One of the favorite mantras of leftists: "in the USSR it was free education! "
Like, if the Bolshevik benefactors hadn’t overthrown the tsar, then “dark, unhappy, impoverished, backward Russia” would have remained “with 4 classes of the parish school” ...
However, before the revolution, 86% of young people from 12 to 16 years old could write and read, and after the revolution and civil literacy fell. The Bolsheviks threw the country back, and then they could not create universities of such a level as before the revolution ...
When, in the presence of Anna Akhmatova, they said that Valentin Kataev was “after all, an intellectual,” she chuckled and said that he was just lucky - he managed to study at a pre-revolutionary gymnasium, where they gave a much higher education than in the Soviet of Deputies. It was also very interesting to read the testimonies of the historians Chernov and Pavlenko, how things really were with Soviet education.
Meanwhile, I once read excerpts from a dissertation, where the author, using archival material, proved that the vaunted educational program was "fake", in fact, even by 1940 there were enough illiterates.
Today is May 10th. And it's good to remember that only on May 10, 1956, the USSR abolished tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools. Three years after Stalin died, under which education in schools was paid.
It should be noted that the era of precisely the universal, and precisely the free in Soviet history came quite late - in the late 50s - the first half of the 60s. But in the 30s (and even later), for example, the bulk of students in the USSR received their education by no means for nothing.
In the 1930s, more than three-quarters of the country's population lived in countryside. Since 1931, the so-called. " cultural collection"- the so-called "tax on education and culture." Each peasant household was obliged to pay about 20 to 80 rubles annually. For a poor Stalinist village, this was a lot of money. In addition, the peasants paid the so-called for the education of their children. "self-taxation" - that is, the collective farmers chipped in for the repair and construction of schools and roads to them. From their own pocket, the peasants also paid for textbooks, notebooks and stationery, not to mention clothing for children. The generous Soviet state transferred all the costs of public education directly on the shoulders of the people.
Therefore, all the merit in the growth of literacy in the same village should still be assigned to the half-starved Stalinist collective farmers, who managed to support at their own expense rural schools and feeding impoverished rural teachers (who were chronically underpaid). In 1931, four-year education became compulsory in the USSR, since 1937, the fifth grade was introduced in the countryside, mandatory for all, and since 1939, the seventh grade was also made compulsory.
Thanks to this, the literacy of the rural population aged 9 to 49 increased from 51% in 1926 (by the way, a fairly significant figure, given the two wars and devastation before that) to 84% in 1939. The share of literate men increased accordingly from 67% to 92%, women - from 35% to 77%.
(Sh. Fitzpatrick. Stalin's peasants: a social history Soviet Russia in the 30s. Village. M., 2001. S. 251-260)
However, as I have already mentioned, even these figures for the "liquidation of illiteracy" cannot be considered so reliable, there were enough postscripts at that time.
Since 1940, the Soviet government deliberately sought to limit the number of people with secondary, secondary special and higher education.
Moreover, contrary to custom, she used not administrative measures, but economic ones: from now on, a fee was set for studies. The country urgently needed people at the machine. There are also official regulations on this matter.
"No. 27 of October 26, 1940
Decree No. 638. (pp. 236-2374 237-238).
pp. 236-237
"On the establishment of tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships."
Taking into account the increased level of material well-being of the working people and the significant expenditures of the Soviet state on the construction, equipment and maintenance of a continuously growing network of secondary and higher educational institutions, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR considers it necessary to lay a part of the costs of education in secondary schools and higher educational institutions of the USSR on the working people themselves and in this connection decides:
1.Introduce from September 1, 1940 in the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades of secondary schools and higher educational institutions tuition fees.
2. Establish the following tuition fees for students in grades 8-10 of secondary schools:
a) in schools in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as in the capital cities of the Union republics - 200 rubles a year;
b) in all other cities and villages - 150 rubles per year.
Note. The specified tuition fees in grades 8-10 of secondary schools shall be extended to students of technical schools, pedagogical schools, agricultural and other special secondary institutions.
1. Establish the following amounts of tuition fees in higher educational institutions of the USSR:
a) in higher educational institutions located in the cities of Moscow and Leningrad and the capitals of the Union republics - 400 rubles per year;
b) in higher educational institutions located in other cities - 300 rubles per year ...
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V. Molotov
Manager of the Affairs of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR M. Kholmov
Moscow Kremlin. October 2, 1940 No. 1860."
(Source: "Collection of resolutions and orders of the Government of the USSR").
What did this money mean? How much has the well-being of citizens increased? Formally, with an average salary of 400-500 rubles a month, 150 and even 500 rubles a year did not look catastrophic. But let's look at the statistics.
