1) Thoughts from the Fourth LSSR Teachers Convention.
In a speech delivered on June 7, 1978 at the Fourth LSSR Teachers Convention, held in Vilnius, LSSR Education Minister A. Rimkus spoke of instilling the "noble sentiments of Soviet patriotism, friendship of nations and proletarian internationalism" in Lithuania's School children and rejoiced that "we already have 98 mixed schools which educate 53,500 students, or one tenth of the students who attend general education schools." The speaker further noted that "a significant influence in educating the school population in the spirit of the friendship of nations and Soviet patriotism is exerted by the socialist competition of Lithuania and Soviet Belo-russia.
If we are to recall how Lithuanian children have been treated for the past 34 years in Belorussia, not even allowed to learn their native
Lithuanian language in grade schools, if we were to count over that long period how many new people there are in Belorussia who no longer know their native Lithuanian language and if we were to consider all of this, in Rimkus' words, "a significant influence", it is not difficult to understand what is hidden behind the ringing words of Soviet patriotism, friendship of nations and proletarian internationalism, and is brutally infiltrating the souls, hearts and minds of Lithuanian children.
Further in his speech, Rimkus, attributed certain current achievements in Lithuania's economy and culture not to the diligent and conscientious nature of the Lithuanian nation, but stressed that this is "primarily the result of the unselfish (? — author) support of the great (? — author) Russian nation." For this "support" A. Rimkus made the following commitment on behalf of all Lithuanian educators: "in the future we will continue doing our utmost to educate our students to be ardent patriots of their Fatherland (USSR — author), meticulous internationalists (ignorant of Lithuania's nation and her culture — author), so that no student's conscience will provide fertile ground for the seed of nationalistic isolationism, limitation and exclusiveness." From this it is clear why Lithuania's Education Minister rejoices over the fact that the number of purely Lithuanian schools is dropping, and that of mixed schools rising.
Somewhat earlier in that same talk, recalling the recently adopted decision of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee Bureau regarding the teaching of Russian in Lithuania, Rimkus stated: "New editions of textbooks and teaching material must ensure that all students thoroughly learn Russian while still in middle school." Once this in "insured", it naturally follows— though the education minister did not say so—that one day it will be decided it is unnecessary to teach in two languages in those mixed Lithuanian schools. Russian alone will suffice then, because it will even further ensure the ruinous goals of "Soviet patriotism, friendship of nations and proletarian internationalism" in Lithuania. The Lithuanian nation can be russified simply through her schools!
After his commitment to turn all Lithuania's children into internationalists and on the basis of another decision of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee Bureau, dated April 11, 1977 "Regarding the work of the Pabiržė Middle School in instilling a scientific atheist outlook", Rimkus noted: "On the basis of this document, it is essential to establish a sound and effective system of atheist education in every school. (It would appear that this system has not yet been perfected! — author) It is necessary to devote much careful attention to those students who have not as yet completely extricated themselves from religious influence. We must help every child to attain a strong materialistic outlook while still in school, to understand thoroughly the harm of religion and become an active atheist." This is the kind of system to which Lithuanian parents are forced to give their children to be reared and educated!
Why did the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee choose Pabiržė as its victim and not some other Lithuanian school? It was undoubtedly linked to the fact that shortly thereafter exiled Bishop Vincentas Sladkevičius was transferred to Pabiržė from his exile in Nemunėlio Radviliškė.
2) Intensified Persecution of Believing Children Those who think that the atheist government has made certain concessions to believers are mistaken. That many difficult trials await Lithuania's believers is evidenced not only by the above-mentioned speech by Education Minister Rimkus, but by the following party and official documents which are more widely known only to employees of the educational system.
Lithuanian SSR Education Ministry Decision of the Governing Body, 5/27/77, No. 89, Vilnius
The Governing Body of the Lithuanian SSR Education Ministry has decided:
1) To endorse the measures adopted by the Lithuanian SSR Education Ministry to improve the atheist upbringing of students, in implementing the April 11, 1977 decision of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee Bureau "Regarding the work of the Pabiržė Middle School in instilling an atheist outlook in students."
