Paid and free education. Paid education - didn’t this happen under Stalin? After Stalin's college to university
Tuition fees in senior secondary schools and universities of the USSR were introduced in October 1940, and abolished on May 10, 1956. On October 26, 1940, Resolution No. 638 was introduced “On the establishment of tuition fees in senior secondary schools and in higher education.” educational institutions USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships.” In high schools and universities, paid education was introduced with a set annual fee. Tuition in capital schools cost 200 rubles per year; in the provincial ones - 150, and for studying at the institute you already had to shell out 400 rubles in Moscow, Leningrad and the capitals union republics, and 300 in other cities.
The annual fee roughly corresponded to the average monthly nominal salary of Soviet workers at that time: in 1940 it amounted to 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. As a result of the “reforms” carried out, the number of graduates from secondary schools (grades 8-10), secondary specialized educational institutions and universities was halved.
In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new class, and workers and peasants lost their “social ladder.” Let us remember that in 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 end of 1940, the regulation “On State Labor Reserves of the USSR” appeared. The Council of People's Commissars received the right to annually conscript from 800 thousand to 1 million urban and collective farm youth, starting from the age of 14, to schools and factory training schools (FZO). Graduates received assignments 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 expulsion” from the college (school).” The state assigned students to the FZO.
The only social ladder for the lower classes then became military schools - education in them was free. Or after military service - work in the NKVD.
But even under Khrushchev, one actually had to pay for school education. On December 24, 1958, the law “On strengthening the connection between school and life” was adopted, introducing 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 in a factory or in the field went to pay for school education. To enter a university, work experience of at least two years after graduation was now required. This “school reform” was canceled immediately after Khrushchev’s removal, and finally modern look school education was adopted only under Brezhnev, in 1966.
For some reason, Stalinists, even today, never mention the introduction of paid education in schools and universities by Stalin in 1940. "No. 27 of October 26, 1940, Resolution No. 638. "On the establishment of tuition fees in senior secondary schools and 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 expenses of the Soviet state on the construction, equipment and maintenance of the continuously growing network of secondary and higher educational institutions, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR recognizes the need to assign part of the costs of education in secondary schools and higher educational institutions of the USSR to the working people themselves and to In connection with this, it decides:
1. Introduce tuition fees in the 8th, 9th, and 10th grades of secondary schools and higher educational institutions from September 1, 1940.
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 per year; b) in all other cities, as well as villages - 150 rubles per year. Note. The specified tuition fees in grades 8-10 of secondary schools will be extended to students of technical schools, pedagogical schools, agricultural and other special secondary institutions.
1. Establish the following 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."
I found (Resolution No. 213) that free education was partially introduced in the USSR for representatives of the national borderlands in 1943 (in the Kazakh SSR, Uzbek SSR, Turkmen SSR). But in full free education was introduced only with the death of the “effective manager” - in 1954. “Tuition fees in schools were abolished by the resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR dated July 1, 1954 “On the introduction of joint education in schools in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities.” Average monthly salary in 1940 (from comments): “In general, state retail prices in 1940 year 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 that? P. 98-99
Plus, we must take into account forced bond loans in the amount of 20-25% of wages. 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. Those. - educating 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! The villages were paid in workdays, not in money. And the annual income - given in money - of an entire family was often less than 1,000 rubles. And here, educating a child in graduate school or university cost the peasant family a significant part of their monetary income. And even under Stalin, peasants had neither passports nor pensions.
from ptic2008
Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR On the abolition of tuition fees in senior secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR. June 6, 1956
Council of Ministers 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 to abolish tuition fees in senior specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR from September 1, 1956.
Public education in the USSR: Collection of documents. 1917—1973. - M., 1974. P. 192.
Tuition fees in senior secondary schools and universities of the USSR were abolished by government decree on May 10, 1956. And it was introduced in October 1940. In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new class, and workers and peasants lost their “social ladder”...
On October 26, 1940, Resolution No. 638 was introduced “On the establishment of tuition fees in senior secondary schools and higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships.” In high schools and universities, paid education was introduced with a set annual fee.
