About Education in former Soviet Union

As before, here is another email from our friend in Ukraine. What is very interesting is to read from young people who nowadays try to understand their parents, try to understand them, how they (still – of course they were educated under SU conditions) are thinking and on the other hand, how these young people try to see their new world which changed completly but – as our friend tells us very often – »nothing changes at all«.

These letters will be continued as I receive them and as far as they are convenient…

Hello Reinard & Lis,

Thanks a lot for the postcard. It was funny to receive it with “respect” in Russian. I’m sorry I’m a bit late, but I hope you had happy Valentine’s Day!

And now, as I promised I’ll tell you about the educational system in Ukraine.

Soviet Union times.

It’s a pity I can’t tell you in detail what was happening in my country when the SU was, but I know what my parents are telling.

Of course I know that parents most often don’t understand their children and think that the time when they were young everything was much better, prices – lower, health – better, people – nicer, air – fresher, sky – brighter etc. :)))))

But to some extend they’re right. The education was much better. The science was one of the leading in the world, many important inventions come form SU or Russia. We had many plants and factories where our professionals were working.

Now I can see a good example of the skills that were trained that time. It’s my father. Educated in a pedagogical institute in Kamyanets Podilskyi he has really nice skills of a vast range. He knows a lot of physics, chemistry, electronics, mechanics and so on. For example he can really easily repair a TV-set or a car. He knows in detail how transistors, transformers, capacitors and other digital elements are working. He knows how to place them together to make some working circuit. Few weeks ago he was busy repairing an old small TV by replacing its CRT from an old Macintosh monitor with no documentation. Some time earlier he did a hand-made welding apparatus. He did necessary calculations of magnetic fields, electrical currents and other related thing…

In fact my father is fan of all kind of technics but, god, he knows how to do so many things that I don’t know so many words :-)))

So, that’s what the education was in SU. :-)))

Okay, have to work now. Will tell you some more later.

XXX.