The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-11-07
ON THE ROAD OF THE CULTURAL REVOLUTION

alCnougn Cnefo were some rare eX
ceptions. The nobility had their
special caste schools where even the
children of the bourgeoisie were not
accepted. The elementary rural
schools were in the hands Of the
clergy who crammed into the heads
of the children the claws of god"
and imbued them with monarchist
sentiments. The high schools pre-
pared the children of the propertied
classes for the universities, but in
themselves they gave absolutely no
practical knowledge or ability of orr
entation to the students. In other
words, the high school was scholas-
tic, lifeless institution. The uni
versities taught the ideas of the big
bourgeoisie and produced captains of
industry and men of the free profess
sions, such as lawyers, doctors, etc,
imbued with reactionary spirit.
Even if the bourgeois sons have had
some free ideas while at school, they
usually refer to them with a smile
otter leaving school as to sins of their
youth and devote themselves entirely
to making a career"
The October revolution recon-
structed the entire school system.
The main, forms of elementary and
high schools are now the first and
second grade schools, the nine years
school, the special courses (the sup
Elementary 9Th and 9th year of edu-
cation to the 7-year terms with
vocational tendency, professional
schools and schools for young peas
ants. Originally the Soviet govern
ment intended to have only one vo-
cational school, but life has made
some changes in this plan and neces-
STATED the organization side by side
with the principal school of the first
and second grade, network of pro-
fessional and technical schools, and
recently, schools for the peasant
youth, giving special education to
the young peasants along agri-
cultural lines, in the course of seven
years.
AS always life proved to be more
complicated and multi-colored than
abstract theory, but at the same time
it has shown to what extent the the
DRY of the Soviet school corresponds
with the real requirements of the
workers and peasants. 1t may be
boldly stated that the ten years of
Soviet rule confirmed the vitality of
the great idea of one vocational
school.
Even Marx wrote in his days that
labor is the best form of training and
education. Marx was of the opinion
that education must be closely linked
up with production and that labor
must become the basis of education.
This of course does not mean hard
physical and extenuating labor, but
light work suitable to the potentiali-
ties of the child and such to be of
polytechnic character, i. e., which
gives an idea of all elements of pro-
duction and not only of one phase of
it. A study of production must be
linked up with the study Of science on
the basis of which production is car
ried on, for instance, mathematics,
chemistry, physics, etc.
The Soviet factory vocational
school comes near to the realization
of Marks idea of the vocational
school which was warmly supported
by Lenin. In the factory vocational
schools, apprentices are trained to be-
come qualified workers. Workers
children not employed in the factories
wanting to become skilled workers
can go through course in the shops
connected with the special technical
schools. These schools are organized
mainly for the artisans and small
scale industry. During the last few
years great need has developed in
the large-scale industry for high
skilled labor With this in view spe-
cial vocational training schools have
been opened in the factories q year
terms). There are about 80 such
schools in the Russian Socialist Fed
Grated Soviet Republics at the present
time. Professional schools which
raise the qualifications of workers,
have now greatly developed.
The total number of schools for
young workers in the Russian Social
list Federated Soviet Republics was
G29, embracing $4,000 pupils in 1926
&c. The number of pupils in all pro-
fessional and technical schools is at
the present time $4,000 as against
$4,000 in 1924-25. The network of
technical schools in the Union of So
cialist Soviet Republics has increased
1875 per cent as compared with the
pre-revOlutionary period.
The number of pupils in the ele-
mentary and high schools has greatly