REGIONAL DIFFERENCES IN SOVIET SECONDARY-EDUCATION

In this paper the process of educational tracking after completion of the 8th grade in the former Soviet Union is presented. The Soviet seco ndary school system was divided into three separate tracks: to general secondary school, to specialized secondary school, and to vocational school. The selection into these three types of secondary education ha s a crucial influence on future progress and on selection for further education. This selection was ubiquitous in the socialist educational system. The analysis in this paper is based on the longitudinal survey Life Paths of a Generation. The first survey, carried out in 1983-5, included 60 000 seniors from general secondary schools, vocational sch ools, and specialized secondary schools. Regions were selected to repr esent the diversity of cultures in the former Soviet Union, and in eac h of the selected regions a representative sample of the three forms o f secondary school was chosen. We conclude that a real equalization of educational opportunity has been achieved in the Soviet Union, but th at strong regional differences remain, not only in the availability of secondary education, but more importantly in the types of secondary s chools which exist. The tracking process beyond 8th grade varies by re gion, depending on the relative proportion of the different types of s econdary school in the region and on the specific demands of the local labour market. The variation is so wide that the same factors can hav e opposite influences in different regions.