Education in the Soviet Union…emphasis on science

Soviet education, according to a report released on November 10th by the United States Office of Education, is characterized by authoritarian theory and authoritarian practice and has but one function: to serve the needs of the state. The report, Education in the USSR, offers a convincing panorama of the Russian educational system that points clearly at the needs the Kremlin wishes most to satisfy:

“Almost half of the primary‐secondary curriculum is made up of courses in the physical and natural sciences, mathematics through trigonometry, and mechanical drawing, because leaders believe that these subjects contribute most directly to mastery and control of the material environment. Soviet semiprofessional and higher educational institutions also concentrate on preparing graduates in science and engineering. Of advanced degrees conferred, 70 percent are in scientific and technological fields. In creating the technical‐scientific base on which the development of the country and the consolidation and expansion of communism depends, training of manpower and womanpower for the use of the state is considered of major importance.”