Tuition in capital schools cost 200 rubles per year; in the provincial ones - 150, and for studying at the institute you already had to shell out 400 rubles in Moscow, Leningrad and the capitals of the union republics, and 300 in other cities. 
The annual fee roughly corresponded to the average monthly nominal salary of Soviet workers at that time: in 1940 it amounted to 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 collective farmers then 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 from secondary schools (grades 8-10), secondary specialized educational institutions and universities was 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 through economic measures: fees were set for studying.
In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new class. The same peasants could not “make it into the people” even through studying at a technical school, and the workers could not through a university. Let us remember that in 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 State Labor Reserves of the USSR” appeared. The Council of People's Commissars received the right to annually conscript from 800 thousand to 1 million urban and collective farm youth, starting from the age of 14, to schools and factory training schools (FZO).
Graduates received assignments 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 expulsion” from the college (school).” In fact, the state assigned students to the FZO. 
(In the photo: an advanced group of students - carpenters from the Federal Educational Institution School No. 7 in Leningrad)
The only social ladder for the lower classes then became military schools - education in them was free. Or after military service - work in the NKVD.
But even under Khrushchev, one actually had to pay for school education. On December 24, 1958, the law “On strengthening the connection between school and life” was adopted, introducing 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 in a factory or in the field went to pay for school education.
To enter a university, work experience of at least two years after graduation was now required. This “school reform” was canceled immediately after Khrushchev’s removal, and school education finally took on its modern form only under Brezhnev, in 1966. 
Against the background of Stalin’s serfdom and class, “experiments” with school education Khrushchev and current politicians, the “Brezhnev” time for Russians should seem like Paradise. However, surprisingly, no one remembers Brezhnev...
From time to time, heated debates flare up on the topic of whether education in the USSR was paid or whether it was still free. Some, citing government decrees, prove 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 the machinations of enemies. Well, well, let's try to figure out 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, who already in his first statement as head of the People's Commissariat of Education emphasized:
Any truly democratic authority in the field of education in a country where illiteracy and ignorance reigns must make as its first goal the fight against this darkness. It must achieve universal literacy in the shortest possible time by organizing 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 institutes and seminaries that would, as quickly as possible, provide a powerful army of public teachers needed for universal education of the population of vast Russia.
This message is legislatively enshrined in the first Constitution of the RSFSR of 1918 (We will not consider the Constitution of the USSR of 1924, since it was of an organizational nature and did not contain articles relating to the rights and freedoms of citizens), where v. 17 declares:
In order to provide workers with real access to knowledge, the RSFSR sets as its task provide workers and poor 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 devastation and impoverishment of both the masses and the state, which, moreover, was still extremely weak economically, made these efforts futile. The abundance of legal acts establishing free 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 to admit to an educational institution for non-participation in voluntary contributions was considered a crime in office, for which the perpetrators from the educational administration and teaching staff were subject to liability according to the verdict of the people's court) could not change the current situation. Educational and educational institutions continued to charge 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 was, firstly, 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 bear the costs of public education , and is forced to partially impose benefits on the population, providing broad benefits to workers and shifting much of the burden onto the shoulders of wealthy and well-off parents.
Those. The education of the urban and rural poor was paid for by the “lousy intelligentsia”, which had not died out during the revolutionary changes, by the wealthy peasants who had not yet been completely dispossessed, as well as by all those who belonged to the “elements” that were “socially alien” to the revolution.
However, to boost the economy (beginning industrialization) The state urgently needed qualified workers. To solve this problem, numerous initial courses have been created vocational education, where adults without a working profession, as well as thousands of street children, studied. These courses not only made it possible to obtain a working specialty, but also did not impose overhead: adults, in case of separation from production, kept their salaries, and teenagers were paid stipends. The instruction developed in accordance with the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated July 29, 1920 “On educational vocational service” established that the amount of student scholarships for teenage students should correspond to the sixth category of the third group of industrial enterprises of the general tariff grid.