2) To charge Education Ministry administrations and departments, agencies under the jurisdiction of the Ministry, Rayon and city people's education departments:
a) to see to it that the prospective measures are implemented at the appropriate time;
b) to strengthen atheist upbringing within the framework of general education schools, after-school and preschool children's agencies.
Chairman of the Governing Body Education Minister A. Rimkus.
Measures adopted by the Lithuanian SSR Education Ministry to improve the atheist upbringing of students, in implementing the decision of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee Bureau, "Regarding the work of the Pabiržė Middle School in instilling an atheist outlook in students":
1) Systematically and effectively implement the decision of the 25th USSR Congress, as well as those of the 17th Lithuanian Communist Party Congress, in the field of people's education.
In improving the atheist upbringing of students, perfecting the forms and methods of scientific atheist propaganda, closely adhere to the decision of the Third Plenary Meeting of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee (1976), "Regarding the work of the Pabiržė Middle School in instilling a scientific atheist outlook in students."
Continually: Administration of Schools, after-school and after-class activities departments, Rayon and city people's education departments.
2) Strive that the entire process of education and after-class activity be used to form the materialistic outlook of students by giving students an atheist upbringing, so that upon graduating from middle school, they become militant atheists.
Continually: (to the aforesaid)
3) Examine the atheist educational system and methodology of teaching staffs, grant them full assistance in subject matter and methods.
Continually: (to the aforesaid)
4) Systematically review matters relating to the atheist upbringing of students in faculty councils, conferences of school administrators and education councils.
Continually: Rayon and city people's education departments.
5) Ensure that during class—the basic form of education-up-bringing—students acquire a strong body of scientific atheist information, a materialistic understanding of the principles of nature and the development of society. Strengthen the interrelationship of subjects, ensure the principle of assimilation. In each class, the teacher's principled atheist position must be evident. Foster the capability of students to defend their data independently, to orient themselves in the field of scientific and political information.
Continually—Administration of Schools, Rayon and city people's education departments.
6) Review the work done by one Rayon and one city general education school in implementing the decision of the Lithuanian Communist Party Central Committee Bureau "Regarding the work of the Pabiržė Middle School in instilling a scientific atheist outlook in students."
1978—Administration of Schools, after-school and after-class activities departments.
7) Examine how nature, mathematics and the humanities and the after-class activities related to them are used to raise the students' scientific materialistic outlook, by giving students an atheist upbringing.
1978—(to the aforesaid)
8) Review in two cities and two rayons how atheist propaganda literature is being accumulated and propagated in the libraries of general education schools.
1978-1979—Republican Library for Schools.
9) Improve the atheist upbringing system used by the teaching staffs of general education schools and preschool children's agencies, in exerting a continual influence on students, combining various forms and directions of teaching as well as after-class activities, fostering the atheist beliefs of students, as well as the best moral qualities of the Soviet person, resistance to bourgeois ideology and the influence of religion.
Continually: Administration of Schools, after-school and after-class activities departments, preschool education department, rayon and city people's education departments.
10) Systematically control the after-class and after-school activities of general education schools and after-school children's agencies, analyze the effectiveness of organized programs and their influence on the atheist upbringing of students.
Continually: After-school and after-class activities departments, Republican after-school children's agencies, Rayon and city people's education departments.
11) During after-class activities effectively inculcate a materialistic outlook, based on the subjects taught. Every school club, especially the atheist club, must propagate scientific atheist information, unmask the role of reactionary religion in the historical evolution of science, reveal the meaning of a materialistic under-standing of the world for the benefit of society.
Continually: After-school and after-class activities departments, Rayon and city people's education departments.
12) Strive that general education schools closely work with the parents of students. Systematically examine families, the influence of their upbringing on children. Great attention must be devoted to individual work with the believing parents of children. At education schools, the parents of students are to research the problems of forming a scientific atheist outlook in students.
Continually: Rayon and city people's education departments.
13) Strengthen the ideological-political effectiveness of text books, improve their scientific and methodology quality, emphasize the scientific atheist accents of their contents, which would form the basis for raising the materialistic outlook of students in every class subject.
1977 - 1980—Teaching Methology Department, PMTI (Institute for the Scientific Research of Education).
