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From the People's Commissar for Education

Published according to the text given in the book: John Reed, Ten days that shook the world, M., Gospolitizdat, 1957, pp. 299–302

Citizens of Russia!

With the uprising of October 25, the working masses achieved real power for the first time.

The All-Russian Congress of Soviets temporarily transferred this power to the Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars.

By the will of the revolutionary people, I have been appointed people's commissar for education.

The task of general leadership of public education, in so far as it remains with the central state power, is entrusted until the Constituent Assembly to the state commission for public education, the chairman and executor of which is the people's commissar.

On what basic provisions will the state commission rely? How is the scope of its competence determined?

General direction of educational activities

Any truly democratic power in the field of education in a country where illiteracy and ignorance reigns must set as its first goal the struggle against this darkness. It must achieve in the shortest possible time universal literacy by organizing a network of schools that meet the requirements of modern pedagogy, and introducing universal compulsory and free education, and at the same time establishing a number of teachers' institutes and seminaries that would, as soon as possible, provide a mighty army of people's teachers needed for the general education of the population of vast Russia ...

Training and education

The difference between training and education should be emphasized.

Teaching is the transfer of knowledge from the teacher to the student. Education is a creative process. Throughout life, the personality of a person is "formed", expanding, enriching, strengthening and improving.

The working masses of the people—workers, soldiers, peasants—are eager to learn to read and write and to learn all kinds of sciences. But they also want education. It cannot be given to them either by the state, or by the intelligentsia, or by any force outside of themselves. School, books, theater, museums, etc., can only be helpers here. The masses of the people will develop their own culture consciously or unconsciously. They have their own ideas, created by their social position, which is so different from the position of the ruling classes and the intelligentsia who have hitherto created culture, their own ideas, their feelings, their own approaches to all the tasks of the individual and society. The urban worker in his own way, the rural toiler in his own way, will build their own luminous worldview, imbued with class labor thought. There is no phenomenon more majestic and beautiful than that which the coming generations will witness and participate in - the building by labor collectives of their common rich and free soul.

Education will be important here, but not the decisive moment. Here the criticism and creativity of the masses themselves is more important, for science and art are only. in some of their parts they have a universal significance: they undergo significant changes with every profound class upheaval.

Everywhere in Russia, among the urban workers in particular, as well as among the peasants, an seething wave of the cultural and educational movement has risen, workers' and soldiers' organizations of this kind are multiplying without number: to meet them halfway, to support them in every possible way, to clear the way for them is the first task of the revolutionary and the people's government in the field of public education.

Decentralization

The State Commission for Public Education is by no means the central authority that manages educational and educational institutions. On the contrary, all school affairs should be transferred to local self-government bodies. The independent work of unauthorized classes - workers, soldiers, peasants, cultural and educational organizations - must have complete autonomy both in relation to the state center and in relation to municipal centers.

The business of the state commission is to serve as a link and assistant, to organize sources of material, ideological and moral support for municipal and private, especially labor and class educational institutions on a state, nationwide scale.

State Committee for Public Education

Since the beginning of the revolution, a number of valuable bills have been worked out by the State Committee for Public Education, which is rather democratic in composition and rich in experienced specialists. The State Commission sincerely wishes systematic cooperation with this Committee.

She will apply to the Bureau of the Committee with a request to immediately convene an emergency session of the Committee to carry out the following program:

1. Review of the norms of representation in the Committee in the spirit of its even greater democratization.

2. Revision of the Committee's rights in the spirit of their expansion and turning it into the main state institution for the development of draft laws for the complete reorganization of public education and education in Russia on a democratic basis.

3. Revision of the bills already created by the Committee together with the new state commission, required by the fact that when editing them, the Committee took into account the bourgeois spirit of the previous ministries, which hindered them, however, even in this reduced form.

After such a revision, the bills will be put into effect without any bureaucratic red tape, in a revolutionary manner.

Educators and society

The State Commission welcomes teachers in the arena of the bright and honorable work of enlightening the people - the master of the country.

No measure in the field of public education should be taken by any authority without careful notification of the voice of the representatives of the pedagogical world.

On the other hand, decisions cannot be made exclusively by a corporation of specialists. This also applies to reforms in general education institutions.

Collaboration between educators and social forces is what will be pursued by the commission both in its composition, and in the State Committee, and in all its activities.

The Commission considers its first task to be the improvement of the position of teachers, and above all of the most destitute, perhaps the most important workers in cultural affairs - the people's teachers in elementary schools. Their just demands must be met immediately and at all costs. The school proletariat is vainly demanding an increase in wages to 100 rubles. per month. It would be a shame to keep the teachers of the vast majority of Russian children in poverty any longer.

constituent Assembly

There is no doubt that the Constituent Assembly will begin its work soon. Only it will permanently establish the order of state and public life in our country, including the general character of the organization of public education.

But now, with the transfer of power to the Soviets, the truly popular character of the Constituent Assembly is assured. The line that the State Commission will take, relying on the State Committee, can hardly change significantly under the influence of the will of the Constituent Assembly. Without prejudging it, the new, people's government considers itself entitled to carry out a number of measures in this area as well, with the aim of enriching and enlightening as soon as possible the spiritual life of the country.

Ministry

For the time being, current affairs should go on as usual through the Ministry of Public Education. All directly necessary changes in its composition and design will be judged by the State Commission, elected by the Executive Committee of Soviets, and the State Committee. The final order of state leadership in the field of public education will, of course, be established by the Constituent Assembly. Until then, the ministry should play the role of an executive apparatus under the State Commission for Public Education and the State Committee for Public Education.

The guarantee of the country's salvation lies in the cooperation of its living and genuine democratic forces.

We believe that the united efforts of the working people and honest enlightened intelligentsia will lead the country out of the painful crisis and lead it through complete democracy to the realm of socialism and the brotherhood of peoples.

People's Commissar for Education A. V. Lunacharsky

Petrograd, October 29, 1917