Ministry of Education of the RSFSR, Rules of Internal Order. June 17, 1946
Original Source: Narodnoe obrazovanie. Osnovnye postanovleniia, prikazy i instrukstii (Moscow, 1948), pp. 59-66.
On June 17, 1946, the Ministry of Education of the RSFSR approved a code of “Rules of Internal Order” for teachers and other workers in the ten-year school. Under this code the teacher is obligated:
a. To work honestly and conscientiously.
b. To maintain discipline of labor and to follow strictly the teaching regimen and the rules of internal order: to fulfill the instructions of the administration quickly and precisely.
c. To appear at work on time; to follow, without any violations, the established length of the day; to utilize the entire working time in productive work, without engaging in any personal affairs or conversations or distracting others from their work.
d. To fulfill assignments satisfactorily and on time, to maintain high quality of teaching, and improve continuously their own qualifications.
e. To guard socialist property: school equipment, teaching aids, etc.
f. To maintain the rules of sanitation and fire prevention.
The rules also include many details regarding preparation for each lesson, keeping of daily records, enforcement of the “Rules for School Children,” visitation of homes of pupils, organization of out-of school work, and conduct of class meetings of parents and pupils.
The “Rules of Internal Order” also prescribe punishments for violations. For “violation of labor discipline,” such as being late to work, leaving school before the closing hour, taking too much time for lunch, or closing a class period contrary to schedule, the punishment may take the form of: “(a) a remark, (b) a reprimand, (c) a strict reprimand.” Such punishments are imposed directly by the administration. For more serious violations, such as “willfully leaving the work of the school,” “shirking one’s duty,” “theft of school property,” and “hooliganism,” the guilty party is arraigned before the court. Apparently in order to encourage compliance, the pronouncement from the ministry closes with the words: “These Rules of Internal Labor Order are obligatory for all workers of the school and must be prominently displayed in the teachers’ room of every school.” A positive source of encouragement is doubtless found in “the repeated mass award to Soviet Teachers of orders and medals.”
Source: George S. Counts, The Challenge of Soviet Education (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1957), p. 78.