Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 25, 1993 TAG: 9304230463
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: VALENTINE PILOPOVSKI
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
As a communist, Gorbachev wants to hang on to some elements of the past. But unless Russia can succeed at economic reform, there will be a return to totalitarianism.
It's deplorable to witness this charismatic statesman lose his credibility with the democratic forces who aspire to achieve a decisive economic and political breakthrough and stabilize Russia.
Consider the scathing comment once made by the celebrated "Iron Chancellor" Otto von Bismarck, who managed to bring about a unitarian German state in the 19th century: "If you want to build Socialism, you'd better choose a country you don't care about."
History has irrevocably chosen Russia to embark on a socialistic experiment for more than seven decades with devastating results. Now from under the rubble of a communist system, a new Russia is emerging with its economy in shambles but with a vigorous desire to turn the tide and immense potential to remain a great power by recovering as did Germany or Japan after World War II.
There is also an exciting and related shift from rigid, indoctrination-based education to more choice and dynamism in education.
At stake now is the collapse of the fledgling democracy in Russia, with the ensuing Yugoslavian syndrome aggravated by weapons of mass destruction. It is exactly this horrible danger that President Yeltsin is trying his best to avoid - against very tough odds reflecting the whole spectrum of neo-totalitarian forces.
President Yeltsin is a courageous Russian soldier defending the most important bridgehead of freedom in today's world.
It's good to know that America appreciates these dramatic efforts to avert any comeback of the neo-totalitarian system in Russia. Such a comeback would spell tremendous negative implications for the whole world. That is why Gorbachev's sitting on the fence should be condemned as a bad example for American youth, and especially as a bad example for Russian youth, who overwhelmingly support the resolute market orientation of Yeltsin's reforms.
Russian youth, with minor exceptions, are probably the most vigorous segment of the Russian population aspiring to make Russia both America's partner and a staunch ally, with long-term interests and goals in harmony with America's ideals and values.
Russian youth intuitively feel that America continues to be the bulwark of freedom on this planet. Since they want to be free probably even more than their counterparts in Western Europe, they overwhelmingly identify with the United States and its values. Russian youth have been denied the benefit of freedom and free enterprise for too long, and now look to the United States as a source of real and dynamic guidance in how to build a life in post-communist society.
One of the major factors contributing to this new frame of mind of Russian youth is the democratic educational reform presently unfolding in the former Land of Patience. Now the country is impatiently striving to rejoin the community of free and advanced nations.
A new educational agenda is indispensable in promoting this search for a new identity. Major educational innovations are gradually gaining momentum in Russia. A uniform system of education is giving way to diversity, differentiation and widespread experimental endeavors.
Change is prompted by the new law on education passed last summer. According to this landmark rule, educational institutions are granted a radically new environment for functioning.
Families now have the right to choose schools that might be run by either private, public or religious organizations. They can choose any of these options for their children.
The government pledges to guarantee a certain level of education as required by an 11-year school with a core curriculum of required subjects. This basic education will remain free. But if you place your child in a private institution, you will have to pay for the extras that exceed funding allocated from the state or municipal party.
Now, teaching methods, as well as the choice of textbooks and elective curriculum, are the business of the school itself. Even the nine-year basic middle school is free to enrich its curriculum by elective subjects it deems best for its students.
Last year alone, 400 new textbooks were published in physics, mathematics, literature and information science.
Basically, the typical, general secondary-school curriculum model is now comprised of several components laid down by national educational authorities, with the rest determined by the school itself. In general, schools and other educational institutions are now given the green light to tailor their curriculum to the explicit needs of their students.
The ravaging economic crisis in Russia, which started in the previous Gorbachev era, is certainly undermining education's infrastructure and possibilities. Many schools have introduced programs for the elite; the process of school polarization is on the increase, especially in big cities.
It means that Russia, as an economically chaotic country, is pursuing its educational development according to its immediate survival needs. There is little interest for the future in regard to the interest of the entire school population. The focus on comprehensive, general education for all is rapidly losing ground, an alarming development.
At the same time, the number of schools with in-depth study of certain subjects, emphasizing academic respectability, is rising and the picture of educational revival and survival in Russia is becoming impressive.
Many parents are unhappy about this since not everyone is accepted into the better schools. In-depth studies in a variety of subjects are now accessible primarily to bright students, to the creme de la creme of the school population.
The transition to diversity in education is anything but easy.
Many teachers are frustrated with their plummeting living standards and the overall emphasis on breaking with the old routine. Dissatisfied teachers, lack of space, and shortages of computers, technical equipment and textbooks are just some of the difficulties.
There are also countless difficulties stemming from crumbling and obsolete economic structures and a deeply-rooted counterproductive bias against innovations in education. The communist system did not reward the dynamic, creative, self-directing and hard-working traits necessary to bring about change and organization.
All this amounts to a very critical situation that can't be just brushed aside.
The new vitality and vigorous thrust in education can't be denied, either. Things are moving in the right direction, and the momentum of fundamental change in education and social life can't be reversed unless the fragile flower of freedom in Russia is crushed.
In that case, the world will be deprived not only of the bridgehead of democracy where communist terror and the Iron Curtain once prevailed, but it also will be deprived, this time irrevocably, of the marvelous, unique contribution of a free Russian civilization.
Valentine Pilopovski, a senior researcher at the Russian Academy of Education and a professor at Moscow State Educational University, is visiting Radford University on a faculty-exchange program.
by CNB