Stalin did not introduce paid education. Paid education in the USSR under Stalin. The formation of the Soviet education system
AT In the USSR, schools and universities were not always free. The fee was abolished only in 1956.
Official decrees on the introduction of tuition fees were practically not published anywhere, although they are in open archives and are not hidden behind the heading “secret”.
The fee was introduced on October 26, 1940. Oplet was established by Decree No. 638 “On the establishment of tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions USSR and on changing the order of awarding scholarships.
Paid education with a fixed annual fee was introduced in high schools and universities. 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 amount of tuition fees at school and university was set not excessive, the annual fee approximately corresponded to the average monthly nominal salary of Soviet workers.
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.
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.
Later, a decree appeared on criminal liability for up to 1 year "for unauthorized leaving or for a systematic and gross violation of school discipline, resulting in exclusion" from the school (school). The state attached students to the FZO.
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 removal of Khrushchev, and finally modern look school education was accepted only under Brezhnev, in 1966.
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. During the war, the Central Committee of the CPSU held consultations with the governments of the Union republics and decided to abolish tuition fees on a national basis for students in grades 8-10 of secondary schools, technical schools and higher educational institutions.
By the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 6, 1956, tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR were canceled.
Tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools and universities of the USSR were introduced - in October 1940, and canceled on May 10, 1956. 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. 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.
In fact, Stalin at that time began the formation of a new estate, and the workers and peasants lost their “social ladder”. 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 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). 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 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.
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 backdrop of Stalinist serfdom and estates, "experiments" with Khrushchev's school education and current politicians, the "Brezhnev" time for Russians should seem like Paradise. However, surprisingly, no one remembers Brezhnev ...
On June 6, 1956, by a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 6, 1956, tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR were canceled.
Contrary to popular belief that education in the USSR was free, this was not always the case. 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 with a fixed annual fee was introduced in high schools and universities. Education in the capital's schools cost 200 rubles a year; in the provincial - 150, and for training at the institute already had to pay 400 rubles in Moscow, Leningrad and the capitals of the Union republics, and 300 - in other cities.
The amount of tuition fees at school and university was not high, the annual fee approximately corresponded to or was less than the average monthly nominal salary of Soviet workers. The average salary of a worker in 1940 was about 350 rubles. At the same time, the level of mandatory monthly expenses (rent, medicine, etc.) was lower than, for example, at present. By the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR of June 6, 1956, tuition fees in senior classes of secondary schools, in secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of the USSR were canceled.
The Soviet government gave the education of the population a huge, actually leading role. Vladimir Lenin saw in socialist revolution the possibility of quickly overcoming the economic and cultural backwardness of the country. The Cultural Revolution included a wide range of tasks of socialist construction in the field of culture. The school was assigned a special role as an educational institution and an instrument of communist education. It was not for nothing that Lenin declared at the congress of workers of education: “Only the school can consolidate the victory of the revolution. The upbringing of future generations consolidates everything that has been won by the revolution. “The fate of the Russian revolution directly depends on how soon the mass of teachers will take the side Soviet power". Thus, the Bolsheviks quite correctly and accurately defined the role of the school in the Soviet project. Only masses of educated and technically literate people could build a socialist state.
Prominent figures of the RCP (b) were placed at the head of the school affairs: N. K. Krupskaya, A. V. Lunacharsky, M. N. Pokrovsky. A. V. Lunacharsky headed People's Commissariat education (Narkompros) until 1929. It should be noted that the first stage of the existence of the Soviet education system was associated with the destruction of the old education system and the elimination of illiteracy of the population. The former structures of school management were destroyed, private educational institutions, spiritual educational institutions, the teaching of ancient languages and religion was prohibited, they removed general and national history from the program. A “purge” was carried out to screen out unreliable teachers.
It is worth noting that at this time the so-called. Trotsky-internationalists are very "frolic", destroying Russian culture, education and history. It was believed that everything that was under tsarism was outdated and reactionary. Therefore, along with such positive phenomena as the elimination of illiteracy, private education and the influence of the church on schools, there were many negative ones. In particular, they refused to teach history, all the tsars, generals, etc., fell into negative figures, removed Russian classics from the programs, and many others. other. It is not for nothing that in the 1930s (during the period of Stalinism) much that was positive in the field of education in Russian Empire restored, including separate education for boys and girls.
It is also worth remembering that a lot of damage to the system public education and literacy was damaged by World War I and the Civil War. The national economy was in ruins. Due to the lack of funds, many schools were closed, and the number of students decreased. The remaining schools were in disrepair, there was not enough paper, textbooks, and ink for the students. Teachers who had not been paid for years were leaving schools. Full funding for the education system was restored only by 1924, after which spending on education grew steadily. So, in 1925-1930. spending on public education amounted to 12-13% of the budget.
