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the use of certain books, frequent reorganization of university curricula, shortages of teaching and learning aids, rigidity of study regulations and examination procedures, and absence of self-government in student establishments. In addition to demands pertaining to student life, the Czechoslovak students' movement issued a broad document entitled "Ten Points for Freedom" which summarized the liberal political philosophy of the Dubcek regime. With the suppression of the Dubcek regime all student periodicals were banned and reformist student federations and committees were disbanded and replaced under a party-controlled mass organization, the Socialist Youth Union (SSM). In 1970 regime-sponsored Czech and Slovak Center of University Students and a federated body, the Czechoslovak Center of University Students, were created and attached to the regime's mass youth organization, renamed the Socialist Youth Union of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.
3. Levels of attainment
The high standards of education set in Czechoslovakia at the time it became a republic have resulted in the achievement of near universal basic literacy in the Czech Lands and of a dramatic rise in that rate in traditionally backward Slovakia. At the time of the Communist takeover illiteracy was not a significant problem, except among the Gypsies, although significant portions of the adult population had passed the terminal year of compulsory education—the 15th year of age—without completion of the full 9-year course of elementary school education.
Implementation of education reforms was pressed with full vigor beginning in the 1950's and during the subsequent two decades enrollments in the lower elementary grades reflected accommodation of virtually all children in the compulsory school age class and progressive increases in kindergarten, secondary, vocational, and higher education enrollments (Figure 13). By the mid-1960's—as indicated in the tabulation below—a school enrollment of nearly 100% had been achieved with respect to the elementary school age population and significant gains had been made in the secondary and higher education age cohorts:
| First Level (age 6-14) | Second Level (age 15-18) | Third Level (age 20-24) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1960/61 | 93 | 36 | 10.9 |
| 1965/66 | 98 | 39 | 13.9 |
| 1969/70 | 96 | 37 | 11.0 |
Data are lacking on the point but the possibility is strong that the decline in the ratios at the secondary and higher levels at the end of the 1960's were due at least partially to the stiffened application of political criteria in the selection of students. The effect of these criteria apparently persisted into early 1973, when the Czechoslovak press acknowledged that authorities were alarmed about the decline in the 1972/73 enrollment at the secondary level, particularly in the vocational schools.
Two decades after the Communist takeover only a negligible proportion of the population over 15 years of age lacked some elementary school education, and as suggested in the following tabulation, marked increases at higher levels had been achieved.
| 1950 | 1970 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number | % | Number | % | |
| No schooling | 63,000 | 0.7 | 41,000 | 0.4 |
| Completed secondary school | 411,000 | 4.5 | 1,474,000 | 13.4 |
| Of which vocational | 238,000 | 2.6 | 1,081,000 | 9.8 |
| Completed university-level studies | 87,000 | 0.9 | 365,000 | 3.3 |
The success of policy measures designed to bring Slovak levels up to those prevailing in the Czech Lands have met with considerable success during the two decades, as suggested by the rise in the Slovak share of the adult population (over 15 years) with a secondary education background from 18% to 28% and with a university background from 20% to 26%.
As in all Communist countries, women's opportunities for education have increased dramatically over that prevailing before World War II and, as
| Type of School | 1950/51 | 1960/61 | 1965/66 | 1968/69 | 1969/70 | 1970/71 | 1971/72 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nursery and kindergarten | 256,306 | 285,863 | 330,084 | 371,013 | 377,762 | 377,593 | 384,980 |
| Compulsory 9-year school | 1,685,875 | 2,152,834 | 2,721,160 | 2,052,526 | 2,002,053 | 1,966,448 | 1,939,590 |
| Apprentice school | na | 241,252 | 357,032 | na | na | 348,670 | 355,774 |
| Vocational school | 94,054 | 238,201 | 297,654 | 278,685 | 282,674 | 286,407 | 279,978 |
| Secondary general school | 50,471 | 73,778 | 112,298 | 107,978 | 107,383 | 110,038 | 120,124 |
| Higher school | 45,241 | 94,040 | 144,990 | 137,654 | 133,524 | 131,099 | 128,124 |
28
APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200110015-7
