Childhood of schoolchildren under communism: Pioneer, bulletin boards and parades

“In the 1950s, eight-year compulsory schooling was introduced. The main reason for this acceleration of the educational process was the need for labor in heavy industry. In 1960, the school law was passed, which extended compulsory attendance by a year,” says historian Adam Havlík, adding that the socialist regime held the reins firmly in its hands and education was conducted according to a clearly delineated curriculum.

Ideology, of course, permeated teaching as well. For example, during history classes, the interpretation of history in the spirit of the Marxist tradition was mandatory. Some topics were taboo, while others were almost ubiquitous. Especially the history of the labor movement and the Soviet Union. Also ubiquitous was the flag of the USSR and the slogan “With the Soviet Union forever and ever”, which is still remembered by those born earlier. “This bond was also supposed to be strengthened by the compulsory teaching of the Russian language starting in the fifth grade,” adds Havlík. At secondary school, Russian was also a compulsory high school diploma.

“For example, it was prescribed what should hang on the bulletin board or how the entries in the school notebook and in the class book should look. Whole classes were required to participate May Day parades. When a pupil did not come and did not have an excuse from the doctor, it was a problem and the parents had to go to school,” recalls former teacher Květa Jirásková.

Testimonials were written about the pupils. These were also part of the secondary school admissions process. Not everyone had the same chances.

The teacher was evaluated for all this, which was written in the evaluations. And the reviews were also written about the pupils. For example, they were part of the admission process for secondary schools. “They wrote ordinary things, grades or study prerequisites, but also whether the pupil was in Pionýr or what kind of family he was from,” recalls the former teacher. When the pupil was not in Pionýr, it did not bode well for the family. And unless he came from a politically compliant family, his chances of getting into the high school he wanted were slim. That is why many gifted students ended up in academic fields. The same was then repeated in secondary schools. Not everyone had the same chance to get into the selected universities. “In the 1950s, the class criterion played a key role, and in the period after August 1968, the family’s attitude towards the invasion of the Warsaw Pact troops,” says the historian.

It was not just about who was allowed to become a teacher, deviations and rules that had to be followed and governed the lives of both teachers and students were not tolerated. Teaching strictly adhered to the curriculum, which prescribed the scope and topic of what to teach in which lesson. All pupils had the same textbooks, approved by the Communist Party. “I had to write preparations for each lesson, they came to check the lessons school inspectors,” recalls Květa Jirásková. “Normalization education was also strongly marked by purges at all its levels,” adds Adam Havlík.

However, according to former teacher Květa Jirásková, it had one advantage. “It was easier to maintain discipline in the classroom. The children also had much more order in and on the benches than they do today,” he recalls. During the breaks, the students had to sit in the desks and have a snack. Other times, walking with a snack during the long break in the corridor, in the spring months in the schoolyard. “At the time, I wasn’t even aware of how everything was lined up, it was simply part of life, but when I look back, we didn’t have much freedom at school,” concludes the former teacher.