"Average annual nominal wage workers and employees in 1940 amounted to 4054 rubles. Taking into account the earnings of members of the artels of industrial cooperation - 3960 rubles. In addition, in 1947 a monetary reform was carried out (the denomination of the ruble was 10:1).The dynamics of the average monthly wages of workers and employees in denominated rubles was:
1940—33.0
1945 - 43.4
1950—63.9
1955 - 71.5
1960 - 80.1
The dynamics of the average annual salary, respectively, amounted to (rubles):
1940 - 396.0
1945 - 520.8
1950 - 766.8
1955 - 858.0
1960 - 961.2
There are no exact data on monetary income in the countryside for the fifteen years after the war. It is known that for 1951 - 1960. the real incomes of peasants (taking into account payment in kind, lower retail prices, lower taxes, etc.), per worker in comparable prices, increased 1.5 times, and by 1960 increased 2.4 times compared to since 1940. Monetary income per one collective farm household in 1940 amounted to. 1107 rubles per year. (Sources: "History of the Socialist Economy of the USSR", "History of Pricing in the USSR (1937-1963)", "Labor in the USSR" - Statistical Collection, "Statistics" 1968).
In general, state retail prices in 1940 were 6-7 times higher than in 1928, and the average nominal wage of workers and employees increased 5-6 times during this period, amounting to 300-350 rubles in 1940 ... ( Gordon L. A., Klopov E. V. What was it? pp. 98-99)
In addition, it is necessary to take into account compulsory bonded loans in the amount of 20-25% of the salary. Those. the real salary, taking into account withdrawals in the form of loans, was not 350 rubles, but 280 rubles per month, or 3,400 per year.
Thus:
- education of one child in grades 8,9,10 cost 4% of the annual salary of one parent.
- studying at a university cost 9% of the annual salary of one parent (per year of study).
But it should be noted that the village was paid workdays, not money. And annual earnings - issued precisely in money - whole family often amounted to less than 1,000 rubles. And here the education of the child in the graduating classes or the university cost the peasant family a significant part of the monetary income.
And even under Stalin, the peasants had neither passports nor pensions.
The result of the decree on the introduction of paid education in the USSR:
the number of graduates of secondary schools (grades 8-10), secondary specialized educational institutions and universities has halved
The impoverished Soviet citizens simply did not have the money to pay for the education of their children or their own education.
By the way, paid education contradicted Article 121 of the 1936 USSR Constitution.
What did the Soviet government do in this situation? The Central Committee of the CPSU held consultations with the governments of the Union republics and decided cancel tuition fees nationality
for students in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions. In 1943, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted Decree No. 213, which exempt from tuition fees:
- in the Kazakh SSR - Kazakhs, Uighurs, Uzbeks, Tatars(Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated January 5, 1943 No. 5);Only in 1956, three years after the "effective manager" was bent, Best friend Children and Athletes, school fees were abolished.
- in the Uzbek SSR - Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs, local Jews(Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated February 27, 1943 No. 212);
- in the Turkmen SSR - Turkmens, Uzbeks, Kazakhs(Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated March 19, 1943 No. 302);
- in the Kabardian ASSR are exempted from tuition fees Kabardians and Balkars studying in pedagogical institute(Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated May 15, 1943 No. 528).
The official publication read:
Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR On the abolition of tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR. June 6, 1956
The Council of Ministers of the USSR decided:
In order to create the most favorable conditions for the implementation of universal secondary education in the country and for young people to receive higher education, abolish from September 1, 1956, tuition fees in senior specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR.
Public education in the USSR: Collection of documents. 1917-1973. - M., 1974. S. 192.
Periodically, heated debates flare up on the topic of whether education in the USSR was paid or it was still free. Some, referring to Government Decrees, argue that they paid for education, others, with the same persistence referring to the texts of the Constitutions and other Government Decrees, argue that this is all nonsense and intrigues of enemies. Well, let's try to deal with this issue.
After the revolutionary seizure of power, the Bolsheviks were among the new bodies government controlled create the Commissariat for Education, headed by A. V. Lunacharsky, already in his first statement as head of the People's Commissariat of Education emphasized:
Any truly democratic power in the field of education in a country where illiteracy and ignorance reigns must set as its first goal the struggle against this darkness. She must achieve the shortest time universal literacy through the organization of a network of schools that meet the requirements of modern pedagogy, and introduction of universal compulsory and free education, and at the same time, the establishment of a number of teacher's institutes and seminaries that would provide as soon as possible a mighty army of folk educators, which is needed for the general education of the population of vast Russia.
This message is legally enshrined in the first Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918. (We will not consider the Constitution of the USSR of 1924, because it was of an organizational nature and did not contain articles relating to the rights and freedoms of citizens), where Article 17 proclaims:
In order to ensure that the working people have real access to knowledge, the RSFSR sets itself the task of to give the workers and the poorest peasants complete, comprehensive and free education.
