Extended-Day Schools and Groups

general-education schools, or groups within such schools, in which students spend the entire day (ten hours).

Extended-day schools first appeared in 1919 in Petrograd and other large cities of the USSR to increase the pedagogical supervision of children; owing to economic constraints, however, they did not undergo further development. After the Great Patriotic War of 1941–45, separate extended-day groups were established at general-education schools to give families more help in raising their children. The groups were given legal status in 1956 (for Moscow and Leningrad, 1955).

In the period since 1962, as eight-year education has become nearly universal and the system of universal secondary education has been implemented, extended-day schools have been established, at which at least 80 percent of the students must be on the extended-day program. Where the percentage is less, students are enrolled for an extended day in extended-day groups at conventional general-education schools.

Extended-day schools and groups offer a wide range of activities beyond the usual classes; children engage in Pioneer and Komsomol activities, socially useful work, games, sports, and independent projects. The extended-day program may comprise separate grades, or it may involve groups made up of students from various grades. In accordance with sound medical and pedagogical practice, the children study, work, and rest in turn; as part of the program they prepare their homework while at school. The children leave for home when their parents return from work. In some cases, parents are completely or partially released from the requirement of paying for the three meals a day their children receive at extended-day schools or groups.