These school subjects of the USSR that modern children have never even heard of: 5 forgotten subjects

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Every Ukrainian who is now over 40 remembers perfectly well what he studied at school, what the knowledge assessment system was, and at what level teachers taught this or that subject. Surprisingly, some school subjects have completely disappeared from the program – find out which ones.

School subjects in the USSR that no longer exist

Some disciplines approved by the Ministry of Education during the Soviet era have been irretrievably lost and forgotten. Nowadays, school subjects in Ukraine are completely different, even the curriculum is structured differently. We invite you to learn for the first time (or remember) what was taught in Soviet schools.

Calligraphy

School education in the USSR was aimed at developing the child's mental processes and skills, and there were no such technologies, so writing by hand was considered a completely natural thing. Hence the subject necessary for any Soviet schoolchild – calligraphy or penmanship. For example, until the end of the 60s, schools generally wrote with pen and ink, but with the advent of the ballpoint pen, the process became noticeably simpler. The emphasis began to be placed not on beautiful letters, but on the speed of presenting information in written form.

Initial military training

After the end of the war, Soviet citizens were taught to handle weapons from childhood, especially because of the Cold War. Within the scope of the discipline, the children received instruction on actions during a gas attack, how to handle a gas mask, learned how to assemble and disassemble a training machine gun, as well as how to throw grenades. After the collapse of the USSR, the subject was removed from the school curriculum, only some of its components were transferred to the OSH program, but there was almost no practice – most of the knowledge was theoretical. Now you can find NVP far from every school.

Ethics

School education in the USSR was also aimed at creating a strong “center of society,” that is, a family, and for this purpose, ethics were read to children. Teachers explained how to build a family, how to behave properly, communicate with peers and adults, and run a household. Moreover, from a very early age, children were taught the rules of behavior at the table, the nuances of using cutlery, types of serving, and how to eat certain dishes correctly. The subject disappeared from the program in the 1990s, when there was a noticeable shortage of ethics teachers. After some time, what was discussed in the lessons of the forgotten discipline began to be studied within other subjects – economics, natural science, or social science. In modern times, ethics is read as a subject, but not everywhere and not always – depending on the school, the subject may be absent or optional.

Drawing

This subject was one of the most interesting for Soviet schoolchildren, because after the victory in the war, the USSR actively rebuilt its possessions, restoring the work of factories, schools, enterprises, building residential buildings and hospitals. In general, everything that was destroyed by the Nazi army was repaired by Soviet people. Everyone understood that it was impossible to do this without knowledge in the field of engineering and architecture, so any schoolchild could and should have mastered the basics of these professions. Now this subject is studied only in specialized universities, because many drawings can be made using special computer programs.

Astronomy

Despite the fact that astronomy began to be studied under Peter I, Yuri Gagarin's flight into space during the Soviet era became a landmark event for the entire country. The space race between America and the Soviet Union also made its contribution, so every schoolchild studied the role of astronomy in the development of science, the nuances of the operation of technology used in space, as well as types of celestial objects and the structure of the solar system.

Astronomy remained a school subject even after the collapse of the USSR, but the program often consisted of theoretical rather than practical knowledge. In the Soviet Union, children could practically test the information they received – since the early 1990s, such opportunities have become increasingly rare. Now astronomy is most often not studied as a separate subject, but is part of the school physics course.