It must be said that throughout the years of the USSR, the state treated primary vocational education with, one might say, trepidation. Detailed information about 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, students from other educational institutions began to receive scholarships. The decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated May 26, 1922 "On public and private scholarships for students" established the receipt of public and private scholarships by students of higher educational institutions and practical institutes. The number of state scholarships was 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 supplies; dormitories; cash distributions. The amount of public and private scholarships was determined not lower than the average earnings 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 were private founders of scholarships) received the right to establish and pay scholarships to students of those educational institutions where they were sent.
In 1923, the provision for 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 furtherance of the Resolution of the X All-Russian Congress of Soviets, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars decide:
1. Provincial executive committees are temporarily allowed 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 first and second levels, in technical schools, practical institutes and higher educational institutions.
Note. Tuition fees cannot be charged in schools for working teenagers, in all lower vocational schools and educational demonstration workshops, in pedagogical educational institutions, with the exception of those that will be specified in the special instructions of the People's Commissariat of Education (Article 11), as well as in all others educational institutions not provided for by these Regulations ( preschool institutions, Soviet party schools, etc.). The rules for collecting tuition fees in higher educational institutions and practical institutes are established by the aforementioned instructions 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 exempt from tuition fees for children:
a) Red Army soldiers, military sailors, commanders, commissars and political personnel of the army and navy;
b) disabled people from labor and war;
c) peasants who are subject by law to exemption from payment of tax in kind;
d) student scholarship holders;
e) state pensioners;
f) educators serving in the institutions of the People's Commissariat of Education, with the exception of clerical and administrative personnel;
g) unemployed people registered at the labor exchange and entitled to social insurance benefits;
h) workers and employees whose tariff rate is lower than quadruple the state tariff minimum.
Note. Orphans who remain after the death of the persons listed in Art. Art. 3 and 4 categories.
5. At least 25% 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 financial status and the determination 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 who receive maintenance, although higher than the quadruple state tariff minimum (clause “z”, Article 4), but are burdened with a family, as well as insolvent parents who do not fit any of those listed in Art. Art. categories 3 and 4 may be exempt from tuition fees for children in whole or in part in the manner provided for in Art. 8.
8. Exemption from tuition fees and the provision, if necessary, of benefits for paying it, 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 council of the given school. The chairman of the commission is a representative of the department of public education. In urban 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 collected by the head of the school or a specially appointed person in quarters of the year in advance.
Note. For workers and employees, a monthly fee is established.
10. Amounts received from tuition fees are credited to the special funds of the given school, in accordance with the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of March 6, 1923 (Collected Uzak., 1923, No. 18, Art. 231).
11. The People's Commissariat of Education is entrusted with issuing instructions for the application of these Regulations.
Chairman
All-Russian Central
Executive Committee
M. KALININ
Vice-chairman
Council of People's Commissars
A. TSYURUPA
Secretary
All-Russian Central
Executive Committee
T.SAPRONOV
The decree officially allowed provincial executive committees to introduce tuition fees in educational institutions in cities and urban-type settlements, albeit with the caveat that it was temporary; tuition fee admitted to schools of the first and second levels, technical schools, practical institutes and higher educational institutions. At the same time, categories of persons who have payment benefits and are exempt from paying for educational services were determined, as well as the number of places in schools for which these persons can apply ( According to the decree, 75% of places in schools were supposed to be paid).
However, in mid-1924, at a meeting of the Politburo of the RCP (b) (1924), the issue “On fees in universities” was considered and it was decided that from 1924/1925 school year All students will pay for university education.
A) Install as general rule that all students pay for studying at universities...
b) Each student sent to universities pays either for himself (if he has sufficient earnings), or the organization sending him pays for him, or a combined payment system can be practiced: part - by the student himself, part - by the organization sending him.
C) Begin to apply the indicated... procedure to the new admission in the 1924-1925 academic year, so that from the new academic year it will be extended to the entire student body.
D) Tuition fees should be set 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 rub. in year; from 100 to 200 rub. per month - 75 rub. in year
and from 200 to 300 - 100 rubles. in year;
Grant the right to local commissions to set fees of up to 300 rubles for persons using unearned income. in year.