However, almost immediately the proclaimed principle of free educational services faces the problem of its practical implementation, becoming more and more declarative. Civil War with the ruin and impoverishment of both the masses of the people and the state, which, moreover, was still extremely weak economically, made these efforts futile. The abundance of legal acts fixing the gratuitousness of education ( even strictly prohibiting the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of October 27, 1921 "On the Prohibition of Compulsory Collection of Fees in All Soviet Educational Institutions", where the refusal of a student or his parent to study or be admitted to an educational institution for non-participation in voluntary contributions was considered a crime by position, for which the perpetrators from the educational administration and teaching staff were held liable by the verdict of the people's court) could not change the situation. In educational and educational institutions continued to collect fees, because. educational institutions it was necessary to function somehow, and teachers / teachers / educators had to live on something (sometimes payment was accepted even in kind - products). Then a compromise solution was found - to announce that the collection of fees is, firstly, as if voluntary, and secondly, temporary. And so our first People's Commissar of Education, explaining the situation, was forced to say that:
The introduction of payment means that the state is temporarily unable to fully and completely assume the costs of public education, and forced to partially impose benefits on the population, providing broad benefits to workers and shifting a great burden on the shoulders of wealthy and well-to-do parents.
Those. for the education of the urban and rural poor, the "lousy intelligentsia" that did not die out during the revolutionary changes, the wealthy peasants who were not yet completely dispossessed, as well as all those who belonged to the "socially alien" revolution "elements" paid for the education.
However, to boost the economy (beginning of industrialization) The state was in dire need of qualified workers. To solve this problem, numerous initial courses have been created. vocational education, where adults without a working profession were trained, as well as thousands of homeless children. These courses not only made it possible to obtain a working specialty, but were also not overhead: adults, in the event of separation from production, kept their salaries, and stipends were paid to teenagers. The instruction, developed in accordance with the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of July 29, 1920, "On educational vocational conscription" established that the size of student scholarships for adolescent students should correspond to the sixth category of the third group of industrial enterprises of the general tariff grid.
I must say that in all the years of the USSR, the state treated the initial vocational education, one might say, with trepidation. Details of the legislative acts in this educational direction can be found here: Training of workers in the USSR. Part 1, Training of workers in the USSR. Part 2, Training of workers in the USSR. Part 3, which contains a very detailed chronological selection of documents on this topic (some documents will be used in the article).
Since 1922, scholarships began to be received by students of other educational institutions. The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated May 26, 1922 "On State and Private Scholarships for Students" established the receipt by students of higher educational institutions and practical institutes of state and private scholarships. Number government scholarships determined annually by a special resolution of the Council of People's Commissars (I must say that in relation to the total number of students, their number was not large). The scholarships included: food and clothing supply; hostels; cash disbursements. The amount of state and private scholarships was determined no lower than the average wage of a worker in a given area. Thus, government agencies, factory enterprises, public, cooperative, professional and party organizations, as well as private enterprises and individuals ( all those who belonged to the private founders of scholarships) received the right to establish and pay scholarships to students of those educational institutions where they were seconded.
In 1923, the provision on temporary voluntary collection of fees was enshrined in law. The regulatory legal act that first approved the remuneration of educational services was the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of March 22, 1923 "On the procedure for collecting tuition fees in institutions of the People's Commissariat of Education".
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of March 22, 1923 "On the procedure for collecting tuition fees in institutions of the People's Commissariat of Education"
In development of the Decree of the X All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars decide:
1. It is temporarily allowed for provincial executive committees to introduce tuition fees in educational institutions in cities and urban-type settlements on the following grounds.
2. Tuition fees are allowed in schools of the 1st and 2nd levels, in technical schools, practical institutes and higher educational institutions.
Note. Tuition fees may not be collected in schools for working adolescents, in all professional lower schools and educational demonstration workshops, in pedagogical educational institutions, with the exception of those that will be indicated in the special instructions of the People's Commissariat of Education (Article 11), as well as in all other educational institutions not provided for by these Regulations ( preschool institutions, Soviet party schools, etc.). The rules for collecting tuition fees at higher educational institutions and practical institutes are established by the aforementioned instruction of the People's Commissariat of Education (Article 11).
3. Hired workers and employees who have the right to be members of trade unions, with the exceptions specified in Art. 4, pay a fee for the education of their children in an amount not exceeding 5% of their tariff rate, regardless of the number of children studying.
4. The following are exempted from paying for the education of children:
a) Red Army soldiers, naval sailors, commanders, commissars and political staff of the army and navy;
b) invalids of labor and war;
c) peasants subject to legal exemption from payment of tax in kind;
d) student scholarship holders;
e) state pensioners;
f) workers of education employed in the institutions of the People's Commissariat for Education, with the exception of clerical and administrative staff;
g) the unemployed, registered at the labor exchange, entitled to social insurance benefits;
h) workers and employees whose wage rate is below the quadruple state minimum wage.
Note. Orphans who remain after the death of the persons listed in Art. Art. 3 and 4 categories.
