garian educators stated that the
time allotted for practical training would be increased, while on the
other hand, efforts were made to reintroduce the humanities into the
curriculum. In the last three grades of the upper course, the curriculum
was divided into two branches: natural science and mathematics, and the
humanities. The number of general education subjects was gradually
increased, and there was renewed emphasis on foreign languages and the
social sciences.

By 1969, however, authorities once again perceived certain problems in
the educational system and proposed counteracting reforms. One problem
was the relative cost of higher education, which was expanding, as
compared to the cost of primary education, which was both cheaper and
contracting. A second problem was the question of the availability of
trained persons for the national economy because of the long periods of
schooling then required. It was argued that by the time a young man had
completed his education and his military training, he was twenty-five or
twenty-six years old. A third problem was the intense competition for
places in higher education and other postsecondary institutions. In 1969
approximately 70,000 to 75,000 students leaving secondary schools
competed with each other for 20,000 places at the university level. A
fourth problem was whether the polytechnic school should place primary
emphasis on trade specialization or on academic subjects.

In the same year serious thought was given to the solution of these
problems, and tentative measures were proposed. The major thrust of
these proposals was to enable students to meet the needs of the economy
by shortening the period of overall education. It was proposed that a
unified polytechnic school, which would fuse general and professional
elements of education, would replace the current, professionally
oriented polytechnic school. At the same time children would enter
school at the age of six, instead of the customary seven. The secondary
polytechnic school would be a ten-year instead of a twelve-year course,
allowing students to graduate at the age of sixteen. Most courses in
higher education would be reduced from five to four years, enabling
students to complete all levels of education by the age of twenty rather
than twenty-five.

The reforms would perhaps have a greater impact on the secondary system
than the other levels, as they envisioned a completely unified secondary
school system