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What is the Komsomol’s share of governmental
functions?

p In conditions of socialism the ‘grass-root’ participation in the country’s state, economic, social and cultural development has become common practice. ‘The Soviet system gives young people wide possibilities for public activity and for the participation in affairs of state. One cannot imagine the work of our Soviets, trade unions and state institutions without the active participation of Komsomol members’,  [138•1  Leonid Brezhnev stated at the jubilee plenary meeting of the YCL Central Committee, convened in 1968 on the occasion of the Komsomol’s 50th Anniversary.

p The Party’s Central Committee and its local bodies are concerned that the Komsomol should make use of the advantages which socialist democracy has to offer and involve increasingly broader sections of younth in production management 139 and in the activities carried out by local Soviets and by the governing boards of collective farms, trade union, cultural, educational and sports organisations.

p The Soviets of People’s Deputies constitute the corner-stone of the political system of the Soviet Union, which is a socialist state of the whole people. The deputies who are elected to the Soviets as the chosen representatives of the working people have to report back regularly to their constituents of the Soviets’ activities. Deputies who do not justify the confidence of their constituents may be recalled in accordance with a procedure established by law. For the first time ever the Soviets have proved to be a political system able to manage the affairs of state in the interests of the entire society—the working class, peasantry and intelligentsia of all Soviet nationalities and ethnic groups. It is through the Soviets that the people exercises its state power. The most important problems of the state are raised for coutry-wide discussion or put to a referendum.

p Together with other public organisations the Komsomol actively participates in the work of governmental bodies. This participation may assume several forms:

p Like the Party, trade-unions, cooperatives and other public associations and work collectives, the Komsomol has the right to nominate people to stand for election to the Soviets. Thus, in the course of the 1979 elections to the USSR Supreme Soviet, the country’s highest legislative organ, 207 140 YCL members were elected. In the 1977 local (regional, district, town, village and settlement) elections 721,369 young people up to 30 years (or 32.4 per cent of the total) received the electorate’s support. Among the young deputies elected 451,710 (or over 20 per cent of the total) were Komsomol members.

p In December 1977 Boris Pastukhov, First Secretary of the YGL Central Committee, was elected a member of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet. This fact testifies to the growing role played by the Komsomol in developed socialist society.

p Besides, the Komsomol actively participates in the election commissions which organise the balloting. In the course of the 1975 elections of deputies to the Supreme Soviets of Union and Autonomous republics, for example, some two and a half million young people worked on their staff, and some one and a half million of them were Komsomol members.

p During election campaigns thousands upon thousands of Komsomol members are engaged as propagandists. They devote most of their attention to those young people who are casting their votes for the first time. Komsomol activists explain to them the essence of the policy pursued by the Communist Party and the Soviet state. They also tell young voters about the Soviet system of balloting, the rights and duties of the electorate, and about the nominated candidates by organising rallies at which young voters can meet them.

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p The USSR Constitution stipulates that all Soviet citizens, on reaching the age of 18, have the right to elect and be elected to the Soviets of People’s Deputies. The only exceptions are people who are legally certified insane.

p To be eligible for election to the USSR Supreme Soviet a citizen of the USSR must have reached the age of 21.

The YCL ensures in every possible way that young deputies exercise their duties successfully. The Komsomol organisations make use of young deputies to raise problems which are of particular concern for the rising generation and require to be settled by the appropriate Soviet. In fulfilling their duties young deputies bear in mind the instruction of the YCL Central Committee, which states that for each Komsomol member these duties represent important League assignments. Komsomol organisations stage meetings at which young deputies meet rank-and-file Komsomol members and League activists. At such meetings young deputies report to their constituents and receive their instructions. The YCL Central Committee has a tradition of holding these meetings with young deputies to the USSR Supreme Soviet.

How does the Komsomol participate in running
the state’s affairs?

p Komsomol organisations participate in the activities of both central and local governmental bodies. Thus, the League’s representatives sit on the boards of a number of state ministries and agencies, such as the USSR Ministry of Higher and 142 Secondary Specialised Education, the USSR Ministry of Public Education, the USSR Ministry of Culture, the USSR State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting, the USSR State Committee on Physical Culture and Sport, and the USSR People’s Control Committee. They enjoy the status of full members in settling any problem, not only those which directly concern young people. In this way, through its representatives, the League participates in decision-making by various state bodies.

p Besides, the YCL representatives may be invited to participate as observers in the sittings of central and local governmental bodies.

p Another important form of the Komsomol’s participation in government is the work done by its representatives in various public agencies, councils and inspection bodies which operate in parallel with government agencies, both central and local, and render them assistance.

p In December 1969, a number of Soviet ministries and agencies adopted, with the active support of the League, a resolution ‘On Job Counselling for School Leavers’ which emphasised the importance of YCL representatives being directly involved in the activities of newly-established jobcounselling agencies, set up by the Ministries of Public Education in the Union and Autonomous republics as well as by regional, town and district councils of education.

p The Party often appoints Komsomol functionaries and activists to various jobs of state importance.

