The Differentiation of Secondary Education and Teacher Training for Elective Courses

Abstract

The joint resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and USSR Council of Ministers entitled "On Measures for the Further Improvement of the Secondary General Education School" [O merakh dal'-neishego uluchsheniia raboty srednei obshcheobrazovatel'noi shkoly] (1966) reduced the number of compulsory courses to be taken in grades seven through ten [of the ten-year general education secondary school]. The time thus released was allocated to elective courses of pupil choice, the aim being to create conditions favorable to the development of ability and talent, in accordance with societal needs. Classes for the in-depth study of individual subjects, in which elective courses were combined with labor education and hands-on production practice, were also set up. This organization of school learning constituted a completely new departure in the general education school's development, which found affirmation in the Fundamental Legislation of the USSR [concerning public education, which was promulgate in the summer of 1973].