14) Prepare and publish educational-methodology publications
on atheist themes:
D. Poneris, D. Krotova: Scientific Atheist Upbringing While Teaching Physics; J. Kundrotas Revelation; A. Chertkov, V. Komarov Conversation on Religion and Atheism; I. Zekas Who Created World Order; V. Pechayeva, T. Markovą Methodology of Moral Upbringing of Nursery School Children; H. Tidikis Methodology of Atheist Influence; V. Gladutis From the Work Experience of a Homeroom Teacher; Z. Bajorūnas Rearing Children in the Family; A. Urbonas Science About Man.
1977 - 1980 —Teaching Methodology Department.
15) Draft a methodology letter on current-day conditions of providing students with an atheist upbringing.
1978—PMTI.
16) Organize a scientific practical conference on the questions of providing students with a materialistic outlook and atheist upbringing.
1979—PMTI, RMTI (State Institute for the Further Education of Teachers).
17) When organizing state-wide education symposiums, plan reports on the subject of Marxist-Leninist philosophy and atheist upbringing of students.
1978—(the same—author)
18) At courses given to raise the qualifications of the Republic's teachers, seminar leaders of group discussions on subject methodology are to more widely discuss the possibilities of forming a materialistic outlook, providing atheist education and atheist upbringing, while instructing teaching methods. Every year—RMTI.
19) Organize a seminar on the questions of formation of materialistic philosophy and atheist upbringing for the leaders of clubs of young nature, chemistry, physics and other students.
1979—RMTI.
20) At city and Rayon centers, set up long-running exhibits of atheist literature, for the purpose of propagating scientific atheist literature.
1978 - 1979—Republican Library for Schools.
21) The publishers of Soviet Teacher, Soviet School, Student and Family are to feature more widely questions of atheist upbringing in schools and families. Print a series of articles on the formation of a scientific outlook and atheist belief during Lithuanian literature, Russian literature, History, Social Studies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and other subject classes. Report on the system of afterclass activities in schools in developing a scientific atheist outlook in students. Make available to teachers a series of theory and methodology articles on questions of scientific outlook in youth, as well as of formation of atheist beliefs.
1977 - 1980—Publishers of Soviet Teacher, Soviet School, Family and Student
Administration of Schools 3) Denationalization Program for Schools
Decree No. 88 of the Governing Body of the Lithuanian SSR Education Ministry dated May 27, 1977 confirmed "the plan of prospective measures to further improve the internationalist and patriotic upbringing of students in general education schools and other educational agencies." We are reprinting below this plan to denationalize Lithuanian children, with certain small abbreviations:
1. The Work of Teaching and Education.
1) The most important task of general education schools, preschool and after-school agencies is to maintain the upbringing of the younger generation in the spirit of proleterian, socialist internationalism, Soviet patriotism and intra-nationalistic pride, in accordance with the decision of the 25th Congress of the Soviet Union Communist Party. Thereby assure a sound, effective and unified system of patriotic and internationalist upbringing of students relating it to the overall process of ideological, political, esthetical, ethical and atheistic upbringing.
Continually: Administrations and Departments of the Ministry, Agencies under the Republic's Jurisdiction, Rayon and City People's Education Departments.
2) The teaching staffs of schools and other educational agencies are to use educational material much more effectively toward the goal of upbringing. Use the teaching process in all subjects, especially the humanities, to bolster the explanation of Marxist -Leninist theories on national and ethnic relationships, on the successes of the USSR's nationalist policies (for instance, in denationalizing Lithuanians living in Belorussia and other USSR Republics, exerting every effort that the inhabitants of the Vilnius area, the denationalized decendants of that area's Lithuanians, not regain their Lithuanian identity—author). It is especially important to explain the concept of the new historical unity of peoples (with no national identity—author), the concept of Soviet peoples, explaining the objective principles of the process of the further internationalization of Soviet society, the overall development of our Country's socialist ethnic groups and nationalities and gradual rapprochement (denationalization, i.e. russification—author).
Continually: Administration of Schools, Rayon and City People's Education Departments.
3) Strengthen the influence of the subjects taught on upbringing, in forming the atheist outlook of students: more convincingly explain the reactionary essence of religion and the parallels existing between religious philosophy and the interests of the exploiting classes. Make a timely and effective rebuttal to the various attacks of the reactionary clergy, unmask their intentions to spread bourgeois nationalistic ideology among the youth.