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p Today there are some 428,000 primary Komsomol cells in the country, which enjoy broad powers. The CPSU Central Committee’s resolution ‘On the Fiftieth Anniversary of the YCL and the Communist Education of Youth’ stressed that all questions concerning the upbringing, education, vocational training, life, work and leisure of Soviet young people should be dealt with by the relevant state, trade union and economic organisations, in conjunction with the Komsomol.

p In response to the League’s proposals, the Soviet government established considerable privileges for those engaged in part-time studies. In the 1960s and 1970s the government adopted a number of important decrees regarding evening and correspondence courses. Thus, young people who took general education or vocational courses on a parttime basis had their working hours reduced and were granted various other benefits.

p The friendly ties that exist between the League and the trade unions date back to the first postrevolutionary days, and grow fuller with every passing day. It has become common practice for the governing bodies of the League and the trade unions to adopt joint decisions and act together on nation-wide tasks related to the rising generation. In 1964, for example, the Presidium of the AllUnion Trade Union Council and the Bureau of the YCL Central Committee took a joint decision on the further improvement of health treatment for teenagers in sanatoria and resorts. In another joint resolution, one year later, the 144 two organisations pledged to pay more attention to workers taking up their first jobs. The resolution stipulated measures ranging from sending the newcomers to join the best work teams and workshops, paying special attention to their progress and assimilation and helping them to master their trade.

p The work team is the primary unit of socialist production. Here, together with the trade union committees, the primary Komsomol cell has many tasks to attend to. They involve improvements in young workers’ conditions of work, measures to stimulate their efforts, provide teenage workers with safe working conditions, protect young people’s labour rights, and see to the distribution of free housing and the utilisation of funds earmarked for cultural activities and sports.

p At the factory level, Komsomol organisations actively participate in such organs as young workers’ and young engineers’ councils, public personnel departments and quality-control councils. Practical requirements give rise to new forms of ‘ grassroot’ participation in the management of industry—a fact which leads to further development and broadening of the democratic principles of developed socialism.

p Komsomol members may directly influence the performance of an industrial enterprise since their representatives also sit in so-called production meetings, which are standing bodies consisting of workers, trade union and management representatives, as well as Party and Komsomol members. 145 At these meetings they discuss various problems pertaining to planning, organisation of production, the better use of the technology available and the spread of advanced production techniques. They provide good opportunities for young workers to come up with fresh initiatives and critical remarks and discuss the planned measures.

p Over one million Komsomol members participate in the activities of the organs of people’s inspection. These reflect a fundamental feature of socialist society, where the public demonstrates a great deal of concern for locating and quickly eliminating any faults and shortcomings. In an effort to raise production efficiency, for example, to save raw and other materials, and to improve the organisation of production, various forms of public inspection have emerged at industrial enterprises. The ‘Komsomol Search-Light’ campaign, which involves some 3.5 million Komsomol members, is one such form. Young workers sound the alarm whenever they discover any production malfunctions or come across infringements of the labour laws. This campaign is very effective since it obliges managers to take immediate corrective measures. In the course of one country-wide campaign, aimed at revealing latent production reserves, the suggestions made by Komsomol members helped to save over 500 million roubles.

p Another sphere through which young workers can actively participate in production management is the trade union organisations, among whose members there are over 25 million Komsomol 146 members, with about a million elected to posts in trade union organs.

p All trade union committees establish their own youth commissions which also contribute to the cause of communist education of young people. Among some of their concerns are to widen the involvement of young workers and engineers in production matters, and to improve their conditions of work, housing, education, leisure, rest, cultural and physical training facilities.

p Whenever a labour dispute arises between a young worker and the enterprise management, the case is taken to a special commission on labour disputes, made up of equal numbers representing both the trade union and the management. If the commission fails to resolve the problem, it is then taken to the trade union committee, whose decision is binding for the management and may only be revoked by a court decision.

p Of course, there is still room for improvement in the work of Komsomol organisations and this is widely discussed in the press and debated at YCL meetings on various levels. Yet, in general, the majority of Komsomol cells make wide use of the available opportunities to settle problems concerning young people.

p Using its right to initiate legislation, the YCL has made several proposals and participated in the discussion of a number of important issues involving, for example, benefits for teenagers and young men and women. For example, the YCL Central Committee was behind the Soviet government’s 147 decision to improve the design of youth hostels, and to build clubs, libraries and community centres at the sites of major industrial projects patronised by the League.

p Local Komsomol organs also make some legislative proposals concerning various aspects of young people’s life. In recent years, regional, town and district YCL committees, together with the state bodies concerned, passed a number of resolutions connected with the upbringing and education of school pupils and young workers. Their goal was to coordinate the efforts of state and public organisations and map out the most effective forms of each organisation’s share in the execution of joint undertakings.

p Now, a number of new legislative proposals concerning young people are in the pipe-line, and are actively debated by YCL representatives.

The League’s participation in the introduction of new legislation is just another manifestation of the democratic nature of the Soviet state system. While not possessing the power to enact new laws, the YCL nevertheless influences the whole process of working out new legislation; in doing so it expresses the will of the socialist state and, most importantly, it realises its obligations as a youth organisation acting in the interests of the country’s youth. All this reflects one general pattern in the Soviet Union’s development, in the course of which the mechanism of socialist statehood is transformed into public self-government.

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Youth Commissions, at the People’s Soviets:
What are these?

p Among the standing commissions of People’s Soviets, formed to expediate the discussion of specific problems pertaining to the Soviets’ terms of reference, there are so-called youth commissions. Today, there are over 12,000 such commissions across the country, and over 80,000 deputies work on them. Among the basic items dealt with by the commissions are the following:

p —elaboration of problems related to the life of Soviet youth, including their upbringing, education, vocational training, work in general, leisure time, rest and health protection, as well as their participation in the country’s economic and cultural progress;

p —control over the activities of executive organs with respect to safeguarding young people’s interests and rights;

p —the execution of the Soviets’ decisions related to young people and their involvement in the work of state organs and local governing bodies. This work should be carried out in close collaboration with the Komsomol and other public agencies.

p Both chambers of the USSR Supreme Soviet— the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities—also deal with questions related to youth and have relevant standing commissions. It was in these commissions that such important topics as the joint work done by local Soviets and Komsomol organisations, the improvement of young people’s education and many others were 149 discussed for the first time. In many instances these commissions levelled sharp criticism against certain shortcomings, pointing out ways of eliminating them. Thus, in March 1974 the commissions discussed how the labour legislation on young people’s work in the Oil Refining and Petrochemical Industry was observed. While noting with satisfaction improvements in the conditions of work and safety precautions at the Oil Ministry’s installations, still the commissions revealed certain cases of violations of Soviet labour laws. After studying the documents produced by the commissions, the Ministry issued a directive aimed at the immediate liquidation of the shortcomings. As a subsequent inspection showed, the Ministry began keeping a sharper eye on the observance of labour legislation.