5. At least 25% of free places are established in each school.
6. Separation of persons who do not belong to any of the categories specified in Art. Art. 3 and 4, into groups depending on their property status and the establishment of the amount of tuition fees for persons belonging to each of these groups is carried out by the provincial executive committees, in accordance with the instructions of the People's Commissariat of Education.
7. Workers and employees receiving maintenance, although higher than the quadruple state wage minimum (clause "h", art. 4), but burdened with a family, as well as insolvent parents who do not fit into any of those listed in art. Art. 3 and 4 categories, may be exempted from tuition fees for children in whole or in part in the manner prescribed by Art. 8.
8. Exemption from tuition fees and the provision, if necessary, of benefits for its payment, is carried out by a special commission consisting of: a representative from the local department of public education, one representative from the local inter-union association and one from the school board of the school. The chairman of the commission is a representative of the department of public education. In urban-type settlements where there is no department of public education, the chairman of the commission is one of the members of the executive committee.
9. The fee is withdrawn by the head of the school or a specially appointed person for quarters of the year in advance.
Note. For workers and employees, a monthly fee payment is established.
10. The amounts received from tuition fees are credited to the special funds of this school, in accordance with the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of March 6, 1923 (Sobr. Uzak., 1923, No. 18, Art. 231).
11. The People's Commissariat of Education is entrusted with issuing instructions for the application of this Regulation.
Chairman
All-Russian Central
Executive Committee
M.KALININ
Vice-chairman
Council of People's Commissars
A.TSURUPA
Secretary
All-Russian Central
Executive Committee
T.SAPRONOV
The decree officially allowed the provincial executive committees to introduce tuition fees in educational institutions in cities and urban-type settlements, albeit with the proviso that it is temporary; tuition fee allowed in schools of I and II levels, in technical schools, practical institutes and higher educational institutions. At the same time, the categories of persons who have payment benefits and are exempted from paying for educational services, as well as the number of places in schools for which these persons can apply ( according to the decree in schools, 75% of places were supposed to be paid).
However, in the middle of 1924, at a meeting of the Politburo of the RCP (b) (1924), the issue "On paying in universities" was considered and it was decided that from 1924/1925 school year All students will pay for tuition at universities.
A) Establish as a general rule that all students pay for tuition at universities...
b) Each student sent to universities pays either for himself (if there is sufficient earnings), or the organization that sent him pays for him, or a combined payment system can be practiced: part - the student himself, part - the organization that sent him.
C) The indicated ... procedure should begin to be applied to a new admission in the 1924-1925 academic year, so that from the new academic year it will be extended to the entire mass of students.
D) Set the tuition fee in the following amounts:
For persons whose salary does not exceed 100 rubles. per month, as well as persons dependent on parents whose salary does not exceed 100 rubles. per month - 50 rubles. in year; from 100 to 200 rubles. per month - 75 rubles. in year
and from 200 to 300 - 100 rubles. in year;
Grant the right to local commissions to establish for persons using unearned income, a fee of up to 300 rubles. in year.
E) With regard to students already in universities, adopt the following procedure:
The following categories of students are exempt from the fee:a) graduated from the workers' faculty,
b) state scholarship holders,
c) war invalids who are dependent on social security,
d) children of professors and teachers of universities and workers' schools, if they are dependent on their parents.
As you can see, the amount of tuition fees was set depending on the financial situation of the student, and was higher for people with unearned income, while a strictly limited category of people was exempted from payment.
At the end of 1924, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of 11/06/1924 "On state scholarships for students of higher educational institutions and working faculties" was adopted, which determines that from now on all scholarships issued to students by both the People's Commissariat of Education and other people's commissariats are considered state. It should be noted that this resolution speaks of receiving scholarships only for a certain category of students - business travelers ( directed) from organizations/enterprises or dependents (content) states, students who did not have benefits or referrals from organizations / enterprises did not receive scholarships.
In total in the USSR, thus, 128 (according to the data of the Glavprofobr) universities and 157,595 students (in 1927-1928) against 91 universities and 124,652 students in 1914/15 ... Members and candidates of the CPSU (b) among students - 17.1%, members of the Komsomol - 20.1%. By sex - 70.5% men, 29.5% women; the number of students receiving scholarships (in the RSFSR) -50 thousand.
The number of students at 110,000 must be recognized as exaggerated, exceeding the actual needs of the country. The Glavprofobr seeks to further reduce this figure, but the ode was also achieved by, on the one hand, an extreme reduction in enrollment this year - 8,000 workers and 5,500 others, and on the other hand, such a painful purge of the students, which excluded up to 25,000 people from its number, unsuitable mainly for their academic failure.
Although the People's Commissar for Education himself spoke out against the class approach to the recruitment of student youth:
In the future, the replenishment of higher educational institutions will have to follow new paths. Reception specifically on the recommendations of the party, Komsomol and trade unions does not meet our expectations. Partly not entirely acceptable elements are being recommended, and, in addition, the very reservoir of workers, graduate students for higher educational institutions and technical colleges, is apparently drying up.
