GalleryLearning Within Everyone's Reach
A cultural revolution has taken place in Latvia since Soviet rule was proclaimed there. Illiteracy has been liquidated within a short space of time, and the number of secondary and higher schools has increased sharply.
In 1939 Latvia had only seventy-six secondary schools. Today there are 266. This figure does not include the seventy-three evening schools for working youth and the twelve boarding schools. Another 104 schools are to be built between 1959 and 1965.
In level of educational development the Latvian republic has far surpassed capitalist Latvia and is considerably ahead of the capitalist countries.
Following countrywide discussion, a law was adopted in Latvia bringing the schools closer to life and further developing the republic's system of public education. New curricula and syllabuses are now being drawn up.
By the time the 1962-63 school year begins all the seven-year schools will have been converted into eight-year schools and the programme of vocational training in the senior forms of the secondary schools will have been considerably extended.
More and more boarding schools are to be opened in Soviet Latvia. These boarding schools enhance the role of society in rearing the youth and are a help to the family in educating the child in the spirit of communism.
"Boarding schools are established in healthy localities and are pro-vided with the best equipment," says T. Vigante, director of Riga's boarding school No. 2. "Our aim is to give the child a thorough know-ledge, develop him physically, educate him ethically and aesthetically, and prepare him for life and practical activity.
"Extracurricular activities are an important part of boarding school life. Our school, for example, has an amateur theatricals' club, a dance group, groups studying music, a brass band, a fine arts circle, a nature lovers' club, a technical hobby club and groups for children with other various hobbies.
"As part of their vocational training the children learn the basic elements of carpentry, sewing, cooking, gardening and farming. They also help to keep the school premises tidy and work on the farm that supplies the school with food produce."
Latvia has nine higher educational establishments, five more than in capitalist times. Young people may also obtain a higher education at institutes and universities in Moscow, Leningrad and other cities of the Soviet Union.
This year about 700 young men and women were graduated from the Peter Stuchka State University of Latvia. They will work in industry, research, education and agriculture. All roads are open to them and every opportunity provided for them to take part in building communism. Young engineers, schoolteachers and agronomists volunteer for work at the most difficult jobs in remote sections of the republic.
as part of the series "THE FIFTEEN SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS OF TODAY AND TOMMORROW."
We do not endorse the Soviet account of historical events or their circumstances contained therein as factual.