Such examples are numerous since the Soviet state shows constant concern for the country’s youth and their problems, and scrupulously safeguards their interests.

Does the Komsomol influence how young
people choose their careers?

p On finishing their secondary education school leavers are confronted with the hard choice of selecting their future careers. The right choice is very important since it may influence his whole life and even have a direct impact on others. Yet selecting the right profession is not an easy matter. Moreover, the choice is influenced by the young person’s social environment, including the views absorbed at school, and in the family. Naturally, 150 the Komsomol cannot stand aside in this matter.

p Apart from ensuring conditions for efficient labour, the socialist state strives to make every man happy in his job and help him to use his capabilities to the best. Therefore, together with the trade unions, the Komsomol pays much attention to the problems of job counselling.

p The broad contacts existing between secondary schools and industrial enterprises, whereby the latter patronise the former, are very important. Visiting near-by secondary schools, workers tell schoolchildren many interesting things about their professions and help in the work of school workshops, technical clubs and so forth. Such continuous friendly contacts help secondary school pupils get an idea of modern production and of various trades.

p In the field of job counselling the YCL and trade union committees at industrial enterprises hold special competitions for young technicians, and organise scientific and technical conferences, young innovators clubs and joint meetings with the workers. All this helps secondary school pupils to familiarise themselves long before they graduate with various jobs and with the conditions of modern production.

p The Soviet state attaches great importance to the correct organisation of job counselling. In the first place, this reduces the probability of wrong choices and disillusion at the start of one’s career and, secondly, it facilitates the vocational training of young people, which encourages their rapid 151 involvement into the production process and leads to slow rates of staff turnover.

p One of the Komsomol’s important tasks lies in instilling in young people a respectful attitude to work. And since the preparation for work begins in school, it is here that a lively interest in socially useful labour and a firm belief in one’s own abilities should be inculcated. Realising the importance of socially useful labour, school pupils set up working teams that undertake school repairs and are engaged in beautification projects, including planting trees and shrubbery in the school grounds.

p At the end of each academic year senior-grade pupils undergo practical training at local offices or enterprises for a whole month, thus contributing in a way to the country’s well-being. Summer work and recreation camps, in which children of school age do various part-time jobs while on holiday, are also very popular. Such summer jobs make boys and girls physically fit and upgrade them culturally. Of course, school working teams and summer camps are voluntary enterprises, but still schoolchildren find them very useful and feel proud of the results of their work. These early tastes of practical work are very helpful when it comes to choosing a profession in the future.

The problem of job counselling is a regular topic in the youth press and on TV and radio. Recently, Komsomolskaya Pravda polled its readers on the problem. Though their letters expressed quite different views, the readers’ response was 152 very enthusiastic—a fact which underscored the importance of the whole problem.

How does the YCL contribute to the
nationwide task of universal secondary education?

p Since the school in the Soviet Union is one of the most important educational institutions, the YCL actively contributes to the development of public education. In their attitude to studies, Komsomol members set an example to the nonpartisan youth.

p Remember, that in pre-revolutionary Russia only 28 per cent of the population in the 9 to 49 bracket were literate. The illiteracy rate among peasants was especially high. Nevertheless, back in 1919, when the young Soviet state was engaged in an armed struggle against the counter- revolutionary forces and foreign intervention, with its economy lying in ruins, the Soviet government adopted a decree on ‘The Abolition of Illiteracy Among the RSFSR’s Population’. This decree laid the foundation of the national system of public education. Komsomol members played a most active part in this ‘Wipe Out Illiteracy’ campaign.

p The situation was desperate, since in 1927 there were some 92,000 YGL members who themselves were illiterate. The Party and the YCL declared the abolition of illiteracy one of the most important tasks of the building of socialism. There was a popular slogan which called on each literate Komsomol member to teach the alphabet to an illiterate comrade. Young activists helped to draw up 153 lists of illiterate people and after undergoing a brief course in teaching, reading and writing they were appointed as group leaders. Also, after taking special course, the 50,000 most suitable Komsomol members were given teachers’ posts in primary schools. In 1929-32 some 45 million (against a planned 18 million) Soviet citizens underwent elementary courses in reading and writing. To the surprise of Sovietologists abroad, who used to claim that ‘it would take ages to wipe out illiteracy in Russia’, the literacy rate in the Soviet Union reached 87.4 per cent in 1939.

p In the course of socialist construction a ramified system of schools, colleges, universities and other cultural establishments has been set up in the Soviet Union. Thanks to the country’s growing economic might, free education—from the elementary schools up to higher educational establishments—was introduced in the USSR for the first time in history, thus making it accessible to all working men.

p The League’s contribution to the liquidation of illiteracy should be given high credit. Today, among Soviet secondary school teachers there are over 60,000 Komsomol members, who actively participate in the work of teachers’ Komsomol organisations as well as those of the pupils. Every year young graduates of teacher-training colleges, most of whom are Komsomol members, begin their work in the country’s schools.

