the communist party leaders declared the era of mandatory education and equity. In plain language, the goal of equity is always to bring all students to the same level of educational attainment. And because all bad students cannot be turned into high performers, the only realistic alternative is to move in the opposite direction, wherein nobody could perform better than the crowd.
The Soviet ideologues presented this as a means to eradicate “past injustices.” They shut down gymnasiums and other schools for advanced education. Tests and homework assignments were forbidden; a significant part of learning had to consist of studying progressive social dogmas. Students were divided into teams; grades were given to the team, and one could not do better than the team.
To provide proper “social education” and eliminate competition for the minds of the younger generations, religion was outlawed and parents were forbidden under threat of punishment from taking part in the educational process. The new political and intellectual elite considered the nuclear family a great enemy to control society, so they took steps steps to eliminate it. According to a 1920s influential feminist Alexandra Kollontai, the family as a legacy of capitalist exploitation would soon die out, with the burden of motherhood removed from women’s shoulders and shifted to the state.