1930s Education

• In 1930s - reformations made to education system.

  • Entry to schools by comprehensive entrance exam
  • academic studies were prioritised; emphasis on STEM subjects
• By 1939, the literacy rate had increased dramatically to 94% apparently due to this new education system, although this statistic could have been exaggerated.

  There were also now 812000 students enrolled in University.
• Children had to attend education until the age of 15

  Fees were introduced for the final three years of secondary schooling - Stalin was not prepared to use limited resources to fund his changes to education.

  To drive up standards, homework and rote learning of all the 'correct' facts became the norm

  Teacher controlled the class with strict discipline
• Students had to sit at desks in rows, facing the teacher, with their arms folded.

  School uniforms returned, which included compulsory pigtails for girls.
• Official textbooks were provided by the state and had to be used.

  In history, pupils learned about past Russian leaders, such as Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible. These two had been dismissed as unimportant in the 1920s.

  All schools had to teach reading, writing, the sciences, Russian, plus Communist ideology