p In the Soviet Union there exist in-service courses for secondary school teachers, and the system 154 of studies in teacher-training colleges is being systematically improved.

p Almost half of Soviet schoolchildren live and study in rural areas. The USSR Ministry of Education, together with the local YCL organisations, selects young people from remote rural areas to be admitted to the teacher-training colleges without taking the otherwise obligatory entrance exams. The League’s concern for the well-being of rural schools has become one of its prime duties. In the course of the ‘Komsomol Helps the Rural School’ campaign over 10,000 rural schools were built and some 80,000 study rooms, 18,000 pioneer’ s rooms, 21,000 sports grounds and 19,000 training workshops equipped with the necessary facilities.

p In the 1976-77 academic year over 46 million schoolchildren attended 159,000 general education schools across the country. Over 97 per cent of those who finish the 8-year course of studies continue their schooling to get the secondary education certificate. The remaining three per cent either sign up for vocational training school (their total number exceeds 6,000) or begin their working careers while continuing their studies in evening schools.

p In the Soviet Union the unified state system of public education was based and is presently developing on the following truly democratic principles:

p —equality of all in the field of education and obligatory schooling for all youngsters;

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p —the accessibility of secondary and higher education and free tuition; an integrated system of schooling (general and specialised, secondary and higher education);

p —the unity of education and upbringing; —the ties between education and upbringing, on the one hand, and the practical experience of the building of communism, on the other;

p —the scientific character of education and its constant improvement on the basis of modern achievements in science, technology, culture and art;

p —the incorporation of the principles of Soviet patriotism and socialist internationalism into young people’s education and upbringing;

p —the mother tongue as the medium of instruction and freedom of choice as far as the language of instruction is concerned;

p —the humanistic and highly moral nature of education, aimed at bringing up the country’s young citizens in the spirit of the moral code of the builders of communism;

p —independence of the education system from religious institutions and the combination of its secular nature with the moulding of a materialist world outlook.

p By 1980, i.e., during the Tenth Five-Year Plan, the new schools built will accommodate not less than 7 million pupils, out of which 4.5 million school places will be made available in rural areas.

p Scientific and technical progress, combined 156 with the further development of Soviet society, are making new exacting demands of the modern system of education. Apart from the amount and quality of knowledge, what matters most are the habits and skills which the rising generation will acquire in school.

p In 1976 new curricula were introduced in Soviet schools, a fact which entailed a complete review and modernisation of existing textbooks and prompted the appearance of new teaching manuals and methodological aids. The new curricula laid emphasis on more profound generalised scientific information while cutting back on the number of individual facts which previously had to be memorised. Today, with the volume of essential information growing rapidly, it is the student’s ability to gain this knowledge independently and not lose his bearings in the rapid flow of scientific and political information that is allimportant, rather than the simple assimilation of a certain amount of scientific facts. Reading original sources, writing papers and reports, and discussing the country’s topical problems are of great practical value for schoolchildren.

p In the Soviet Union the preparation of schoolchildren for their working careers is closely linked with their polytechnical training in school, which aims to familiarise pupils with the basic industrial trades, modern technology and methods of production, the organisation of work and the economics of socialist production.

p Such forms of polytechnical training as school 157 industrial complexes, training workshops at plants and factories, schoolchildren’s agricultural brigades and summer camps for work and recreation, are becoming increasingly widespread in the late 1970s.

p Finally, the number of Soviet teachers and their qualifications are also growing. Though the teacher’s role in the educational process is great, however, the moulding of an individual presupposes his own goal-oriented efforts. The development of creative thinking and self-reliance in schoolchildren is closely associated with further development of the activities of the Komsomol organisations, which must be aware of all the aspects of school life, from academic progress to extra-curricular activities. What the League has to emphasise to each pupil is the fact that good academic progress is his main concern and patriotic duty.

p School YGL committees organise the patronage of junior pupils and the tutoring of pupils with poor academic records by their more advanced comrades. In addition, Komsomol members stage contests in various subjects and organise ‘interest groups’ in which schoolchildren have extra- curricular lessons in history, geography, physics, maths and other subjects: all this helps to give schoolchildren more profound general knowledge. Any pupil’s individual research confronts him or her with the necessity to look for special literature and thus evokes an interest in deepening the acquired knowledge. Numerous scientific societies, 158 lecture halls and interest groups for schoolchildren operate through the country.

p Komsomol members remember well Lenin’s words: ‘I must say that the tasks of the youth in general and of the Young Communist Leagues and all other organisations in particular might be summed up in a single word: learn.’  [158•1 

Lenin’s behest has remained at the centre of all the Komsomol’s activities.

How can the Komsomol help a young worker
with his studies?

p The YCL cell always welcomes any young worker’s desire to continue his or her studies. This moral support is always helpful since combining work with studies is not an easy task and requires a great deal of stamina on the young worker’s part. Any youth engaged in industrial production is given an opportunity to continue his or her studies in an evening school.

p The history of this type of educational establishment dates back to the 1920s when the Party and the Soviet government took great pains to develop it. During the Great Patriotic War, when the Red Army was fighting the Nazi hordes and the whole population was working hard to contribute to the war effort and defeat the enemy, the Soviet government took a decision (in 1943) to open a network of evening general-education schools for young workers who could, besides 159 working at a plant or factory, study on a parttime basis there.

p The year of 1962 saw the emergence of another form of evening courses—so-called ‘schools of foremen’. In those schools, apart from receiving secondary education, young workers could improve their professional skills, enabling them to qualify as team leaders and foremen. Besides general subjects the students there are given fundamentals of pedagogics, so that the graduates have the option of working as instructors of production training.

