Public education in Sverdlovsk during the period of the “Great turn”: transition to universal education

The paper analyzes the positive and negative changes that took place in the general education system of the city of Sverdlovsk (now Ekaterinburg), which in the 1930s was one of the largest administrative, political, and sociocultural centers of the Soviet Union. The paper notes that the foundation for the transformations of educational and upbringing process in the “socialist school” was a new ideological concept of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), which combined the glorification of Russia’s historical past with an unconditional acceptance of the inevitability of the victory of socialism. The paper also shows that the successful measures taken by the Party and State leadership in Sverdlovsk to implement universal education contributed to an increase in the number of students, an improvement in the quality of their education, and the training of highly qualified teaching staff. On the other hand, the paper emphasizes that this process also had negative aspects, manifested in organizational formalism and political repressions, which led to bureaucratization of education system and removal of experienced teachers and administrators from it. Overall, the paper concludes that, despite the existing constraints, this educational reform strengthened the foundation of Soviet public education, ensuring universal 7-year education both nationwide and in Sverdlovsk.