Ways of formation new school were defined in the documents adopted in October 1918: "Regulations on a unified labor school" and "Basic principles of a unified labor school(Declaration). The Soviet school was created as one system joint and free general education with two stages: the first - 5 years of study, the second - 4 years of study. The right of all citizens to education, regardless of nationality, equality in the education of men and women, the unconditionality of secular education (the school was separated from the church) were proclaimed. In addition, educational institutions were entrusted with educational and production functions (in the modern Russian Federation, these functions are practically destroyed).
Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR of August 2, 1918 "On the rules for admission to higher educational institutions of the RSFSR" proclaimed that every person who has reached the age of 16, regardless of citizenship and nationality, gender and religion, was admitted to universities without exams, it was not required to provide a document on secondary education. The advantage in enrollment was given to workers and peasants, that is, the main social groups of the country.
The fight against illiteracy was proclaimed as a top priority. On December 26, 1919, the Council of People's Commissars adopted a decree "On the elimination of illiteracy among the population of the RSFSR", according to which the entire population from 8 to 50 years old was obliged to learn to read and write in their native or Russian language. The decree provided for the reduction of the working day by 2 hours for students with the preservation of wages, the mobilization of the literate population in the order of labor service, the organization of registration of the illiterate, the provision of premises for classes of educational programs. However, in the years civil war this work was not fully developed. In 1920, the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for the Elimination of Illiteracy (existed until 1930) under the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR was established. In 1923, the mass society “Down with illiteracy” was created under the chairmanship of M. I. Kalinin, a plan was adopted to eliminate the illiteracy of people from 18 to 35 years old in the RSFSR by the 10th anniversary of Soviet power. The Komsomol and trade unions joined the fight against illiteracy. However, this plan was also not fully implemented. There were not enough personnel, material resources, etc. It was necessary, first of all, to strengthen the main link in education - the school, in order to cover all children. Thus, the problem of illiteracy was solved in a natural way.
In the second half of the 1920s, education emerged from the crisis. The country is recovering after two wars and economic devastation, regular funding for education begins. Thus, in the 1927-1928 academic year, the number of educational institutions increased by 10% compared with 1913, and the number of students by 43%. In the 1922-1923 academic year, there were about 61.6 thousand schools in the country, in the 1928-1929 academic year their number reached 85.3 thousand. During the same period, the number of seven-year schools increased by 5.3 times, and the number of students in them doubled.
AT high school the new authorities tried to win over the cadres of the old, pre-revolutionary intelligentsia, and not without success, and to create new cadres from representatives of the working class and the peasantry. However, most of those accepted could not study at universities, since they did not even have a secondary education. To solve this problem, workers' faculties were established, created since 1919 throughout Soviet Russia. At the end of the recovery period, graduates of workers' schools made up half of the students admitted to universities. To create a layer of new Soviet intelligentsia, spread the ideas of Marxism and restructure the teaching of social sciences, an extensive network of scientific and educational institutions was created: the Socialist Academy (since 1924 - Communist), the Communist University. Ya. M., Institute of K. Marx and F. Engels, Commission on History October revolution and RCP(b) (Istpart), Institute of Red Professors, Communist Universities of the Working People of the East and National Minorities of the West.
As a result, the system higher education developed in its main features by 1927. Higher education institutions were tasked with professionally training specialist organizers. The number of precocious universities that opened immediately after the revolution was reduced, student enrollment was significantly reduced, and entry exams. The lack of funds and qualified teachers held back the expansion of the system of higher and secondary specialized education. By 1927, the network of higher educational institutions and technical schools of the RSFSR consisted of 90 universities with 114.2 thousand students and 672 technical schools with 123.2 thousand students.
In the 1930s, the second stage in the creation of the Soviet education system began. In 1930, the resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks “On universal compulsory primary education” was adopted. Universal compulsory primary education was introduced from the 1930-1931 academic year for children 8-10 years old in the amount of 4 classes; for teenagers who have not passed primary education, - in the volume of accelerated 1-2-year courses. For children who received elementary education(graduated from school of the 1st stage), in industrial cities, factory districts and workers' settlements, compulsory education was established at a seven-year school. Expenses for the school in 1929-1930 increased more than 10 times compared with the 1925-1926 school year and continued to grow in subsequent years. This made it possible during the years of the first and second five-year plans to expand the construction of new schools: during this period, about 40,000 schools were opened. The training of teachers has been expanded. Teachers and other school workers were given a salary increase, which became dependent on education and work experience. As a result, by the end of 1932, almost 98% of children aged 8 to 11 were enrolled in studies, which solved the problem of illiteracy. Work continued on the elimination of illiteracy, which already gave better results.
