Vladimir Lenin

Admission To Higher Educational Unstitutions Of The Russian Federation

Draft Decision Of The Council Of People’s Commissars [1]

The Council of People’s Commissars instructs the Commissariat of Education at once to prepare several decisions and measures so that in the event of the number of applicants to the higher educational institutions exceeding the usual number of places, extra-special measures be taken to ensure a chance to study for all who so desire, and to ensure there be no actual or legal privileges for the propertied classes. Priority must certainly go to workers and poor peasants, who are to be given grants on an extensive scale.

Endnotes

[1] The draft decision written by Lenin was adopted by the Council of People’s Commissars on August 2, 1918, together with the decree of the regulations governing admission to higher educational establishments of the R.S.F.S.R. The decree opened colleges and universities for all over 16 and abolished school leavers diplomas or certificates, competitive examinations and tuition fees. The decision and the decree were published in Izvestia on August 6, 1918.