p All evening-school students enjoy a number of benefits: the right to a paid holiday during the examination session; the right to an extra day off each week which is paid at half the normal wage rate; the option of taking their annual leave in summer; and the guarantee not to be employed in a job preventing them from attending classes.

p On the other hand, evening schools have experienced certain difficulties with the enrolment of students: while in 1966 the total enrolment reached its peak with 4,845,000 students, in 1970 their number dwindled to 3,925,000 and is still on the decline. There are several reasons for this. The prime one lies in the fact that due to the advance of Soviet public education the general standards of education have risen, providing many opportunities to study elsewhere. The second reason is the reluctance on the part of some young workers to continue their education since they mistakenly consider this problem their own 160 business. Finally, there is another (the smallest) group of young people who complain of the hardships of combining work with classes.

p It is in the second and third cases that the Komsomol organisations have to step in. Komsomol cells organise extra lessons for those who are behind their comrades in their studies, help to remove any outside hindrances and apply methods of persuasion to those who lack faith in their own abilities. These methods manage to convert many who have given up their studies.

p Given recommendations by their Komsomol and trade union organisations in industrial or agricultural enterprises, the best young workers are sent to attend university preparatory courses. After their successful completion, they are enrolled at universities or colleges without the otherwise obligatory entrance exams.

Some large Soviet industrial enterprises have turned into educational establishments of a sort, since they accommodate evening schools, vocational schools and even affiliations of technical schools and colleges. Young workers welcome this practice since it saves their time and enables them to undergo practical training directly at their place of work. It means that any young worker, after completing his or her secondary education, can continue to study and obtain an engineer’s diploma. As a rule, young workers choose to specialise further in the line of their present occupation. Those who take up evening or correspondence courses in colleges are entitled 161

(1944)

to two additional paid holidays (during the winter and summer exams) plus four months’ paid leave to write their diploma dissertation.

p It is only natural that whenever any difficulties arise, the workers who are engaged in study seek the help of their YCL cells, which in turn defend their case, if necessary, before the management. Together with the trade union committees the Komsomol tries to ensure that young workers who attend courses in technical schools or colleges are employed in line with their chosen speciality. Senior students are usually appointed to junior engineer’s posts even prior to their graduation.

p In the Soviet Union industrial and agricultural enterprises have the right to send their young workers to colleges and universities and pay them additional grants which exceed the state grant of a college student by 15 per cent.

Those who have worked for at least two years at an industrial enterprise enjoy certain advantages over other applicants in the enrolment of new university or college students.

How does the Komsomol contribute to the
activities of Soviet higher educational
establishments?

p The League actively helped the Soviet state in establishing and developing the system of higher education. It may be stated that the formation of the principles and traditions intrinsic in the Soviet colleges and universities was largely due to the activities of student Komsomol cells and of the League in general.

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p Soviet young people well realise how important knowledge, culture in general and management skills are for the successful building of communist society. As was already mentioned, society’s first post-revolutionary task was to wipe out illiteracy—that shameful vestige of tsarism and the bourgeois political system. However, the education of trained specialists was no less important for the socialist state.

p Though the revolutionary-democratic part of the intelligentsia gave its unanimous support to Soviet power right after the revolution, the other sections of the old intelligentsia failed to grasp the meaning of the new political and economic transformations and either stood aside or went over to the counter-revolution.

p By the late 1920s an acute shortage of professional men—engineers, technicians, agronomists, mechanics, doctors, and teachers—had developed in the country, making the problem of preparing a new Soviet intelligentsia very urgent. Acting on the Party’s call, the Eighth YCL Congress (May, 1928) proclaimed the ‘Youth into Science’ campaign. It was important to get \vorking young people into higher educational establishments. The plans provided for the League to send 5,000 of its best members to universities and colleges each year. It turned out, however, that the number of willing applicants from the Komsomol was so great that in 1930 the League started special preparatory courses, and upon their completion 22,000 young men and women were enrolled. 163 These courses, known at the time as ‘workers’ faculties’, spread across the country and became extremely popular. In 1928 only 68 sucli faculties were opened, but by 1933 they numbered 1,025, with a total attendance of some 340,000. All in all, during the period of their existence, ‘workers’ faculties’ prepared over one million future students for higher education: among them many future gifted managers, designers, scientists and art workers. During the first five-year plan period (1928-32) which was completed ahead of schedule, some 270,000 young specialists got their diplomas. In 1934 over half of Soviet students were either young Party members or Komsomol members. After many new students of worker-and-peasant origin had been enrolled at universities and colleges their Komsomol cells grew bigger and stronger.

p The development of the USSR system of higher education was interrupted on June 22, 1941 when Nazi Germany treacherously attacked the Soviet Union.

p In those areas of the Soviet Union which the Nazis temporarily occupied they destroyed 84,000 general and technical schools and institutions of higher learning. Practically, one school out of four, one college out of three, and 605 research and development institutes, were left in ruins. Coupled with the huge losses in population—over 20 million—and devastations estimated at 2,600,000 million roubles, all this had a most detrimental effect on the system of higher and secondary 164 education. In 1945 only 1.3 per cent of Komsomol members had higher education, 17.4 per cent secondary (10 years of general school) and 48 per cent had finished 7 grades of general school. Some four per cent of Komsomol members did not even have primary education. Crash measures were needed to radically change the situation.