In the early 1930s, the content and methods of teaching at school changed. have been reworked school programs, new stable textbooks have been created, the teaching of general and national history. The main form of organization educational process became a lesson, introduced a strict schedule of classes, internal rules. A stable school system with successive stages has developed. A new generation of teachers, talented and conscientious, who love children and their profession, has come to schools. It was these teachers who created the famous Soviet school, the best in the world and which is still a source of innovation for the most effective school systems in the West and East.
At the same time, a system of engineering, agricultural and pedagogical educational institutions was created, which allowed the Union to become a "superpower", which successfully opposed the entire Western civilization for several decades.
In 1932-1933. traditional, time-tested teaching methods were restored, specialization in universities was expanded. In 1934 were installed degrees candidate and doctor of sciences and academic titles assistant, associate professor and professor. That is, under Stalin, in fact, classical education was restored. Correspondence and evening education has been created in universities and technical schools. At large enterprises, educational complexes became widespread, including technical colleges, technical schools, schools, and advanced training courses. The total number of higher educational institutions in the RSFSR in 1940 was 481.
In the 1930s, the composition of the student body changed radically, which was facilitated by various training courses for young workers and peasants in universities, workers' schools, and recruitment of thousands of party members during the first five-year plans. The number of intelligentsia grew very rapidly; by the end of the 1930s, the new replenishment of this layer amounted to 80-90% of the total number of intelligentsia. It was already the socialist intelligentsia. Thus, the Soviet government created a third social support for itself - the socialist intelligentsia, largely technical. It was the basis and powerful support of the socialist, industrial state, the Red Empire. And the years of the terrible Great Patriotic War confirmed the advanced significance of the Soviet school, its effectiveness, when Soviet soldiers, commanders, workers, scientists and engineers, brought up and educated in new system, defeated the most effective capitalist system - the Third Reich.
It must be said that our enemies perfectly understood the danger of the Soviet school. For example, during the war years, only on the territory of the RSFSR, the Nazis destroyed about 20 thousand school buildings, a total of 82 thousand in the country. In the Moscow region, by the summer of 1943, 91.8% of school buildings were actually destroyed or dilapidated, in Leningrad region - 83,2%.
However, even during the most difficult war Soviet government tried to improve the education system. During the war years, government decisions were made to school education: on the education of children from the age of seven (1943), on the establishment general education schools working youth (1943), on the opening of evening schools in rural areas (1944), on the introduction of a five-point system for assessing the progress and behavior of students (1944), on the establishment final exams at the end of elementary, seven-year and high school (1944), on awarding distinguished students of secondary school with gold and silver medals (1944), etc. In 1943, the Academy was created pedagogical sciences RSFSR.
Since 1943, the restoration of the higher education system began. Thus, in the conditions of war since 1941 admission to universities was reduced by 41%, compared with peacetime; the number of universities decreased from 817 to 460; the number of students decreased by 3.5 times, the number of teachers decreased by more than 2 times; girls were attracted to higher education institutions to keep the contingent of students; due to compaction, the terms of study were reduced to 3-3.5 years, while many students worked. As a result, by the end of the war, the number of higher educational institutions and the number of students approached the pre-war level. Thus, the crisis of higher education was overcome in the shortest possible time.
It is worth noting that large sums were invested in education in the post-war period. In addition, collective farms, trade unions, and industrial cooperatives allocated money for school construction. 1,736 new schools were built in the RSFSR alone by the efforts of the population using the method of people's construction. By the beginning of the 1950s. The Russian school not only restored the number of educational institutions, but also switched to universal seven-year education.
After the destruction of the Soviet, socialist state in 1991 - the bourgeois-oligarchic revolution, where a significant part of the Soviet nomenklatura, especially the highest, acted as the bourgeois class, the Russian Federation, in fact, became a semi-colony of the West (and partly of the East). It is clear that in a semi-colony or in a country of peripheral capitalism it is not necessary to have an education system that gives hundreds of thousands of pretty good educated people(and compared to the average level of the West and East, not to mention Africa or Latin America, just great). After all, sooner or later they will start asking questions, expressing doubts about the success of the “reforms”. Therefore, the gradual demolition of the Soviet school began with the transformation of ordinary schools into an American analogue for commoners: “prison romanticism” (guards, cells, fences, etc.); refusal of educational, productive functions; reduction of hours of fundamental disciplines with the introduction of unnecessary lessons such as world culture, local languages, "God's law", etc.; translation into a second language - English (the language of the Anglo-American world order), which ultimately leads to the creation of an ideal consumer-performer. At the same time, kindergartens and schools are gradually “capitalized”, that is, they are transferred to a paid basis. The children of the rich and "successful" get the opportunity to study in private elite schools in the Russian Federation or send their children to similar institutions abroad. That is, the people were again divided into two unequal parts, and the gains of socialism are being destroyed.