E) Regarding students already in universities, adopt the following procedure:
The following categories of students are exempt from fees:a) graduated from workers' schools,
b) state scholarship holders,
c) war invalids who are dependent on social security,
d) children of professors and teachers of universities and workers' faculties, if they are dependent on their parents.
As can be seen, the amount of tuition fees was set depending on the student’s financial situation, and was higher for persons with unearned income; however, a strictly limited category of persons was exempt from payment.
At the end of 1924, the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR dated November 6, 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 others people's commissariats, are considered state-owned. It should be noted that this resolution speaks about receiving scholarships only for a certain category of students - business travelers ( aimed) from organizations/enterprises or dependents (contents) state, students who did not have benefits or referrals from organizations/enterprises did not receive scholarships.
In total, there are 128 (according to the Glavprofobra) universities in the USSR and 157,595 students (in 1927-1928) against 91 universities and 124,652 students in 1914/15...Members and candidates of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) among students - 17.1%, members of the Komsomol - 20.1%. By gender - 70.5% men, 29.5% women; the number of students receiving scholarships (across the RSFSR) is 50 thousand.
The number of students of 110,000 must be considered exaggerated, exceeding the actual needs of the country. The Chief Vocational Education Inspectorate strives to further reduce this figure, but this was also achieved through, on the one hand, an extreme reduction in enrollment this year - 8,000 workers' faculty students plus 5,500 others, and on the other hand, through such a painful purge of students, which excluded up to 25,000 people from its number, unsuitable mainly due to their academic failure.
Although the People's Commissar of Education himself spoke out against the class approach to the recruitment of students:
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. Some elements that are not entirely acceptable are being recommended, and, in addition, the very reservoir of workers and graduate students at universities and colleges is apparently drying up.
However, in 1925, another 40 thousand students were expelled, while the expulsion rates were planned in advance - on average 20 - 30% of total number listeners. In general, the principle of a class approach to both student enrollment and expulsion remained central until the early 1930s ( especially in relation to workers' faculties).
Memo to the Regional Committees and Provincial Committees of the RCP (b) on Admission to the 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 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 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.
Manager of Council Affairs
People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov.
Immediately, “popular approval” of the government’s decision appears in the regions:
Pay attention to:
Some students who left school go to practical work, most of them applied with a request to be sent to study at vocational schools and factory training schools.
Indeed, at the same time, on October 2, 1940, the Decree “On State Labor Reserves of the USSR” was issued.
The task of further expansion of our industry requires a constant influx of new labor into mines, mines, transport, factories and factories. Without continuous replenishment of the working class, the successful development of our industry is impossible.
Unemployment has been completely eliminated in our country, poverty and ruin in the countryside and city have been ended forever; therefore, we do not have people who would be forced to knock and ask to work in factories and factories, thus spontaneously forming a constant reserve of labor for industry .
In 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 the need to annually prepare for transfer to industry state labor reserves in the amount of 800 thousand to 1 million people by training urban and collective farm youth in certain production professions in Trade Schools, Railway Schools and Factory Training Schools.
2. To train skilled metal workers, metallurgists, chemists, miners, oil workers and workers in other complex professions, as well as skilled workers for maritime transport, river transport and communications enterprises, organize Trade Schools in cities with a two-year training period.
3. To train qualified railway workers - driver assistants, mechanics for repairing locomotives and wagons, boilermakers, track repair foremen and other complex workers - organize Railway Schools with a two-year training period.
4. To train workers in mass professions, primarily for the coal industry, mining industry, metallurgical industry, oil industry and for the building trade, to organize schools of Factory Training with a six-month training period.
5. Establish that training in Trade Schools, Railway Schools and Factory Training Schools is free and students are dependent on the state during the training period.
6. Establish that 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 to annually conscript (mobilize) from 800 thousand to 1 million urban and collective farm youth males aged 14 - 15 years to study in Crafts and Railway Schools at the age of 16 - 17 years to study in Fabrichno schools - Factory Training.