However, in 1925, another 40 thousand students were expelled, while the norms of those expelled were planned in advance - an average of 20 - 30% of total number listeners. In general, the principle of a class approach, both to the recruitment of students and to their expulsion, remained the main one until the early 1930s ( especially with regard to workers' schools).
Memo to the Regional and Provincial Committees of the RCP (b) on Admission to V.U.Z. 1928
Establish that tuition fees in evening educational institutions (evening institutes, evening departments of institutes, evening technical schools and other evening special secondary educational institutions), as well as in grades 8-10 of adult secondary schools, are charged at half the tuition fee established for relevant educational institutions by the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of October 2, 1940 No. 1860 "On the establishment of tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships" (S. P. USSR 1940 No. 27, Art. 637).
Chairman of the People's Council
Commissars of the USSR
V. Molotov.
Council Manager
People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov.
Immediately in the regions there is a "popular approval" of the government's decision:
Pay attention to:
Some students who left school go to practical work, most of them have applied to be sent to study at vocational schools and factory training schools.
Indeed, at the same time - on October 2, 1940, the Decree "On the State Labor Reserves of the USSR" was issued.
The task of further expanding our industry requires a constant influx of new labor into mines, mines, transport, factories and factories. Without continuous replenishment of the composition of the working class it is impossible successful development our industry.
Unemployment has been completely abolished in our country, poverty and ruin in the countryside and in the city have been put an end to forever, in view of this, we do not have such people who would be forced to knock and ask for factories and factories, thus spontaneously forming a permanent reserve of labor for industry .
Under these conditions, the state is faced with the task of organizing the training of new workers from urban and collective farm youth and creating the necessary labor reserves for industry.
In order to create state labor reserves for industry, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR decides:
1. Recognize it necessary to annually prepare state labor reserves in the amount of 800,000 to 1 million people for transfer to industry by teaching urban and collective farm youth certain production professions in vocational schools, railway schools and in schools for factory training.
2. To train skilled metalworkers, metallurgists, chemists, miners, oil workers and workers of other complex professions, as well as skilled workers for maritime transport, river transport and communication enterprises - to organize Trade Schools in the cities with a two-year term of study.
3. For the training of qualified railway transport workers - assistant drivers, locksmiths for the repair of locomotives and wagons, boilermakers, foremen for the repair of the track and other workers of complex professions - to organize Railway Schools with a two-year training period.
4. To train workers for mass professions, primarily for the coal industry, mining industry, metallurgical industry, oil industry and for the construction business, to organize Factory Training Schools with a six-month training period.
5. Establish that education in Trade Schools, Railway Schools and Factory Training Schools is free of charge and students during the period of study are dependent on the state.
6. Establish that the state labor reserves are at the direct disposal of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and cannot be used by people's commissariats and enterprises without the permission of the Government.
7. Grant the right to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR annually to call (mobilize) from 800 thousand to 1 million urban and collective farm youth males aged 14-15 years old to study at Craft and Railway Schools at the age of 16-17 years old to study at Factory schools - Factory training.
8. To oblige the chairmen of collective farms to annually allocate, in the order of conscription (mobilization), 2 young males aged 14-15 years old to Craft and Railway Schools and 16-17 years old to schools of factory training for every 100 members of collective farms, counting men and women aged 14 to 55 years.
9. To oblige the city Soviets of Working People's Deputies to allocate annually, by way of conscription (mobilization), male youth aged 14-15 years old to Craft and Railway Schools and 16-17 years old to Factory Training Schools in the number annually established by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.
10. Establish that all graduates of vocational schools, railway schools and factory training schools are considered mobilized and are required to work for 4 years in a row at state enterprises, as directed by the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, with the provision of wages at their place of work at general grounds.
11. Establish that all persons who have graduated from Craft Schools, Railway Schools and Schools of Factory Training shall enjoy deferrals for conscription into the Red Army and Military - Navy for the time before the expiration of the period required for work in state enterprises, in accordance with Article 10 of this Decree.
Chairman of the Presidium
Supreme Soviet of the USSR
M.KALININ
Secretary of the Presidium
Supreme Soviet of the USSR
By this Decree, the Council of People's Commissars received the right to annually call up from 800 thousand to 1 million people of urban and collective farm youth, starting at the age of 14, to schools and factory training schools (FZO), while:
Training in Trade Schools, Railway Schools and Factory Training Schools is free of charge and students during the period of study are dependent on the state.