However, for this it was necessary to bring a certain ideological base. It was necessary to prove that the Soviet education created only "sovki" with totalitarian, militarized thinking. And how can one not remember that Stalin introduced "paid education"! Like, already under Stalin, a significant percentage of the population was cut off from the opportunity to continue education.
Actually it is not. First you need to remember that the Bolsheviks created high school in general, and it remained free for everyone. It was a huge work: investments, personnel, huge territory, dozens of nationalities and many others. other. Universal primary education was established with great difficulty by the end of the 1920s. The total average - by the mid-1930s. In the 1930s, they created the basis for the best education in the world. And preparatory education for higher educational institutions (three senior classes), for which fees were introduced, in 1940 was only in its infancy. The introduction of tuition fees in high school, in fact, was the reason that the newly introduced social good did not have time to master. Second World War was already in full swing, the terrible Patriotic War was approaching. Soviet Union He was intensively preparing for it, so plans for the speedy introduction of higher free education also had to be postponed.
A perfectly rational decision. At this moment, the Union needed more workers than representatives of the intelligentsia, taking into account the already created personnel base. In addition, military educational institutions were still free and seven-year schools stimulated the creation of a Soviet military elite. Young men could go to flying, tank, infantry and other schools. In the context of the war, this was state wise.
It is also worth noting that under Stalin they built a healthy hierarchy. At the top of the social ladder was the military, scientific and technical, educational (professorship, teaching staff) elite. Compulsory education was seven years, then dropping out through exams and the decision of the school's teachers' council. The rest is either according to the most severe competition, or in the direction of the competent organizations. At the same time, everyone had the opportunity to rise higher, talent and perseverance were needed. The armed forces and the party were powerful social elevators. Another important element of this system was the separate education of girls and boys. Given the psychological and physiological differences in the development of boys and girls, this was a very important step.
After Stalin, this healthy hierarchy, which they began to build, was destroyed by “leveling”. And since 1991, a new estate has been built (within the framework of the general archaization of the planet and the onset of neo-feudalism) with a division into rich and “successful” and poor, “losers”. But here there is a hierarchy with a minus sign: at the top of the social ladder there is a non-producing class, the capitalists are the “new feudal lords”, usurers-bankers, corrupt officials, mafia structures that serve their strata.
Free education, accessible to all, 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 a paid education introduced under Stalin.
This caused a furious controversy, in which many citizens positively related to Stalin and the USSR actively denied the very fact of this. However, as the analysis shows historical sources, under Stalin, in 1940, a partial payment for education was indeed established.
Decree 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. Decree No. 638 "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 calculating scholarships" was issued in October 1940, shortly before the war, and was canceled by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR in June 1956.
According to this decision of the government of the USSR, 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 in most cities and villages was 150 rubles a year, for Moscow and Leningrad, the capitals of the SSR, 200 rubles. For universities in the capital cities (and Leningrad) - 400 rubles a year, for other universities - 300 rubles.
Reasons for introducing tuition fees
The reasons for such a decision, given that before that the Soviet government had been pursuing a policy of spreading universal education, enlightenment and literacy for the population of the USSR, were very prosaic and 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 indicates that due to the increased level of well-being of citizens of the USSR and at the same time high construction costs, the ongoing development of a huge network of higher and secondary educational institutions, soviet state decided to lay 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 grandiose 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 leadership of the country, apparently clearly realizing that the level of education of Soviet citizens necessary for preparing for war and industrialization had been achieved, a huge layer of Soviet intelligentsia capable of meeting the needs of the country had been grown, 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 the preparation of the country for the inevitable big war.
It was a more than justified step for a rather poor state, straining all its forces and resources to survive. In its breakthrough in 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, it was rather "surplus", 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 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 point out Soviet period, 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.
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 throughout the entire period of “Stalinist paid education”, despite the war and post-war reconstruction, the country's educational system was developing.
Objectively, regardless of the political assessments of the Soviet government, the introduction of paid education in the most difficult conditions was absolutely justified and did not become an insurmountable barrier separating different segments of the population by income level in the issue of obtaining educational services.
It should be noted that despite the myths, largely formed by propaganda, really welfare state in the USSR was built far from immediately, that 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 over 15 years of paid education was far from the most severe measure in these years of mobilization and asceticism.