8. Oblige the chairmen of collective farms to annually allocate, by way of conscription (mobilization), 2 male youth aged 14-15 years to Craft and Railway Schools and 16-17 years old to Factory Training Schools for every 100 collective farm members, counting men and women aged 14 to 55 years.
9. Oblige the city Councils of Workers' Deputies to annually allocate, by way of conscription (mobilization), male youth aged 14 - 15 years to Craft and Railway Schools and 16 - 17 years to Factory Training Schools in an amount annually established by the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.
10. Establish that all graduates of Trade Schools, Railway Schools and Factory Training Schools are considered mobilized and are required to work for 4 years in a row at state enterprises, at the direction of the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, providing them with a salary at the place of work at on general grounds.
11. Establish that all persons who graduated from Trade Schools, Railway Schools and Factory Training Schools enjoy deferments for conscription into the Red Army and Military Navy for the period until the expiration of the mandatory period for working in state-owned 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 conscript from 800 thousand to 1 million urban and collective farm youth, starting from 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 are dependent on the state during their studies.
By introducing tuition fees in senior secondary schools and higher educational institutions, the state solved three main problems at once. Firstly, transferring 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 actually abolished. At the same time, the statement that level of material well-being of workers somehow strongly increased - was a great deceit. 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 in general for all surveyed industries of the USSR in 1940 was about 605 rubles per month, but this is on average, income varied greatly across industries, while families usually had more than 1 child, so the costs of education was not so small. It is generally difficult to take into account the cash income of collective farmers, because their work was paid in workdays for which natural products were accrued, while for training they had to pay in government money, not workdays.
Secondly, in this way the state regulated the number of specialists with higher education required by the country; remember, back in 1924, Lunacharsky said that the number of students exceeds the necessary needs - the twenties and thirties gave the economy a sufficient number of specialists with higher education to carry out an accelerated pace of industrialization, who have already committed or were about to commit professional activity Nevertheless, the post-revolutionary younger generation continued to want to be educated, especially since the need for this was talked about at every step, but the state, on the eve of the war, needed professional workers more.
Thirdly, by introducing tuition fees in senior secondary and higher schools ( as a result, some of the students switched to studying at various courses, others to the correspondence course, and the rest began to find employment), while making it free ( with receiving government scholarships) vocational and technical education, the state solved the problem of replenishing workers locally (plants/factories). And so that the kids don’t count work education something not serious or not obligatory The Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of December 28, 1940 “On the responsibility of students of vocational, railway schools and FZO schools for violation of discipline and for unauthorized departure from school (school)” determined that for systematic and gross violation of school discipline, resulting in expulsion from the college (school) violators subject to a court verdict to imprisonment in labor colonies for up to one year.
However, there were still certain categories of citizens who were exempt from paying tuition, as well as some educational institutions where education remained free.
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decides:
Chairman of the People's Council
Commissars of the USSR
V. Molotov.
Manager of Council Affairs
People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov.
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR decides:
1. Preserve 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.
Manager of Council Affairs
People's Commissars of the USSR
M. Khlomov.
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated 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 awarding scholarships to students" (SP USSR, 1940, No. 29, Art. 699).
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of December 7, 1940 N 2452 “On exemption from tuition fees for disabled pensioner students and their children and inmates of orphanages” (SP USSR, 1940, N 31, Art. 785).
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of January 11, 1941 N 70 "On maintaining free education and the previous procedure for awarding scholarships to students of the Moscow Aerial Photography School."
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated 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 Far North."
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of July 2, 1941 N 1803 “On exemption from tuition fees for children of private and junior commanding personnel of the Red Army and Navy” (SP USSR, 1941, N 16, Art. 311)
During 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.
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of January 5, 1943 No. 5 "On the exemption in the Kazakh SSR of Kazakh, Uyghur, Uzbek and Tatar students from tuition fees in grades 8 - 10 of secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions and provision of scholarships to students."
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated February 27, 1943 N 212 "On the exemption in the Uzbek SSR of students of Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Kazakhs and local Jews from tuition fees in grades 8 - 10 of secondary schools, in technical schools and higher educational institutions and provision student scholarships
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated February 27, 1943 N 213 "On the exemption of Azerbaijani and Armenian students in the Azerbaijan SSR from tuition fees in grades 8 - 10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions and the provision of scholarships to students."