p After the war the country took energetic measures to rebuild destroyed schools and colleges, and a programme of constructing new educational establishments was started. In the 1950-51 academic year Soviet universities and colleges had a roll of over 1,247,000 students and over 1,298,000 Soviet youth studied in secondary specialised educational establishments, with Komsomol members accounting for 87 and 76 per cent respectively.

p After rehabilitating the war-ravaged country, the Soviet Union began rapidly to develop its economy, science and culture, including the entire system of education and preparation of qualified specialists.

p In 1977 some 78 per cent of all workers employed in the national economy had either higher or secondary (sometimes incomplete) education. Over nine and a half million were studying in the country’s technical schools, colleges and universities.

p Today, 60 per cent of Soviet college and university students are of worker-and-peasant origin, while the remainder belong to the intelligentsia whose fathers themselves were either of workers’ 165 or peasants’ stock. Every fifth student worked for at least two years before entering a higher educational establishment.

p As mentioned above, the system of part-time studies has become very popular across the country. Today, there are three main forms of education: full-time, evening, and correspondence courses. In contrast to full-time students, students taking evening or correspondence courses work during the day and study in the evening. Nevertheless the last two types of education ensure exactly the same amount of knowledge. For parttime students there are many benefits, including an unpaid holiday for taking entrance exams and paid holidays for writing dissertations or taking annual (or twice a year, depending on the type of college) or final exams.

p Anyone up to the age of 35 is eligible to become a full-time student, and there is no age limit for those who wish to enrol in evening or correspondence courses. Applicants take entrance exams and those who score most points in this contest are admitted.

p There are over 2,700,000 Komsomol members among Soviet students. The Komsomol cells at higher educational establishments help the teaching staff to improve academic standards, and assist students in acquiring the skills of organisational and political work. Practically, there is not a single sphere of activity in the higher educational establishment in which the League is not involved.

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p The Komsomol’s activities in universities and colleges are acquiring an integrated and systematic nature. To teach students how to do independent research is one of the tasks of the YCL. This does not imply any substitution of teaching staff efforts, but, rather, is a form of assistance to the teachers. It is important to teach students to develop a creative approach towards problems, to be aware of new trends and able to utilise them for the solution of urgent socio- economic problems. Soviet universities and colleges are proud of their harmonious relations between the students and the teaching staff.

p Of course, there are some students who like to miss classes from time to time and who demonstrate lack of discipline. The result is poor academic progress and the likelihood of their dropping out. The League fights such instances of student’s going astray. Applying ‘moral persuasion therapy’, the Komsomol members cite the positive examples of other students with good academic achievements. This method works, as a rule, and today there are some 180,000 ‘A’-students in all Soviet universities and colleges.

p Special grants and scholarships are awarded to the best students—grants named after Lenin and other outstanding Party and state leaders. About 5,500 students receive these increased scholarships.

p It should be noted that the majority of students receive state grants, which are distributed according to the student’s academic progress and his material status. ‘A’-students, for example, are 167 given extra money exceeding the normal rate by 25 per cent.

Students enjoy various benefits, including practically free accommodation for those who come from other towns or from rural areas. The students’ dorms have such facilities as electricity, central heating, gas, reading halls, gymnasiums, club rooms, leisure lounges, showers, kitchens and so forth—and everything free of charge. Meals in the students’ cafes and canteens are, as a rule, much cheaper than elsewhere. It should be mentioned here that the overall cost of educating one qualified specialist ranges from 4,500 to 12,000 roubles. But education in the Union is free and financed from the state budget.

Are there any forms of students’ self-
government in the Soviet Union?

p Representatives of Soviet students sit as full members on such boards as the Higher Education Council of the USSR Ministry of Higher and Specialised Secondary Education, and on the Rectors’ Councils which are set up in many university and college centres. Students are also represented in scientific, technical, cultural, sports and other public organisations, whose scope of activities cover diverse aspects of students’ life.

p All universities and colleges have students’ councils which operate in close contact with the Komsomol organisations. Students also participate in the work of the dean’s and rector’s offices. Among the problems they deal with are the allocation of rooms in hostels, of scholarships, the 168 organisation of sports societies’ activities and amateur art groups.

p The college administration is very attentive to the students’ views and takes them into account in practically all instances. Student representatives serve on committees that deal with applicants, and are included in the graduates distribution committees. Since there is no unemployment in the country every graduate is guaranteed work in his speciality. On the other hand, the national economy constantly requires new qualified specialists. So, several months before graduation, information on the vacancies available is passed to those about to graduate. In appointing a young graduate to a certain post, the committee takes into account the student’s personal wish and the country’s requirements.

p In all Soviet universities and colleges there are educational commissions which are chaired, as a rule, by students. The majority of their members are also students—Lenin and state scholarship- holders, post-graduates and young lecturers. The activities of these commissions are governed by special regulations and their main goal is to contribute to the efficiency of the educational process in general. The main method which this commission employs is the individual approach to each student.

p Students’ scientific societies have become very popular across the country. They exist in almost every Soviet higher educational establishment and over 1.5 million students actively participate in 169 them. The form of their participation may differ widely according to the profile of the institution in question.

p Another way of encouraging the students’ interest and creativity is through the so-called students’ design (or economic, or technological) bureaux which exist now in over 300 colleges and universities. In the period from 1971 to 1975 alone, Soviet students received over 5,300 patents for their inventions and participated in the execution of over 70,000 scientific projects. The curricula set aside an increasing amount of teaching time for the students to undertake individual research. The Moscow Institute of Physical Engineering, for example, allots 200 academic hours a year for independent research.

Soviet students are in no way isolated from the rest of society and take great interest in all the endeavours of the Soviet people. In 1976 the number of students elected as deputies to the republican Supreme Soviets and other local Soviets exceeded 1,000.

