Cultural and Educational Work in The Corrective Labor System of the Ukrainian SSR in 1926-1930
Authors: Isakov Pavlo 
Published: July 2024

The paper highlights the state of cultural and educational work with prisoners and convicts in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) in the 1926-1930s based on the analysis of archival and contemporary normative-legal documents. Previously unknown interesting and important facts on the researched topic have been introduced into scientific circulation.
The author arrived at the following conclusions:
1. Cultural and educational work by the Soviet authorities was considered through the prism of ideological work as a secondary means after compulsory labor, together forming the basis of the regime in corrective labor institutions.
2. There existed both school and extracurricular cultural and educational as well as professional-production work, implemented in general education and vocational schools.
3. School attendance was mandatory for all illiterate and poorly literate prisoners up to the age of 50.
4. As of the beginning in November 1928, approximately 40,000 individuals were held in corrective labor institutions of the Ukrainian SSR, of which 26,000 were peasants (65% of all prisoners).
5. In 1926/1927, illiteracy and low literacy were eliminated through school work in 14,796 individuals, 17 corrective labor institutions were equipped with cinemas, 24 had radios, and the library stock of corrective labor institutions amounted to 55,504 books. Wall newspapers were published almost everywhere, as well as the newspaper "Away with Crime."
6. In 1928, as part of accelerated industrialization and mass exploitation of labor, it was legislatively allowed to use the labor of convicts in many cases free of charge or for symbolic payment in many administrative positions in corrective labor institutions (in fact, this had been done much earlier).
7. The theoretical education of prisoners in vocational schools of a production nature lasted 3-6 months in the evening, but not more than 3 hours per day (72 hours per month). Practical training took place directly in workshops for a total of 2 working hours according to the course program. Each group should have no more than 35 individuals.
8. The typical curriculum of vocational courses of a production nature for workshops of corrective labor institutions was designed for 3 months (144 educational hours) and included the study of 5 disciplines: social studies, Ukrainian language, arithmetic, graphical literacy, and materials technology and tool science.
9. Distance learning and self-education of prisoners were encouraged, with prisoners forming study groups where they independently carried out the corresponding work, using only the services of a consultant. Distance learning was paid. The authorities made efforts to diversify sources of funding and reduce the cost of education.
10. In practice, funding for cultural and educational work was carried out on a "residual" basis with a tendency to decrease, corresponding to the general punitive-repressive policy of the Soviet authorities towards prisoners. For example, in the agricultural corrective labor institution of the Kharkiv Unified Agricultural-Industrial State Farm as of October 1, 1927, expenses for cultural and educational needs of prisoners accounted for 5%, whereas as of October 1, 1928, only 0.6%.
11. The annual cost of maintaining 1 prisoner in the House of Forced Public Works in 1928/1929 amounted to almost 65 krb., which was not so cheap considering the conditions of the food crisis and famine of 1928-1929.