Communist ideology dominated teaching of humanities and social sciences. The specialization and bureaucratization was accompanied by separation. More recently universities have been critical of secondary school science education and have established new curricula. But subjects such as physics and mathematics are being de-emphasized. Despite these factors, some institutions have been able to survive and can meet world class standards.
Serious reforms are now underway.
The state monopoly has been broken, curriculum controls are not as stringent, private, fee-charging schools are developing, and institutional diversity is increasing. There is more freedom to choose a type of secondary school, state support is matched to need, free compulsory education is guaranteed to some standard, public support is available to private schools meeting certain criteria, and state control is exercised through regional Councils of Education. New secondary schools, gymnasiums, are being established, often with close ties to universities and there are visible quality gaps between these new forms and other secondary schools. There is also separation between higher secondary education and technical institutions, which in the U.S. is addressed by community colleges. Access admission to higher education needs to become more democratic.