What is the nature of the League’s contacts
with young Soviet scientists?

p Today, with the role of young scholars in Soviet society being especially great, the Komsomol maintains numerous contacts with the scientific community. One form of such contact is the annual contests of social scientists. While 1,300 young researchers participated in the first contest, the number of scholars who presented papers at the second contest grew to 3,000. Special 170 Komsomol prizes are awarded for the best contributions in the field of science, engineering and technology. The prize-awarding commission is headed by Academician Basov, himself a Lenin and Nobel Prize winner.

p Councils of young Soviet scientists and specialists play an important role in the organisation of the young scientists’ work and in directing their efforts towards resolving the tasks of technical progress. One such council, set up by the YCL Central Committee, gives practical assistance to the new Soviet scientific centres. The League was most active in helping with the architectural design of, and selection and training of scientific workers for the centres of the USSR Academy of Sciences in the Far East and the Urals and for the Cybernetics Centre of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

The number of young scientific workers is on the increase, a fact which is not surprising since the overall numbers of scientists are growing as a consequence of scientific and technological progress and the general requirements of Soviet society’s development.

Is there any creative freedom for young Soviet
artists? What is the League’s attitude toward the
arts?

p A considerable number of Soviet men-of-letters. artists, actors, film-makers and architects are young people who display a lively interest in the life of Soviet society and the surrounding world. They aim to combat with their art all the vestiges of 171 the past and anything that hampers the building of communism. The Komsomol’s work with these young artists has facilitated the creation of works of art which directly reflect and analyse the urgent topics of Soviet life, and the typical aspects of the Soviet people’s personal lives.

p Lenin once remarked in a conversation with Clara Zetkin (1875-1933), one of the founders of the Communist Party of Germany, while discussing problems of art, education and upbringing, that ‘Art belongs to the people. Its roots should be deeply implanted in the very thick of the labouring masses... It must unite and elevate their feelings, thoughts and will. It must stir to activity and develop the art instincts within them.’  [171•1 

p The art which Lenin meant may only arise and successfully develop in an atmosphere of genuine artistic freedom. It is this kind of art, which is profound in its ideological content, highly artistic and varied in its national form and in its styles and genres, that has flourished in the Soviet Union.

p ‘Take, for example, the influence exerted by fashion and the caprices of the tsarist court as well as by the tastes and whims of the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie on the development of our painting, sculpture and architecture. In society based on private property the artist produces for 172 the market, needs customers. Our revolution treed artists from the yoke of these extremely prosaic conditions.’  [172•1  And then Lenin said that any artist is free in his creative endeavours and has the right to free artistic expression and to follow his ideal.

p True artistic freedom is incompatible with anarchy, individualistic gimmicks or so-called ‘ absolute’ freedom. True talent, developed in conditions of freedom of conscience, cannot be devoid of conscience and is incompatible with irresponsibility and attempts to flee from real life and its struggle.

p In the Soviet Union, as in the other countries of the socialist community, the principle of Party guidance of literature and art is in force. This presupposes, on the one hand, the artist’s right to create freely in accordance with his chosen ideal. On the other hand, the Communists see their task in the planned guidance of artistic endeavours in accordance with the communist ideals. To guide an artist means to direct his artistic aspirations with tact, revealing to him the social prospects of art and driving home the idea that the approximation of his creative ambitions to the interests of society’s progress will ensure that his people gain the maximum benefits from his works. The Party spirit and the freedom of artistic expression do not contradict each other. The more staunch the artist’s class affiliations and 173 political views are, the deeper he grasps the essence of Marxism-Leninism, the more easily he can find his bearings in the whirl of life and follow the right road in the labyrinth of social contradictions and conflicts, and the firmer is the guarantee of success in his creative searches.

p In the course of over six decades, Soviet art has produced numerous examples of free and fruitful development with artistic works full of vigour and creative perfection.

p The Soviet artistic intelligentsia—writers, poets, artists, composers, performers, musicians and producers—constitute an integral whole with socialist society and the Soviet people. In their works they reflect the country’s urgent problems.

p The contacts between the YCL and the artistic intelligentsia are reciprocal, since the Komsomol shows every possible concern for the artistic growth of the country’s young artists. Long-range plans, developed by the YCL together with the USSR Ministry of Culture and various artistic unions, include young artists’ trips around the country, exhibitions, public discussion of books and so forth.

p In accordance with the Soviet Constitution, which proclaims the right of Soviet citizens to public organisations, several bodies such as the USSR Architects’ Union, the USSR Journalists’ Union, the USSR Composers’ Union, the USSR Writers’ Union and the USSR Artists’ Union have been in existence for some time. All these organisations have their own youth sections. Meetings 174 of young members of these professional unions are regularly held across the country and the League’s representatives are among their regular participants. As a rule, new young members are nominated to the unions at these meetings. In Moscow alone there exist over fifty literary societies at large industrial plants, factories, community centres and educational establishments, in which young poets and writers can test their pen. And the Komsomol organisations are always ready to come and help the young artists.

p The Komsomol often holds seminars, conferences and workshops for young artists. The YGL Central Committee regularly sponsors fact-finding missions of young writers and artists to the sites of the largest Soviet construction projects and organises, with the respective unions, ‘Books for the Young’ and ‘Films for the Young’ weeks.

p The all-Union and republican exhibitions of young artists’ and film-makers’ works and festivals of youth theatres and poets have become important events in the life of Soviet youth. The 17th YCL Congress called on the Komsomol organisations to improve their work among the artistic youth, to produce a greater impact on the repertoire of theatres and film studios and on the main themes of exhibitions and to ensure that older masters show greater care towards the creative development of young talents.

