RUSSIAN ILLITERACY.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 242, 12 October 1929, Page 7 (Supplement)

RUSSIAN ILLITERACY.

STEADILY BEING CONQUERED. SYSTEMATIC EDUCATION OF ADULTS. UPLIFT OF THE PEASANT. (By PROF. ALBERT PINKEVITCH.) Russia is backward in the sphere of general enlightenment, so the placing of great emphasis on adult education in a country such as ours, therefore, is entirely natural. As early as the second half of the last century the Liberal Russian bourgeoisie realised the necessity for this work, and accomplished something through local Government. At first the movement took the form of Sunday schools for adults, and the first institutions of this type were opened in 1865. In the 'seventies more were organised. Mention should be made of a school in St. Petersburg, which was known under the name of Smolensk Evening Classes for men and women workers. Many revolutionaries worked here.

Workers' Schools Formed. Later, workers' schools allied themeelves with the Sunday echools and public readings for the illiterate were organised. The opening years of the twentieth century, particularly the epoch of the revolution of 1905, witnessed the growth of a new interest in the cultural needs of the masses, and a further diversification of the forms of out-of-the-school education.

Unless the masses are very much enlightened, it is certain a heighting of their economic welfare is impossible, cooperation is impossible, and a. genuine political life is impossible. All of these facts make it clear that the Communists, in undertaking the work of popular enlightenment, are not motivated by philanthropic sentiments but rather by the Bettled conviction that knowledge is one of the most powerful of v/eapons, and, if the masses are to be victorious, they must possess it in abundance.

Among the first facts faced by the revolutionary Government was the alarming illiteracy of the people. One of our primary tasks is consequently the abolition of illiteracy. By 1933-34 the ability to read and write should be the possession of every citizen of the Soviet Union. Such, at least, is the goal eet by the educators in Russia to-day. By the decree of the Soviet of People's Commissars of November 12, 1920, the chief committee for Political Enlightenment of the Republic was created. The fundamental purpose of this committee is contained in the first clause of the decree as follows: —

In order to unite all political agitation, propaganda and enlightenment in the republic and to concentrate it in the service of the political and economic reconstruction of the country, a chief committee for Political Enlightenment is organised in the People's Commissariat of Education. Promotes Economic Regeneration. The analysis of this clause is extremely important because "it furnished the base for the whole political educa'tional scheme. Its object is obviously that of promoting the economic and political regeneration of the country. The chief types of institutions which educate the people along political lines are the village, the industrial settlement, and the large city institutions. The cultural work in the village, where more than four-fifths of the population of the union live, naturally is of supreme importance. Since the revolution the village has assumed a new aspect, and upon it depends the i future of the Soviet State. Yet for two reasons, agitational and propaganda work in it 3 customary form does not reach village. On the one hand, illiteracy of the peasants makes reading impossible for the great majority of them; and, on the other, the character of papers and books places their contents beyond the comprehension of even the literate peasants. Furthermore, the products of the Press are remote from the interests of the village. Since further progress toward Socialism i 3 possible only on the basis of the peasant's cultural uplift, the work of political enlightenment in the village is our most acute problem. And since the , village is awakening and the middle and poor peasants are seeking to improve their economy, the present moment is entirely favourable for cultural work. The centre of the entire .programme in the village is the "volost" cottage reading room, which ~ under favourable conditions should develop into a public hall or people's house. This institution should become the cultural centre of the whole district. Around it are concentrated libraries of the volost, "red corners" of the separate villages, circles of many kinds, and points of types of cultural endeavour. The cottage reading room should become indispensable to the peasant, Here he should receive all kinds of information; here he should read the newspaper, or if illiterate, listen to its reading by another. Here he should organise economic, agricultural and other kinds of circles. He should attend courses in agriculture here and learn about the latest decrees and orders of the central and local authorities. Others May Use Room. Since it is intimately related to all the cultural institutions of the volost, the cottage reading room may be utilised with great advantage equally by the physician, the agronomist, the co-opera-tor, the Komsomol, and the professional union.

Of particular interest is the relation of the teacher to the cottage reading room. Every teacher must bear in mind that he is at the same time both a teacher r in the ordinary sense and an agent of political enlightenment. All local organisations must recognise the teacher as one of the most powerful factors for the advancement of culture in the country; in other -words, the teacher must be regarded as essential to the victory of socialism in Russia. The peasant cottage reading rooms ane not the only facilities for culture given to people in the village. There are libraries, choirs and orchestras, schools of literacy, circles of various kinds, "red corners," the people's theatre, the motion picture and the radio. The cottage reading room may even be expanded into a "people's hall," which is a step higher in the numerous institutions helping the cultural development of peasants. Has Tea. and Dining Rooms, A real people's hall haa a dining room and a tea room. It organises entertainments, concerts, lectures and meeting. It establishes contacts with the local reading- rooms.-In the city there is a unique .peoples hall known, as.the "house of the peasant," in which the visitor may listen to the reading of the newspapers and secure all kinds of information. It is a combination of a peasants' hotel and a people's house.

In small industrial communities something like a cottage reading room is organised on a slightly different scale. This institution unites in itself the function of a club and reading yoom. In large industrial settlements club and library are organised separately. The club should be a central agency and attract various circles, and should organise entertainment and lectures and other activities. Any subject of interest may be presented by the club, but it is in a peculiar sense "the logical place for the discussion of questions relating to the productivity of labour. If in the volost the cottage reading room should be the central institution for political enlightenment, in the factory, city, and Red army, the workers' club should bear a major responsibility for the enducation of the masses in the principles of communism. Schools Prepare Workers. In the principal city of the province we find the same chief of institutions of political enlightenment, and in addition, a Soviet party «school of the second grade. Also in some provinces there are party schools of a higher type known as Communist universities, at the head of which is a central institution in the University of Sverdlov, in Moscow. The fundamental purposes of all of these party schools, from the school of the first grade to the Communist university, is the preparation of workers for the Communist party. Present methods of political enlightenment in Russia leave much to be desired. Educators who have been leaders in formulating educational policies are searching still for better means of agitation, propaganda, and teaching. Since in our state there can be no school in which the economic activities of the people do not occupy a central position, labour is made the core of the programme. In this sense all of our educational institutions, universities, workers' faculties, professional courses and various types of scools for adults are all labour schools. Taken as a whole, the education of adults is a n-jw field. Formerly it was thought that the adult could not learn anything. A Russian proverb says, "To teach a learned man is only to corrupt him." This, howjver, is not so. Our revolution proved that the very existence of a state rests on constant education of adults. Our revolution raised the questions of educating adults to unprecedented levels.—("Star" and AngloAmerican N.S. Copyright.)