By introducing tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions, the state solved three main tasks at once. First, the transfer of part of the cost of education to the population made it possible to cover the budget deficit, which had increased significantly since the mid-1930s, when tuition fees were effectively abolished. At the same time, the assertion that the level of material well-being of workers somehow strongly increased - was a big fool. According to the collection Budgets of workers, collective farmers, engineering and technical workers and employees(page 39) the average cash income of a family of workers as a whole for all surveyed industries of the USSR in 1940 was about 605 rubles per month, but this is the average, while incomes varied greatly by industry, while families usually had more than 1 child, so the cost of education were not so small. It is generally difficult to take into account the cash income of collective farmers, because. their work was paid by workdays, which were credited with natural products, while for training it was necessary to pay state money signs, and not workdays.
Secondly, in this way the state regulated the number of specialists with higher education necessary for the country, remember, back in 1924, Lunacharsky said that the number of students exceeded the necessary needs - the twenties and thirties gave the economy a sufficient number of specialists with higher education to carry out the accelerated pace of industrialization, who had already transgressed or were ready to transgress into professional activities. However, the post-revolutionary younger generation continued to want to be educated, especially since the need for this was spoken at every step, but on the eve of the war, the state needed more professional workers.
Thirdly, by introducing tuition fees in the upper grades of secondary and higher schools ( as a result of which some of the students switched to study at various courses, the other - to the correspondence department, the rest - were engaged in employment) while making it free ( with state scholarships) vocational education, the state solved the problem of replenishing workers on the ground (plants / factories). And so that children do not consider working education to be something not serious or not mandatory, the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of December 28, 1940 "On the responsibility of students of vocational, railway schools and schools of the FZO for violation of discipline and for unauthorized departure from the school (school)" determined that for systematic and gross violation of school discipline, resulting in expulsion from the school (school) offenders subject to a court sentence to imprisonment in labor colonies for up to one year.
Nevertheless, there were still certain categories of citizens who were exempt from tuition fees, as well as some educational institutions where education was free.
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decides:
Chairman of the People's Council
Commissars of the USSR
V. Molotov.
Council Manager
People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov.
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decides:
1. Maintain free education in national studios at the Moscow State Conservatory, Moscow and Leningrad Theater Institutes and the previously existing procedure for providing students with scholarships.
Chairman of the People's Council
Commissars of the USSR
V. Molotov.
Council Manager
People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov.
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of October 28, 1940 N 2180 "On the preservation in flight and technical schools and universities of the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR free education, subsidies for food and uniforms and the previous procedure for assigning scholarships to students" (SP USSR, 1940, No. 29, item 699).
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 7, 1940 N 2452 "On exemption from tuition fees for disabled pensioners and their children and pupils of orphanages" (SP USSR, 1940, N 31, art. 785).
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of January 11, 1941 N 70 "On the preservation of free education and the former procedure for awarding scholarships to students of the Moscow aerial photography school."
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of June 12, 1941 N 1539 "On the preservation of free education and the previous procedure for awarding scholarships to students of pedagogical schools located in the regions of the Far North."
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of July 2, 1941 N 1803 "On exemption from tuition fees for children of ordinary and junior commanding staff of the Red Army and the Navy" (SP USSR, 1941, N 16, art. 311)
During the years of the Great Patriotic War the abolition of tuition fees and the provision of scholarships took place mainly either on a national basis or on the basis of low income.
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of January 5, 1943 N 5 "On the exemption in the Kazakh SSR of students of Kazakhs, Uighurs, Uzbeks and Tatars from tuition fees in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions and providing students with scholarships."
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of February 27, 1943 N 212 "On the exemption in the Uzbek SSR of students of Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Kirghiz, Kazakhs and local Jews from tuition fees in grades 8 - 10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions and providing student scholarships
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of February 27, 1943 N 213 "On the exemption in the Azerbaijan SSR of Azerbaijani and Armenian students from tuition fees in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions and providing students with scholarships."
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of March 19, 1943 N 302 "On the exemption in the Turkmen SSR of students of Turkmens, Uzbeks and Kazakhs from tuition fees in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions and providing students with scholarships."
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of May 15, 1943 N 528 "On the exemption from tuition fees and the provision of scholarships for students of the Kabardino-Balkarian Pedagogical Institute."
By the end of the war, the list of categories of citizens exempted from paying tuition fees was somewhat expanded, demobilized military personnel, children of soldiers who died at the fronts, children of disabled people of groups I and II, students with disabilities and children of teachers fell into the preferential category. At the same time, local regional councils of deputies could decide on exemption from student tuition fees. correspondence departments certain specialties.
In 1947, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a new version of Art. 121 of the Constitution of the USSR, which guaranteed free seven-year education, and introduced a system of state scholarships for distinguished students high school. The country, recovering from the war, needed funds, so tuition fees in high schools and universities continued to be collected.
The abolition of tuition fees became possible due to the growth of the country's gross income, at the same time, this decision was not only economic, but also political in nature: " in order to create the most favorable conditions for the implementation in the country of universal secondary education and for the acquisition of higher education by young people.