p The League’s efforts to ensure the cultural development of the entire Soviet youth and 175 introduce it to the masterpieces of the Soviet and world literature, culture and art are also important. Soviet young men and women have at their disposal the widest opportunities for all-round development. Not everyone, however, who is fond of art can or should become a professional artist. Such people usually join amateur societies: in the mid-1970s the number of these societies in the Soviet Union exceeded 800,000 with a total of some 15 million members. Many young amateur artists achieved fame and became winners of amateur art contests and competitions for Komsomol prizes. These amateur artists participate in the artistic programmes of Soviet Youth Festivals.

p Some more statistics will illustrate the opportunities which the Soviet youth has at its disposal to satisfy its interest in literature, art and aesthetic development. In the USSR young people are fond of reading—90 per cent of young men and women cite reading as their favourite pastime. Many Soviet publishing houses cater to young readers’ tastes. In 1977 alone the Molodaya Gvardiya and other Komsomol publishing houses printed over 600 books and booklets in over 500 million copies.

In the Soviet Union there are some 154,000 stationary and mobile film projectors and the total annual number of film-viewers exceeds 4,500 million. There are also 549 theatres, 1,255 museums and 135,000 community centres which carry on an immense amount of cultural activities 176 and provide artistic education for the Soviet peopie.

What is the Komsomol’s attitude toward
religious believers?

p Let us first describe the prevailing attitude toward religious cults and organisations. It rests on the Soviet state’s desire to honour the interests of all its citizens.

p The USSR Constitution proclaims (in Article 52) that citizens of the USSR are guaranteed freedom of conscience, that is, the right to profess or not to profess any religion, and to conduct religious worship or atheistic propaganda. In the USSR, the church is separated from the state, and the school from the church. This means that any Soviet citizen is free to define his own attitude toward religion, to have or not to have religious views, to change his faith or to belong to any religious institution. No one is forced to be either an atheist or a religious believer, either to perform religious rites or not to. This is a matter for each person’s conscience, and the right is guaranteed by law. At the same time each Soviet citizen has the right to be a non-believer and conduct atheistic propaganda.

p The majority of Soviet youth, like the Komsomol members, have a materialist world outlook and consequently reject all beliefs in the supernatural with its gods, a life after death and the immortality of the soul.

p The principle of freedom of conscience is a firm reality which is safeguarded by the state, most 177 importantly in the law about the separation of the church from the state. Under this law, the state does not interfere in the inner activities of religious institutions, and the church is separated from the state and its political, economic, cultural, public health, educational and other organisations.

p Today, such organisations as the Russian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Armenian-Gregorian Church, the Old Believers’ Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church, as well as Moslem, Buddhist and Judaic religious organisations and a number of sects, freely operate in the country. All these religious bodies are absolutely equal before the state and each of them is self- governing. No questions are ever asked in the Soviet Union about religious views when interviewing for a job, during a population census, while issuing a passport, etc.

p Soviet law safeguards against infringements of the lawful rights of believers, religious associations and clergymen. Any discrimination against believers or pressure on their conscience is strictly banned.

p Therefore it may be correctly stated that discrimination against believers and non-believers does not exist in the Soviet Union, and the Soviet laws on religious cults are among the most humane and democratic in the world.

p At the same time Soviet laws ban the use of religious assemblies for political purposes against the Soviet state’s interests; they prohibit 178 incitement to evade one’s civic duties or not to participate in socio-political life, and ban fanatical rites causing bodily or mental harm.

p It should be mentioned here (hat the clergy in the Soviet Union, as a rule, follow the legal requirements and are loyal to the state. Today, there are only isolated cases, mostly in sectarian groups, where some people try to incite among believers discontentment with the religious policy of the socialist state, or force believers to stop listening to radio broadcasts, reading newspapers, consulting doctors, or serving in the Armed Forces. This is done, as a rule, by people following selfish and careerist purposes. Such actions violate Soviet laws, the rights and duties of Soviet citizens and are punishable by law.

p It is a well-known fact that Communists regard religion as a vestige of the past. The atheistic propaganda conducted in the Soviet Union does not resemble an all-out military campaign. On the contrary, greater attention is given to moulding a materialist world outlook in the people’s conscience. Its foundations are laid in the secondary school where natural sciences are taught, and continued in specialised educational establishments where the students study the fundamentals of scientific atheism, including a philosophical review of the entire struggle between the atheistic and religious views, which are presented with a wealth of concrete historical facts. The understanding of scientific facts emancipates man’s conscience from religious superstitions. The 179 atheistic material publicised by the country’s press, radio and TV serves the same aims. Sometimes such material appears as a result of requests by those who would like to know more about religion and atheism.

p The League pays much attention to atheistic propaganda and very often local YCL cells organise special atheistic societies and ‘young atheists’ clubs in which scientists, writers and former believers deliver talks on atheistic topics. In addition, Komsomol members practice an individual approach to believers and especially to children from families of believers with strong religious views.

From time to time the capitalist press publishes articles which allege that the presence of groups of young Soviet citizens in churches demonstrates their interest in’ religion. There are very few believers among young people but, on the other hand, it is well known that many churches in the Soviet Union are famous for their magnificent architecture and rich interior decorations. Therefore, the desire of young people to see these relics of national history (for instance, the Novodevichy Monastery in Moscow or the complex of churches in Zagorsk, near Moscow) is quite understandable. The majority of young visitors are firm atheists, while the churches themselves are protected by the state in order to ensure their proper maintenance.