RUSSIAN EDUCATION Better Chance For Son Of White-Collar Worker

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30911, 18 November 1965, Page 22

RUSSIAN EDUCATION Better Chance For Son Of White-Collar Worker

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter) MOSCOW. The son of a Soviet white-collar worker is almost eight times more likely to get a higher education than the son of an agricultural worker, according to a sociological survey published in Moscow. The results of the survey, published in the monthly journal, “Problems of Philosophy,” come as something of a revelation in a state which claims equality of opportunity for all.

The survey, carried out by the Statistical Research Department of the University of Novosibirsk, looked into problems facing school leavers, including the type of work they choose, and the practical uses of the industrial training which they receive in the last two years at school.

But it was the results of the investigations into the social origins of young people who went on to higher education, either in universities or equivalent institutions, which provided the most surprising conclusions.

These showed that 89 per cent of the children of whitecollar workers who want to go on to higher education actually do so, while only 13 per cent of agricultural workers’ children with the same ambition realise it. 9000 Questioned

Writing in “Problems of Philosophy,” the survey’s analyst, Dr. V. N. Shubkin, said that on the basis of the 9000 questionnaires sent out to all the schools in the city of Novosibirsk and its surrounding agricultural region, it was clear that young city dwellers had a far better chance of higher education than their country cousins. It was also clear that the possibility of going on to college did not depend on purely demographic factors, “but on a whole series of social factors” which could not be ignored, Dr. Shubkin said. One of these factors was that town schools- were generally of a far higher standard than those in the country, he said. The parents’ standard of education was another factor which had a serious influence on children’s interests and ambitions.

Material and living conditions also greatly influenced a child’s success at school, his inclinations in the choice of a profession, and consequently his chances of higher education. Dr. Shubkin said.

This was also borne out by another section of the survey which showed that a higher percentage of children of white-collar workers finished the 10-year school course than of children from other social groups.

Analysing the social origins of students in institutes of higher education in the area, the survey indicated that 82 per cent 'of the 93 per cent of children of whitecollar workers and professional men wanting higher education, actually get it.

But, while 76 per cent of the children of collective and state farm workers questioned said that they would like to go on for higher education, only 10 per cent went. Between these two groups came industrial and construction workers, 83 per cent of whose children wanted higher education, and 61 per cent got it. Figures for other groups were: among the children of rural white collar workers and professional men, 76 per cent wanted higher education, and 58 per cent got it; among children of transport and communication workers, 82 per cent wanted it and 45 per cent got it: and among children of service workers, 76 per cent wanted it and 59 per cent got it. The survey showed that of rural children, 90 per cent went straight to work and none of those questioned in the survey took up part-time studies. Fifteen per cent of the white collar and professional children went straight to work from school, although only three per cent had expressed a wish to do so. Three per cent started work but studied part time. Different Prospects

The conclusion to be drawn from these figures, wrote Dr. Shubkin, was that “ at the present time career prospects for young people from different social groups differ basically.” He believes too, that the factors which favour the white-collar workers (or intelligentsia), who at present account for one-fifth of the country’s working popula-

tion, will increase as the post-war birth bulge reaches the institutes of higher education.

When the bulge began to make itself felt in a year or so, he said, the increased competition for college places might lead to an even lower percentage of children of workers and peasants being accepted. The only way to overcome these social differences in education, Dr. Shubkin said, was to try to change living conditions and to make the standards of schools and teaching much more equal throughout the country. Lower Standards He rejected suggestions for preferential conditions for entry to institutes of higher education of the children of peasants and workers on the grounds that such a course would simply lower educational standards and so hinder the country’s scientific and technical progress. Western observers in Russia consider that the survey revealed that Soviet educational authorities were facing simialr problems to the West in their desire to achieve equality of educational opportunity. Although Soviet propagandists claim that the small percentage of working-class children in universities in “capitalist” countries is entirely because of the cost of such education, this Soviet survey tends to show that the force of parental example and home conditions play as important a role in Russia as in the West.