A year earlier, on March 18, 1955, the Decree of the USSR Armed Forces “On the abolition of the conscription (mobilization) of young people to trade and railway schools” was issued, which left in the past the voluntary-compulsory mobilization of youth in trade schools and factory schools, later transformed into a single network of vocational schools .
However, in exchange for the abolition of tuition fees and forced mobilization, the state decides to accustom young people to work from the school bench, N. Khrushchev declared this at the beginning of 1956 at the 20th Congress of the CPSU:
“It is necessary not only to introduce the teaching of new subjects in schools, which provide the foundations of knowledge on issues of technology and production, but also to systematically introduce students to work at enterprises, collective farms and state farms, in experimental plots and in school workshops.”
On December 24, 1958, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopts the Law "On Strengthening the Link between School and Life and on the Further Development of the System of Public Education in the USSR", which marked the beginning of the reform of the school, which continued until the mid-1960s.
The main goal of the reform is the training of technically competent personnel for industry and agriculture. Instead of 7-years, universal compulsory 8-years education is introduced, the transition to which is carried out by 1963. Complete secondary education is increased from 10 to 11 years due to the increase in working hours. IN educational plans secondary schools are being introduced: in grades 1-4 - labor, in grades 5-7 - practical classes in workshops and experimental training areas, in grades 9-11 - workshops on mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and agriculture.
complete secondary education of young people, starting from the age of 15-16, is carried out on the basis of combining education with productive labor so that all young people at this age are included in socially useful work ...
It is necessary to improve and expand evening and correspondence education in every possible way by strengthening correspondence and evening universities, developing a network of evening and correspondence education on the basis of stationary universities, organizing evening and correspondence training of specialists directly at large industrial and agricultural enterprises.
It was said in the document. In general, this can be called a veiled tuition fee.
In practice, the slogan of linking the school with life was poorly implemented. The mass transition of schools to industrial training did not take place due to the poor development of the material and technical base of educational institutions. Only a small part of the graduates went to work in the specialty received at school. At the same time, the level of general education of students has significantly decreased.
At the beginning of 1964, the Commission for Public Education of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR adopted the Decree "On the state of industrial training in high school RSFSR", according to which schools had to return to a 10-year term of study, and compulsory vocational training of students general education schools abolished from 3 years to 2 years. In August 1964, these provisions were consolidated by the Decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR "On changing the term of study in secondary general education labor polytechnic schools with industrial training", which notes:
To oblige the Central Committee of the Communist Parties and the Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics to take measures for the proper organization of industrial training for students in the upper grades of secondary schools and to ensure the strengthening and further development material base for their industrial training at enterprises, state farms and collective farms.
By 1966, secondary schools returned to a 10-year term of study, however, although the hours of industrial training for students of senior secondary schools were reduced , schoolchildren continued to take part in socially useful work, going to the aid of their "bosses" ( I think many people remember the spring weeding of the fields and the autumn harvest in nearby farms, in other words, in each locality, socially useful labor had its own expression).
Citizens of the USSR have the right to education.
This right is ensured by the free of charge of all types of education, the implementation of universal compulsory secondary education for young people, the broad development of vocational, secondary specialized and higher education based on the connection of learning with life, with production: the development of correspondence and evening education; provision of state scholarships and benefits to pupils and students; free distribution of school textbooks; schooling opportunities for mother tongue; creating conditions for self-education.
As a result of this decision and the subsequent tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, there was some slowdown in the shock rates of the spread of public education. It should be noted that it was temporary, and the abandonment of measures to introduce paid education occurred immediately after the end of the war and post-war period restoration of the country.
As soon as the recovered state could afford the development of industries related not only to the needs of the current survival, it immediately did so. At the same time, one must understand that paid education from 1940 to 1956 was not an analogue of European paid, elite higher and secondary education that cut off educational services and knowledge.
As historians and researchers of the Soviet period point out, the amount of 150 rubles a year for schools and secondary educational institutions and 300 rubles a year for universities in most cities and villages of the country was not something unbearable.
Historians report that the average salary of a worker in 1940 was 300-350 rubles per month. Whereas the amounts of 300-400 rubles for education at universities were intended for annual education. Even if the indicated average salary is, one way or another, overstated, and in reality an ordinary worker or peasant could receive only 200 or even 100 rubles a month, all the same, the indicated tuition prices do not look unbearable.
Yes, for the population of a poor country, this money was not at all superfluous, and not all families had good salaries. For example, for the peasantry, these measures really created serious problems in social mobility. However, here we must understand that the Soviet authorities deliberately for a long time restrained the possibility of horizontal mobility of the inhabitants of the villages, keeping them in the collective farms.
On October 26, 1940, Decree No. 638 "On establishing tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships" was introduced. In the senior classes of schools and universities, it was introduced paid training and with a fixed annual fee. Education in the capital's schools cost 200 rubles a year; in the provincial - 150, and for studying at the institute already had to lay out 400 rubles in Moscow, Leningrad and the capitals of the Union republics, and 300 - in other cities.
