Industrial Training in the Soviet Union

Abstract

Abstract : The State Labor Reserves schools reached their peak in 1948, when they graduated one million workers. During the same year, 2.3 million new workers were trained on the job. The output of the Labor Reserves schools fell gradually to a low of 320,000 in 1953, but rose in 1954 owing to their use in training agricultural machinery operators on a large scale. The present Soviet policy appears to favor the continuance of these schools and the improvement in the quality of the training they offer through increasing the length of instruction. However, until the growth of the industrial labor force is slowed considerably, the majority of new workers will probably continue to be trained directly on the job. A great effort has been made since the war to improve the quality of the labor force through an elaborate system of courses, schools, and lectures. A common feature of these program is that they are conducted after working hours to prevent any interference with production. While the Soviet data are difficult to evaluate, one gains the impression that since 1945 a substantial majority of Russian industrial workers have been given technical training in the form of short lecture courses. (Author)