You can treat the power of the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union as you like, but what cannot be denied to these people is political pragmatism. Until the 20th Congress, the party tried to follow within the framework of the chosen ideology, but this never prevented it from accepting unpopular decisions, if those, in the opinion of the political leadership of the country, served the common good in the strategic perspective.
“This is not the world. This is a truce for 20 years.", - Ferdinand Foch, French military figure at the signing of the Versailles Peace Treaty of 1919.
Free Soviet education is one of the main reasons for nostalgia for those who remember the Soviet regime with warmth. However, it was not always so. The education system in the USSR not only constantly developed, but also adapted to the circumstances. So, on October 26, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree No. 638 “On the establishment of paid education in senior classes of secondary schools and in higher educational institutions of the USSR and on changing the procedure for accrual scholarships."
From that moment until 1956, the 8th-10th grades of secondary school began to be considered preparatory for the university, and therefore paid. A year in Moscow and Leningrad education in such classes cost 200 rubles. In other places around the country - 150 rubles. The same amounts had to be paid for technical schools and colleges. Education at the university cost 400 rubles a year in Moscow and Leningrad and 300 rubles in all other places. How big were these amounts? For a Soviet person, large, but not unbearable: in 1940, the average salary in the RSFSR was 399 rubles per month. The most productive workers with a high rank could receive up to 600 rubles a month at the factories. Collective farmers received 100-150 rubles a month. Brigadiers at factories and construction sites - up to 1 thousand rubles, subject to overfulfillment of the norm. The military received a lot: lieutenants up to 500 rubles, and captains already up to 800 rubles a month. For a better understanding, Stakhanovite workers received about the same amount.
At the same time, in 1940, the "Law on labor reserves" was adopted in the USSR. According to him, teenagers aged 14-15 were mobilized in trade and railway schools. There were training standards. For example, for collective farms it was 2 boys out of 100 residents. The children who went to study at the FZO, in fact, were in the barracks. After studying at the FZO at the enterprise, the young man was obliged to work for 4 years. Studying here was free, in addition, children were provided with food, housing, and clothing at the expense of the state. The FZO system was abolished in 1955, as it was no longer necessary for the state.
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But why was all this done? The answer is simple - war. The Soviet Union was desperately preparing for it, and the transition to paid education was one of the measures to rebuild the economy. The country needed as many workers as possible in simple specialties. By 1940, there was an oversupply of highly skilled labor.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about what answer The Red Army came up with the German tanks "Tiger".
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/130322/62404/