Continually: (the same—author).
II. After-class and after-school activities.
I) Give, through the curricular activities of educational agencies, practical emphasis to the internationalist relationship among students. For this purpose, stimulate the activitiees of school internationalist friendship clubs, more frequently hold general programs in schools, during which a different language is taught, organize clubs, trade and other student groups with contingents of children of different nationalities. Actively involve students in practical work, by organizing proletarian solidarity programs, as for instance planning for the National Youth and Student Festival in Havana, the
International Children's Festival in the Soviet Union, the Republic's
"Planet of the Small" contest and others.
Continually: After-school and after-class Activities Departments, Administration of Schools, Preschool Education Department, Rayon and City People's Education Departments.
2) Strengthen the military-patriotic upbringing of students. Ensure that they actively participate in programs held by the mass production sector: hold more frequent endurance classes in schools, three generational conventions, military preparedness contests, campaigns on revolution, struggle and work virtues, military sports games Žaibas (Lightning), Ereliukas (Little Eagle), as well as ensure participation in the communist youth-youth relay race along the entire USSR national border. Stimulate the activities of SDAALR. Further strengthen the ties of students to Soviet Army soldiers, implement the systematic professional guidance of upper-grade students, stressing military professions. Strive that students have strong and accurate information on early military training.
Continually: Early Military Training Department, Rayon and City People's Education Departments.
3) Improve the leadership and control of national heritage and tourist activities. Guide young national heritage scholars to investigate the history of the workers revolutionary movement, its internationalits impact; immortalize the memory of communist, communist youths, first activists of the Soviet government who perished at the hands of bourgeois nationalists; investigate the history of collective farms, Soviet farms and industry, stressing the internationalist nature of their activity and work. Prevent the idealization of the past, a privileged class outlook, by evaluating the historical events of the pre-Soviet era.Publicize more widely the achievements of Soviet Lithuanian socialist political development, stressing that all is the result of the unity, assembly and mutual assistance of all Soviet nations.
Continually: After-school and After-class Activities Department, Rayon and City people's education departments.
4)Strive that physical education teachers in general education schools and sports schools for children and youths improve the internationalist content of sports programs organized in conjunction with the students of brother republics . . .
5) Assure that mass media is widely used when organizing internationalist and patriotic upbringing activities with students . . .
III. Educational-Methodology activity and its control.
1)... When preparing new textbooks and teaching material, improve their internationalist and patriotic content. . .
2)Include in improvement courses for teaching personnel, subjects on the theory and practice of the nationalist policies of the Soviet Union Communist Party, on the internationalist and patriotic upbringing of students in light of the decisions of the 25th Congress of the Soviet Union Communist Party. By giving advice on methodology, organizing seminars and conferences, spreading good experience, help educators to theoretically comprehend factual material, better put into practice the methodology of internationalist and patriotic work.
Continually: RMTI, RPR, Rayon and City People's Education departments.
3) More widely publicize in the press the practical experience of giving students an internationalist and patriotic upbringing, publish articles on the Leninist nationalist policy of the Soviet Union Communist Party, examples of Soviet life, the friendship of Soviet nations. Strengthen cultural ties with the editors and educational publishing firms of Belorussia, Latvia, the RSFSR and other brother Soviet republics. More frequently exchange information on the international work experience of educational agencies.
Continually: Publishers of Soviet Teacher, Soviet School, Student and Family.
4) Examine the practical experience of internationalist and patriotic work in general education schools and employ means to further improve this work, by increasing the personal responsibility of the head of every educational agency and of every teacher for the of upbringing, for the healthy current moral-political situation, by according maximum attention and sensitivity to multinationalist groups.
Examine this question in every faculty of people's education agencies, plan for ways and means to improve internationalist and patriotic work, improve its planning and coordination, strengthen its control.
1977-1978—Rayon and City People's Education Departments.
5) Systematically analyze the work of People's Education Departments and education agencies, in organizing the internationalist and patriotic upbringing of school and preschool children.
1978-1980—Administrations and Departments of the Ministry.
Administration of Schools