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated March 19, 1943 N 302 "On the exemption of Turkmen, Uzbek and Kazakh students in the Turkmen SSR from tuition fees in grades 8 - 10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions and the provision of scholarships to students."
Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of May 15, 1943 N 528 "On exemption from tuition fees and provision of scholarships to students of the Kabardino-Balkarian Pedagogical Institute."
By the end of the war, the list of categories of citizens exempt from paying tuition expanded somewhat; the preferential category included military personnel demobilized due to injury, children of soldiers who died at the fronts, children of disabled people of groups I and II, disabled students and children of teachers. At the same time, local regional councils of deputies could make decisions on exemption from tuition fees for correspondence students in certain specialties.
In 1947, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a new edition of Art. 121 of the USSR Constitution, which guaranteed free seven-year education and introduced a system of state scholarships for distinguished students high school. The country, recovering after the war, needed funds, so tuition fees in high schools and universities continued to be charged.
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 of universal secondary education in the country and for young people to receive higher education."
A year earlier, on March 18, 1955, the Decree of the USSR Armed Forces “On the abolition of conscription (mobilization) of youth to vocational and railway schools” was issued, which left the voluntary-forced mobilization of youth in the past in vocational schools and factory schools, which were 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 school, N. Khrushchev declared this at the beginning of 1956 at the 20th Congress of the CPSU:
“It is necessary not only to introduce in schools the teaching of new subjects that provide the foundations of knowledge on issues of technology and production, but also to systematically introduce students to work in enterprises, on collective and state farms, on experimental plots and in school workshops.”
On December 24, 1958, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted the Law “On strengthening the connection between school and life and on the further development of the public education system in the USSR,” which laid the foundation for school reform that lasted until the mid-1960s.
The main goal of the reform is to train technically competent personnel for industry and Agriculture. Instead of 7-year education, universal compulsory 8-year education is introduced, the transition to which is carried out by 1963. Complete secondary education is increasing from 10 to 11 years due to an increase in working hours. The following are introduced into the secondary school curricula: in grades 1-4 - labor, in grades 5-7 - practical classes in workshops and at experimental training sites, in grades 9-11 - workshops in mechanical science, 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 fully improve and expand evening and correspondence education by strengthening correspondence and evening universities, developing a network of evening and correspondence education on the basis of permanent 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 connecting school with life was poorly implemented. The massive transition of schools to industrial training did not take place due to underdevelopment material and technical base of educational institutions. Only a small part of graduates went to work in the specialty they received at school. At the same time, the level of general education training among students has decreased significantly.
At the beginning of 1964, the Commission on Public Education of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR adopted the Resolution "On the state of industrial training in high school RSFSR", according to which schools were to return to a 10-year period of study, and compulsory professional training students secondary schools abolished from 3 years to 2 years. In August 1964, these provisions were consolidated by the Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR “On changing the period of study in secondary general labor polytechnic schools with industrial training,” which notes:
Oblige the Central Committee of the Communist Parties and the Councils of Ministers of the Union Republics to take measures to properly organize industrial training for students in senior classes of secondary schools and ensure the strengthening and further development of the material base for their industrial training at enterprises, state farms and collective farms.
By 1966, high schools returned to the 10-year course, although the hours of industrial training for senior high school students were reduced , schoolchildren continued to take part in socially useful work, going out to help their “bosses” ( I think many people remember the spring weeding of fields and the autumn harvesting of crops on nearby farms; however, in each locality, socially useful work had its own expression).
Citizens of the USSR have the right to education.
This right is ensured by the freeness of all types of education, the implementation of universal compulsory secondary education for youth, the widespread 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; providing government scholarships and benefits to students; free issuance school textbooks; opportunity to study at school native language; creating conditions for self-education.
Free, accessible to all education is one of the main advantages of Soviet power, both in the eyes of its supporters and opponents. However, at one time they actively disseminated information that even in the USSR there was paid education, introduced under Stalin.
