ls.
Generally, the four-year schools predominated in rural areas, and the
seven-year and eleven-year schools were more prevalent in larger
villages and towns.

Elementary education is still compulsory for both boys and girls from
seven to fifteen years of age. Classes are held in the morning only and
run six days a week, Monday through Saturday. The schools are known as
basic or general schools and include not only elementary education but
also the first two phases of the eleven-year polytechnic school. The
elementary course comprises grades one through four, and the
postelementary courses include classes five through eight. The
elementary curriculum includes the study of Bulgarian, mathematics,
music, art, and physical education. The postelementary curriculum also
encompasses the study of foreign languages and science. On both levels
the study of Russian is compulsory.

The purpose of this general elementary education, according to the
government, is to "provide pupils with general and polytechnic education
combined with fundamental moral, physical and aesthetic training,
instill in children a liking for work, accustom them to productive work
useful to society and prepare them for studies at a higher level." In
accordance with these principles "education in labor" was made an
integral part of the curriculum. The total curriculum of elementary
education consists of a tripartite division. The academic section is
subdivided into the sciences and the humanities. The education in the
labor section consists of work, beginning in the first year of
schooling, in shops, farms, and factories. The extracurricular section
is dominated by the work-study program of the youth organization known
as the Pioneers (see ch. 9).

Secondary Education

Before 1944 secondary education in Bulgaria consisted of the gymnasium
and the vocational school. The gymnasium was divided into three types:
the classical, the semiclassical, and the scientific. All three included
the following subjects in their curriculum: Bulgarian language and
literature; either French, German, or English; philosophy; mathematics;
history; the history of Christianity; geography; sociology; civics;
physics; and chemistry. In the scientific and classical divisions,
natural history and drawing were also given, and Latin and Greek were
presented in the classical and semiclassical gymnasiums. There was also
a normal school, or pedagogical part of the gymnasium, which add