Communist View of Education

Marx and Lenin sharply criticized the kind of education conducted in capitalist society. According to Marx, in capitalist society educational policies are intended to keep people in ignorance. ¹⁰ Teachers are productive laborers who belabor children’s heads and work to enrich the school proprietor. ¹¹ According to Lenin, capitalist education is an “instrument of the class rule of the bourgeoisie,” ¹² the goal of which is to raise “docile and efficient servants of the bourgeoisie” and “slaves and tools of capital.” ¹³ In contrast to the education in a capitalist society, in socialist society, Lenin asserted, “The schools must become an instrument of the dictatorship of the proletariat.” ¹⁴ He also said that teachers must become the soldiers who instill the spirit of Communism into the masses of workers. ¹⁵

The purpose of a Communist education was stated in the preamble of the “Fundamentals of National Education Act” (1973) of the Soviet Union: “The objective of national education in the U.S.S.R. is to raise a highly-cultivated, all-round, fully developed, and active architect of Communist society who has been raised under Marxist-Leninist thought, with respect for Soviet law and the socialist order, and with Communistic attitude toward labor.” ¹⁶ In other words, the purpose of Communist education is to raise people dedicated to the construction of a Communist society. The image of the ideal person is the “all-round, fully developed human being.” ¹⁷

Then, what are the contents of a Communist education? First, it attaches importance to general technical education (or “polytechnism”), as opposed to individual technical education. It then asserts that general technical education should be carried out in connection with labor. Furthermore, it asserts that, in a socialist society, there are no conflicts of interest between individuals and groups, and that there is no individual apart from a group, calling for the necessity of collective education. The general technical education was systematized by N. K. Krupskaya (1869-1939), and collective education was systematized by A. S. Makarenko (1888-1939).