The annual payment roughly corresponded to the average monthly nominal salary of Soviet workers at that time: in 1940 it was 338 rubles per month.
However, the introduction of even such a modest fee for many Soviet citizens closed the opportunity to continue their education after the 7th grade. And then the collective farmers did not receive wages at all and worked on the collective farm for workdays.
As a result of the "reforms" carried out, the number of graduates of secondary schools (grades 8-10), secondary specialized educational institutions and universities has halved. The Soviet government deliberately sought to limit the number of people with secondary, secondary specialized and higher education. The country needed people at the machine. And this was achieved by measures of an economic nature: tuition fees were set.
In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new estate. The same peasants could not "get out into the people" even through studying at a technical school, and the workers - through a university. Recall that in the families of that time, the norm was 5-7 children for peasants and 3-4 for workers. And paying for the education of 2-3 children was an unbearable burden for them.
At the same time, at the end of 1940, the regulation “On the State Labor Reserves of the USSR” appeared. The Council of People's Commissars received the right to annually call up from 800,000 to 1 million urban and collective farm youth, starting at the age of 14, to schools and factory training schools (FZO). Graduates received referrals to enterprises where they were required to work for 4 years. And later, a decree appeared on criminal liability for up to 1 year "for unauthorized leaving or for systematic and gross violation of school discipline, resulting in exclusion" from the school (school). In fact, the state attached students to the FZO.
The only social ladder for the lower classes then became military schools - education in them was free. Or after serving in the army - work in the NKVD.
But even under Khrushchev, school education actually had to be paid. On December 24, 1958, the law "On Strengthening the Link between School and Life" was adopted, introducing a compulsory eight-year education. But at the same time, students in grades 9-10 had to work 2 days a week in production or in agriculture- everything that they produced during these 2 days of work at the factory or in the field went to pay for school education. For admission to a university, work experience of at least two years after graduation was now required. This "school reform" was canceled immediately after the removal of Khrushchev, and finally modern look school education was accepted only under Brezhnev, in 1966.
Tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and universities of the USSR were abolished by a government decree on May 10, 1956. It was introduced in October 1940. In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new estate, and the workers and peasants lost their "social ladder" ...
On October 26, 1940, Decree No. 638 "On establishing tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships" was introduced. Paid education was introduced in high schools and universities with a fixed amount of annual payment.
Education in the capital's schools cost 200 rubles a year; in the provincial - 150, and for studying at the institute already had to lay out 400 rubles in Moscow, Leningrad and the capitals of the union republics, and 300 - in other cities. 
The annual payment roughly corresponded to the average monthly nominal salary of Soviet workers at that time: in 1940 it was 338 rubles per month.
However, the introduction of even such a modest fee for many Soviet citizens closed the opportunity to continue their education after the 7th grade. And then the collective farmers did not receive wages at all and worked on the collective farm for workdays. 
As a result of the "reforms" carried out, the number of graduates of secondary schools (grades 8-10), secondary specialized educational institutions and universities has halved. The Soviet government deliberately sought to limit the number of people with secondary, secondary specialized and higher education. The country needed people at the machine. And this was achieved by measures of an economic nature: tuition fees were set.
In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new estate. The same peasants could not "get out into the people" even through studying at a technical school, and the workers - through a university. Recall that in the families of that time, the norm was 5-7 children for peasants and 3-4 for workers. And paying for the education of 2-3 children was an unbearable burden for them. 
At the same time, at the end of 1940, the regulation “On the State Labor Reserves of the USSR” appeared. The Council of People's Commissars received the right to annually call up from 800,000 to 1 million urban and collective farm youth, starting at the age of 14, to schools and factory training schools (FZO).
Graduates received referrals to enterprises where they were required to work for 4 years. And later, a decree appeared on criminal liability for up to 1 year "for unauthorized leaving or for systematic and gross violation of school discipline, resulting in exclusion" from the school (school). In fact, the state attached students to the FZO. 
(In the photo: an advanced group of students - carpenters of the school of FZO No. 7 in Leningrad)
The only social ladder for the lower classes then became military schools - education in them was free. Or after serving in the army - work in the NKVD.
But even under Khrushchev, school education actually had to be paid. On December 24, 1958, the law "On Strengthening the Link between School and Life" was adopted, introducing a compulsory eight-year education. But at the same time, students in grades 9-10 had to work 2 days a week in production or in agriculture - everything they produced during these 2 days of work at a factory or in the field went to pay for school education.
For admission to a university, work experience of at least two years after graduation was now required. This “school reform” was canceled immediately after the dismissal of Khrushchev, and school education finally took on a modern look only under Brezhnev, in 1966. 
Against the background of Stalinist serfdom and estates, "experiments" with school education Khrushchev and current politicians, the “Brezhnev” time for Russians should seem like Paradise. However, surprisingly, no one remembers Brezhnev ...
