Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, DEC. 10, 1936. SOVIET EDUCATION.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 10, 10 December 1936, Page 8

Manawatu Evening Standard. THURSDAY, DEC. 10, 1936. SOVIET EDUCATION.

Since the devolution, Soviet education, as much as other aspects of social and economic life, has been constantly changing, and equally also certain basic prill-j tuples have remained constant. | Methods, and to some extent im-: mediate aims, have fluctuated. 1 ’’.Pedology” was, up to this year, 1 an important section of ecluca-j tional activity; then suddenly it' was abolished, leaving its rival “pedagogy” holding a clear field. Tne fundamental characteristics of Soviet education were laid down very early in the life of the: Russian Soviet Republic. At the] end' of 1919 came the decree for general compulsory education and the abolition of illiteracy. The campaign towards this universal literacy is still proceeding, having already covered the great majority of the people of the Soviet Union. A very important feature of the campaign for universal education was that it laid special emphasis on the develop-, ment of the culture of the national minorities. Another fundamental aim was co-education of the sexes; this is now so thoroughly- proved a success that all controversy has long since died. A third aim is “unity of theory with practice”; for this purpose schools have their own workshops and agricultural allotments, and are connected with particular industrial and agricultural enterprises. A specially important principle is that of polytechnical education —the giving to children of a ground knowledge of all trades. Soviet educational machinery is progressing towards a universal ten-year school, followed byuniversity or other higher education. Elementary education is to-day universal. All over the country now are being established ten-year schools, on leaving which the pupil, aged seventeen, is eligible for the university. Examinations —once yearly-only begin at the age of twelve. The Leningrad Institute is one of the principal means by which Soviet education is spread among the national minorities. The institute prepares teachers to go back to their own republics arid regions to teach their own peoples in their own language —very often a language only recently given an alphabet. It also prepares economists, and administrative workers. And it has a veryimportant research side. The students have nothing to pay; they receive books, pocket money and food; everything is_ free. Each of the national districts has a primary school. There are also secondary schools at the district’s “cultural base” —a centre where school, co-operative store, hospital and other establishments are built and round which a town rapidly grows. The Soviets are doing their utmost to banish illiteracy and are succeeding very well.

AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION. Aghicultuhal protectionism in Britain has not reached the dangerous proportions it has in other countries, nor lias the measure of price control established imposed on the whole an unduly Heavy burden on consumers. Tne basis of the price control is the Agricultural Marketing Acts of IU3I and 1933, trie earlier Act providing that a marketing scheme approved by a substantial majority of producers of a certain commodity should be enforceable on all producers of that commodity. The later Act authorised the quantitative restriction of imports of agricultural produce and trie regulation of the quantities of the corresponding home-grown products sold in the United Kingdom. Marketing schemes for hops, pigs, bacon, milk and potatoes have been instituted under these Acts and measures taken to regulate imports and, in some cases, to control domestic production. The influence exerted on producers’ prices by the operation of the various schemes has been on the whole good. The annual report on'the operation of trie sciiemes in 193 D, submitted to Parliament, trirows interesting ligrit on tne recent activities ol trie relative boards. With reference to tne pig marketing scheme, it is disclosed trial montniy deliveries of pigs in trie lirst naif of 1930.. were substantially less trian in the second half of me year. Total deliveries bypig producers during the year amounted to 1,81)6,93 7 carcases. This marks a great improvement on the two previous contract periods. The actual increase in trie number of pigs delivered compared with trie previous twelve months was 369,039, or over ~5 per cent. There was an increase of 36 per cent, in bacon production, but a part of this came from imported pigs and carcases. An increased output has also been dealt with under the milk marketing scheme. The total quantity of milk sold by registered producers between October 6, 1933, and September 3(J, 1934,’was 845.3 million gallons; sales during the twelve months ended September 30, 1935, amounted to 981 million gallons, an increase of 16 per cent. The quantity of milk sold under wholesale contracts during the same period was 854 million gallons, and the receipts accruing to the Milk Marketing Board from the sale of this milk were approximately £40.8 million, the corresponding figures for the previous year being 716 million gallons and £34.5 million respectively.

The limit of production has not been reached, and the more Britain produces, the less will she need to import. Of course all the surplus will be converted into butter and cheese, but it will not be very great if the children are to be provided with milk as a nutrition requirement.