icy for, and
supervised the work of, the educational sections of the various regional
and district people's councils, which were assigned certain
responsibilities for organizing and administering local primary and
secondary schools. The operation of these schools was subject to
periodic detailed checks by a body of inspectors general to ensure the
uniform application of government regulations and policies. All
institutions of higher learning were controlled directly by the Ministry
of Education, which appointed and dismissed all rectors and their
assistants. The ministry also employed an intertwined system of advisory
councils and commissions to ensure compliance with party and government
directives and guidelines.

The overall budgeting for the educational system was also coordinated by
the Ministry of Education and consisted of the budgets submitted by the
various people's councils for primary and secondary schools as well as
the ministry's own estimated budget needs for vocational and higher
schools and for operating the entire system. In 1969, the latest year
for which official statistics were available, approximately 6 percent of
the state budget was allocated to education.

Preschool Education

Preschool education, consisting principally of kindergartens, was
available on an optional basis for all children between the ages of
three and six. Attendance was free, and enrollment was encouraged by the
government as an essential step in the communist educational system of
developing "correct" socialist values and attitudes in youth.
Kindergartens were organized by districts and were located at the
facilities of local enterprises, state organizations, and cooperative
agencies. In certain areas, day nurseries attached to kindergartens
provided care for the children of working mothers, for which a fee,
generally in proportion to the parents' wages, was charged.

If the school was large enough, classes were generally organized on an
age-group basis, each with a teacher or supervisor. The number of
children attending kindergartens has steadily increased since 1960.
During the 1969/70 school year more than 428,000 children, approximately
40 percent of all those eligible, were enrolled in about 10,000
kindergartens and nurseries. Official estimates anticipated that this
attendance figure would increase appreciably in future years as more
working mothers were added to the labor force.

Primary Education

Primary ed