Special Vocational-Technical School

a type of school established in the USSR in 1964 for the upbringing and rehabilitation of minors over 14 years of age who maliciously and systematically violate the rules of social behavior. Adolescents who have committed crimes involving no serious danger to society are also sent to these schools if the nature of the crime and the character of the person committing it are such that punishment under criminal law may be suspended and other measures substituted.

The decision to send an adolescent to a special vocational-technical school is made by a commission on juvenile affairs or by a court. As a rule, students may not be kept in the schools more than three years. If their conduct is exemplary and if they have a conscientious attitude toward their work and studies, they are transferred to a general school or a job is arranged for them.

The educational methods in the special vocational-technical schools take into account the needs of the student body by emphasizing a system of incentives, penalties, and remedial measures. The students become skilled in a vocation, undergo production training, and pass qualifying examinations in subjects that make up the general program of vocational-technical education; they also pursue a program of general education. The students are fully covered by the legislation governing the labor of minors. Graduation is effected by a decision of the local commission on juvenile affairs. This decision is communicated to the commission on juvenile affairs located near the student’s home so that he may be properly supervised and also assisted in finding work.

Collectives of enterprises and institutions are generally the patrons of special vocational-technical schools. Each school has a guardian council composed of representatives of the public. Law enforcement in the schools is supervised by agencies of the procurator’s office.