This caused fierce debate, in which many citizens who had a positive view of Stalin and the USSR actively denied the very fact of this. However, as the analysis shows historical sources, under Stalin, in 1940, partial tuition fees were indeed established.
Resolution No. 638
We are talking about a completely official decision of the leadership of the USSR, signed by the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) V. Molotov. Resolution No. 638 “On establishing tuition fees in senior secondary schools and higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for awarding scholarships” was issued in October 1940, shortly before the war, and was canceled by a Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in June 1956.
According to this decision of the USSR government, tuition fees were introduced in grades 8, 9 and 10 of secondary schools (as well as technical schools, colleges and other secondary educational institutions) and universities. For schools and technical schools, this fee was 150 rubles per year in most cities and villages, for Moscow and Leningrad, the capitals of the USSR, 200 rubles. For universities in capital cities (and Leningrad) - 400 rubles per year, for other universities - 300 rubles.
Reasons for introducing tuition fees
The reasons for such a decision, given that before this the Soviet government was rapidly pursuing a policy of spreading universal education, enlightenment and literacy for the population of the USSR, were very prosaic and were set out in the Resolution itself.
Although in order to understand the true meaning of the decision, you need to look at its historical context. The Council of People's Commissars in its decision directly states that due to the increased level of well-being of citizens of the USSR and at the same time the high costs of construction, the ongoing development of a huge network of higher and secondary educational institutions, Soviet state decided to impose part of the costs on the citizens themselves.
In fact, this means that having reached a certain, very high level of education and literacy among the population compared to the post-revolutionary years, having made a tremendous breakthrough in the development of industry, science and education immediately before the war, the USSR spent too much on this unprecedented modernization of the entire country.
The country's leadership, apparently clearly realizing that the level of education of Soviet citizens necessary to prepare for war and industrialization had been achieved, a huge layer of the Soviet intelligentsia had been raised capable of meeting the needs of the country, decided to save money for further shock development educational system, directing them to current needs. And the current needs of the USSR in 1940 meant preparing the country for an inevitable big war.
This was a more than justified step for a rather poor state, straining all its strength and resources to survive. In its breakthrough of the 1930s, the USSR reached a certain level of development of the education system, which provided for the current pragmatic needs of the country’s survival and the further development of this system exclusively at the expense of the state, which took place in part rather of “surpluses”, for which there were no resources in those conditions.
A feasible burden for the population
As a result of this decision and the subsequent tragedy of the Great Patriotic War, there was some slowdown in the rapid pace 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 to develop industries related not only to the needs of current survival, it immediately did so. It should be understood that paid education from 1940 to 1956 was not an analogue of European paid, elite higher and secondary education, which cuts off educational services and knowledge.
As historians and researchers point out Soviet period, the amount of 150 rubles per year for schools and secondary educational institutions and 300 rubles per year for universities in most cities and villages of the country was not something unaffordable.
Historians report that the average worker's salary in 1940 was 300-350 rubles per month. While amounts of 300-400 rubles for studying at universities were intended for annual training. 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 prices for training do not seem prohibitive.
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 did create serious problems in social mobility. However, here we must understand that the Soviet government deliberately for a long time restrained the possibilities of horizontal mobility of village residents, keeping them on collective farms.
At the same time, the introduction of fees did not cut off some other ways of obtaining free education, for example, in military educational institutions, and during the entire period of “Stalinist paid education,” despite the war and post-war reconstruction, the country’s educational system developed.
Objectively, regardless of political assessments Soviet power, the introduction of paid education in the most difficult conditions was absolutely justified and did not become an insurmountable barrier dividing different segments of the population by income level in the issue of receiving educational services.
It should be noted that despite the myths, largely formed by propaganda, truly welfare state in the USSR it was not built immediately, which in those historical conditions it was completely natural. On the way to a fairly well-fed and calm life of a Soviet citizen in 1960-1970, the USSR went through periods of deprivation and self-restraint. A little more than 15 years of paid education was far from the most severe measure during these years of mobilization and asceticism.
