Figure 1.--Here we see a large 4th grade class 'A' with the babuska teacher in the middle. The 'A' may mean that they were the advanced class with the most ademically capable children. Based on the background, this was a very important primary school in Moscow or Leningrad. It was School No. 28. Notice that the school did not require a uniform. This was something thr many Soviet big city primaries were beguinning to implement at the time. You see that beginning with all the white shirts and red neckerchiefs. Also interesting is the number of sailor suits as were common in Tsarist times. This suggests that these children canne from well established families in the Soviet system. Also of note is the date the portrait was taken, March 20, 1941--shortly before the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union, unleashing the most titanic military campaign in human history.

The state system was divided into both primary and secondary sections. Russia had an extensive system of primary schools during the Tsarist era, but primarily in the cities. And even this developed slower than the education system in the rest of Europe, but many Russian children by the 20th century got some form of free primary education. In the countryside, the sitution was much worse. In the countryside, there were few sate schools. For the villages of peasants . the schools suchva they existed were provided by landowners, the church, mosque, or synagogue. Even so only about hald of the population was literate and here we are talkking about the yomger generation asnd nol the lederly who had less accrss to euvation than the 20th century generation. During the Tzarist era many working-class children and former serfs did not complete primary studies. Many childrten got only a few years of schooling. Education was not compulsiry. Outsude of the village school, most schools were single gender. Until the Revolution, working-class children had very limited access to education, especially in the countryside. The best measure of that was literacy. here there was no valid national data. the Tsarist Army did maintain records. Only about half of the new recruits were literate (1912). Another quater were semi-literate, meaning they could read a little, bit cols notwrite. Over a quater were entire illiterate. This was far worse thn even pooer countries in Western Europe. And the situation was even worse for secondary and university level sdchooling. There were also major differences between boys and girls. This all changed dramatically after the Revolution. The Soiviet Union has few accomplishments to be proud of, but education is arguably one of them, at least comasred to Tsareist times. During Tsarist time, very few workers and even fewer peasants advanced beyound primary school. This changed with the revolution. Schools were opened in the contryside and compulsory attendance laws were enacted anbd enbforced. It should not be thought that schools in the cities and countryside were at the same standards, but differences were mirmized. Literacy becme standad throughout the country. Schools became mostly coeductionl. Most children completed primary school. Differences between boys and girls, except in muslim areas largely disappeared.

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Created: 10:38 PM 6/27/2022
Last updated: 10:38 PM 6/27/2022