RAILWAY VOCATIONAL SCHOOLS OF SUMY REGION DURING THE PERIOD OF ECONOMY RECOVERY (1943-1950)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the railway vocational schools activities in the context of the restoration processes of 1943-1950. Railway vocational schools belonged to the Labour Reserves (LR) of the USSR. During World War II and the post-war reconstruction LR system was a centralized structure performed the task of ensuring the strategic sectors of Soviet economy by young workers. It was semimilitary and also largely provided the function of social protection of juvenile. Konotop ZU № 1 and Bilopillya ZU № 2 are in the center of researchers’ attention. In particular, the features of the educational process, the recruting of the students contingent, and the material and household provision of the learners during their training are analysed in the article. Components of the education in railway vocational schools were: industrial training, especially technical and general education subjects, political classes and physical or military training. The main emphasis was placed on gaining practical experience by students through industrial training, to which the largest share of the time was assigned. Organizing of extracurricular life of young people was based on the paramilitary training principles. State standards of the free food supply and material conditions in LR were perceived as satisfactory under the postwar hunger and deficiency of goods. Most students lived in hostels while studying. The barracks regime reigned in hostels. Students lived on a very strict and clear daily time-table. The research is based on materials from the State Archive of Sumy Region. Key words: post-war recovery, vocational education, Labour Reserves, railway vocational schools, Sumy region.