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Schools Fail in Anti – Religious Drive in USSR

January 11, 1935
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Anti-religious activities in the Yiddish elementary and secondary schools are unsatisfactory, according to Vladimir Pravdin, who is one of the leading anti-religious workers, writing in the Charkov Stern.

Some of the teachers explain, that this is due to the fact that most of the attention is given to the curriculum and, therefore, there is no time for anti-religious work. Pravdin, however, complains that such an attitude to anti-religious activity is contrary to the fundamentals of Marxist education.

The present school program gives every opportunity of introducing anti-religious activity. It is the duty of every teacher to use every means to strengthen the anti-religious feeling inculcated in the children.

Unfortunately, there are no atheist cells yet in most schools, and in those schools where they do exist, they embrace only a small number of children.

In many other schools the anti-religious work is purely academic and confined to the schools. The anti-religious education among the children should, in Pravdin’s opinion, be woven into the entire framework of the life of the children, both in school and out of school.

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