Abstracting Publications on Chemical Education in the Soviet Union Current trends in Russian chemicd education are of interest to specialists in the fields of chemistry, education, and Soviet studies. Aa part of a study of Soviet education being organized by the Soviet Studies Department of Glasgow University, work has been started in Paisley Technical College on the abstracting of material from the Russian educational journals "Khimiya. v Shkole" (Chemistry in School), "Srednee Spetsial'noe Ohrsaovanie" (Secondary Specialized Education), and "Vestnik Vysshei Shkoly" (Higher Schools News). Much of the material-for example, review articles, biographical notes, papem on teaching methods, visual aids, apparatus and experiments, and reports of the activities of school chemical circles-orresponds fairly closely to the contenta of analogous journals outside the Soviet Union, hut other material reveals unique features of emphasis and auproach. Much has been written in these iournals on the w a n in which clb~rnistryte~chiugisbviw brought %loser to lifeand pnldlstim," in fultillment d the a i m of the 1058 educational rrfmnli. Thus l q d are ~ eqwted ru bp landiar with the VivcSear Plan fiylrrr~ for iron and steel production, the relative expansion planned for the chemical industry-ompared with industry as a whole, and other economic data. This material links the study of chemistry with the study of "Social Science," which has recently been introduced in schaols and aims to teach senior pupils the funda-
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and to inculcate atheism. A characteristic feature of the Soviet educational system is the close central control over programs and curricula, textbooks, and exsminatiotions. Little if any deviation from the official curriculum is permitted. Textbooks m e standardized throu~hout the soviet Union. and new hooks are suhiected to orohnee> criticism in thr minutat derail. t:rawinsrions are conducted 8 . n a '.ticket9 system: earh pupil has ro answer 1l.c questione printed on
