary school, grades 4 - 8

Senior grades, from 8 to 10.

We will separately highlight such a subject as “Labor” - labor training. In the elementary grades it was limited to gluing all sorts of paper crafts and making crafts and various kinds of construction kits; in the middle grades, boys learned hammers and planes in the school workshop, and girls learned home economics.

1 - 3 grades

Grades 1 to 3 belonged to primary school. During this period, children (US!) were taught basic literacy and given primary ideas about the world around them.

Initially, in the 1st grade there were 3 (in words - three) main subjects: writing, reading and mathematics, in addition to them were drawing, music, physical education and natural history, once a week there was always a class hour, where they discussed all sorts of intra-class matters (they scolded poor students, praised excellent students, appointed duty officers, etc., etc.).

About a month or two after the start of school, the subject “writing” was replaced by “Russian language”, and “reading” by “literature”.

All classes took place in one class, the only exception being physical education. While it was still (and when it was already) warm, they did physical education on the street, in cold weather - in the gym. In my particular school - in the assembly hall :-)

The composition of primary school lessons did not change for all three years, except that a foreign language was added only in 2nd grade. The most popular language was English, but other languages ​​were also studied in schools, including a wide variety of exotic languages. I don’t speak the full set of European languages, and I can’t vouch for Swahili, but I know people who studied Chinese, Turkish and Farsi during their school years (not as an elective, but as part of the general curriculum).

All main lessons were taught by one single teacher - the class teacher; there were separate teachers for music, drawing (and even then not always) and for a foreign language.

In first grade we were admitted to October. After so many years, I can no longer say what the deep essential meaning of this “organization” was, but we wore the October badge and it was believed that the entire class constituted one October detachment. Well, in the third grade, upon reaching the age of 9, we were accepted into the pioneers. This was already a much more meaningful step; it required at least memorizing the rules of the pioneers of the Soviet Union. Formally, it was possible not to join and, according to the stories of teachers and acquaintances, such cases happened. As a rule, due to a severe form of christosis of the brain in the parents.

Pioneers were accepted in different ways. The most popular option is in your own school, the most prominent ones are on Red Square, in front of the Lenin Mausoleum. The most outstanding inductees were brought to this event from all over the country. I was awarded an intermediate option - in the Memorial Hall of the Lenin Museum. It turned out pretentious, I still remember it.

4 - 8 grades

From the 4th grade, the student’s life changed dramatically. First of all, the class teacher changed. Secondly, lessons were now taught in subject classes and students moved from class to class. Well, naturally, each subject had its own teacher.

The composition of objects also changed, first of all, new ones were added, and some were lost.

I can’t say for sure what happened there under normal conditions in the 4th grade, because the school where I studied was experimental and, due to the experimental nature, a lot of things were done there through the backside. And the peak of this “through the ass” came precisely in my 4th grade. Further, either the right people received their dissertations, or the most zealous ones were inserted through the same ass to the very tonsils, but from the fifth grade everything more or less returned to normal.

In the 4th grade, EMNIP, geography and history appeared. History in the form of either the history of the USSR, or “Native History” is a short and very naive course on the history of Russia - the USSR, starting from the first Slavs to the last congress of the CPSU. Essentially - a set of stories and anecdotes on the topic. Well, according to the level and age of the students. I also remember the Natural History textbook for 4th grade, but we didn’t have the subject itself.

In the 5th grade there was already full-fledged physical geography and a full-fledged history began. Biology also began: grades 5 - 6 (until the middle of the 6th grade) - botany, 6 - 7 - zoology.

History was taught in accordance with the periodization of the change of socio-economic formations (according to Marx and Engels): the ancient world - the primitive communal system and slave states, the Middle Ages - feudalism, modern times - the dominance of capitalism, modern times - since the October Revolution, development and establishment socialist system. The emphasis was on analyzing the class structure of society, class struggle and social revolutions.

Physics began in the 6th grade, chemistry in the 7th grade, and human anatomy and physiology in the 8th grade.

In some schools, from the 8th grade there was specialization: a biology class, a math class, etc.

Also, somewhere in the 6th or 7th grade, I don’t remember exactly, the summer holidays were shortened by one month: practical training was scheduled for June. The specific implementation of this practice depended heavily on the specific school, its connections with scientific and industrial organizations, universities, etc. Often the whole “practice” boiled down to the fact that the children were herded to school, given the task of cleaning and left to goof off.

In the 8th grade, we crossed the 14-year mark, left the pioneer organization due to age, and many (but by no means all) joined the Komsomol. Now the Komsomol was already a completely conscious act. Everything there was already adult and individual: an application, recommendations of 2 members of the Komsomol or one from the CPSU, a membership card and membership fees (for schoolchildren = 2 kopecks/month. For comparison = 2 boxes of matches or two glasses of soda without syrup in a street vending machine, or one conversation on the phone at a street machine). The procedure for joining the Komsomol was quite lengthy; Komsomol tickets were awarded at the district committee.

The popular opinion was that membership in the Komsomol simplifies admission to a university and, in general, career growth. In fact, many of my classmates entered university without this. On the other hand, for some universities, membership in the Komsomol was mandatory (KGB Higher School, for example).

8th grade was a very important milestone: at the end of it, exams were held and students received a certificate. And based on the results of the certificate, a division occurred: some continued to study at school with an eye to a university, while others went to master working specialties at a vocational school.

9th and 10th grades

High school was going through its own changes. There was no longer any Russian language there, EMNIP, and chemistry was ending. But physics and biology were studied at a higher level. Biology was "General Biology", with elements of genetics, ecology and evolutionary studies. I don’t really remember what was there in physics, but social science definitely appeared - the foundations of Soviet legislation, in fact.

The story continued, the history of the USSR was studied in detail.

In the 10th grade we took astronomy, but for the most part we already passed it by.

But the main thing that happened in the 9th and 10th grades was preparation for entering a university. Tutors, additional classes, preparatory courses... Well, and another factor such as age and hormones. Boys and girls were already actively interested in each other. Therefore, there was practically no time left for school :-)

Well, everything ended with the Last Bell (May 25), final exams (very serious! With a bad certificate, you could immediately forget about the university!) and on June 25, graduation balls were held.

The graduation party usually took place at school (which, IMHO, is essentially correct, because it is not just a youth drinking party, but a farewell to school). It all started with the ceremonial presentation of certificates, then a feast. This feast was supposed to be non-alcoholic and teachers and parents made sure that it was so. But, naturally, it was impossible to keep track of everything, so some particularly prominent individuals got into trouble. But this was not a mass phenomenon. The classes, by the way, remained open (except for particularly valuable and dangerous premises, such as the library and the reagents room in the chemistry room), so that former schoolchildren could once again feel nostalgic in their favorite classes.

The ball began in the evening and ended at dawn. And we, for the last time, left such dear school doors. To a completely new, already adult, life...