THE COMMUNIST WORLD THE CLASS STRUGGLEIN THE RUSSIAN STYLE

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32315, 5 June 1970, Page 12

THE COMMUNIST WORLD THE CLASS STRUGGLE—IN THE RUSSIAN STYLE

(By

VICTOR ZORZA)

Russian parents who misuse their wealth or position to get their children into the universities were warned by “Pravda” twice last month against this un-Socialist temptation.

As the summer comes near with examinations in the schools, and entrance examinations in the universities, the class struggle between the privileged sections of Soviet society, and those who are less favoured, reaches its annual climax.

The “Pravda” warnings were addressed to parents who bribe their children’s way into colleges, and to those who obtain exemption from examinations on grounds of “nervous strain.” These are some of the more obvious stratagems. But, there is also the timely “telephone call from above” to the head of a Moscow college, as mentioned in “Izvestia,” which secures admission for ■ properly endowed students. Evidence In Court “Izvestia” did not say how far “above” the call came from, but it was less reticent about the several dozen parents who gave evidence in a Moscow court last year of the bribes they had paid to the college staff. It represented these as purely commercial transactions arranged by parents determined to get their children into college “at any price”—such as, for instance, the offer of a plot of ground in the holiday resorts of the Black Sea coast. Five of the teachers were sent to prison for terms up to 15 years. One parent was given a suspended sentence of one year. The social and official positions were not disclosed. Earlier this year, however, the new Prime Minister of the Azerbaijan Republic, who had just dismissed a number .of his Ministers for grave misdemeanours, announced in a local newspaper that the “children of some higher officials had received gra- [ duation diplomas with the connivance of the Azerbaijan Minister of Education, although they had not qualified for them.

In th.- neighbouring republic of Armenia, an investigation carried out some years ago revealed that a Minister’s daughter had been admitted to the university under the “dean’s quota” for favoured applicants. The university examiners had “followed his example” and admitted their own favoured applicants, and the Minister of Education had ordered the admission of another 50 students whose parents had got at him. Papers Destroyed Out of nearly 1200 students who had taken the entrance examination, 200 were found to have received higher grades than they deserved. But the examination papers of others had been deliberately destroyed, so the investigators could not establish the full extent of the scandal.

Elsewhere, students protested that the daughter of another Minister had been admitted to college as a matter of course, and complained that they were required to state the occupations of their parents on the application forms. They were obviously concerned that this could lessen their chances of admission.

[ A girl who failed her , entrance examinations to a teachers’ college was admit- , ted nevertheless, said “IzvesI tia” earlier this year, because , she had “influential parents.” , Another report, from the . Odessa Institute of Tech- ’ nology, said in March that the examiners had been fur- , nished with a list of stu- [ dents—with the dean’s knowledge—to whom they were to [ give higher grades. At first this was done only for “acquaintances.” later for those who were willing to pay bribes. The “Pravda” article last month, reminding colleges of “the flood of applications” which will be reaching them shortly, described the case of an engineering college which had admitted 20 students for bribes ranging between 1500 and 2000 roubles. This is considerably more than the average worker or official earns in a year. Obviously only the privileged can afford it. and only those in positions of authority can use their "influence” to secure university places for their children. Ineffective Warnings The recurrent condemnation of such practices in the press shows how anxious the Soviet leaders are to stamp them out. But the need to repeat these warnings, year after year, shows how ineffective they are. The same leaders who give Instructions to the press will, no doubt, make every effort to secure the best education for their children: parents are the same the world over. But in the capitalist world they can do it, for the most part, without recourse to illegal practices. Those with money can still buy the best education for their children by sending them to the private schools which are more likely in most countries, to funnel them to the best uni- , versities. They need pay no bribes, although there is 1 nothing to stop them from ! leaving a legacy to a college, j It is easy to paint a picture of bribery and corruption in ,

the Soviet educational world, but it is as well to remember j that human nature is the same everywhere. The class structure of < Soviet university education , shows that the workers and 1 peasants, who comprise the vast majority of the country’s population, trail a long way behind the children of whitecollar workers and officials, who make up little more than a fifth of the population. In pre-university education the proportion of children from these social groups is the same as the proportion of their parents in society as a whole. But in the universities, the offspring of the white-collar workers take up nearly half of the places. This means that the middle classes are just as favoured in Russia as in nonCommunist countries. Private Coaching In the Soviet Union, too, the middle class is often able to “buy” better educational opportunities for its children without bribery. Soviet parents have increasingly had recourse to expensive private coaching for their children in the last year or two before university, which, again, served to reduce the openings available to workingclass children.

So widespread had this practice become that last year the Government ordered the provision of special preuniversity courses for the children of workers and

I peasants. This was preceded by a press discussion which revealed something of the resentment felt by the “lower” classes of the Soviet Union against those more privileged. They will hardly be mollified by the new scheme, under which the applicants have to secure first the recommendations of the appropriate party organisations, Middle class parents have, in the meantime, found a new loophole. On the presentation of a medical certificate, schools may release from their final examinations those pupils whose health might suffer from “intensive work and excessive nervous tension.” At one Moscow school 24 pupils in their final year were released from examination on these grounds, out of a class of 60. In deploring the practice, “Pravda” pointed out at the beginning of this month that some pupils were using the time they had won in this way to secure further “intensive” coaching, in order to improve their chances in university entrance examinations. Again, only the children of the better off would be able to afford this. By next year, if medical certificates are no longer available, . Soviet parents will no doubt find , new ways to ensure that their ' children get the best education. In a class society, as ; Karl Marx said, class struggle , is unavoidable. i (Copyright reserved.)