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>>University admission is handled by a similar circle. So obviously I welcome any anecdotes to the contrary, but I was always told that in my formely communist
by gambiting 1y ago
>>University admission is handled by a similar circle.
So obviously I welcome any anecdotes to the contrary, but I was always told that in my formely communist country(Poland) university admissions were extremely fair. Everyone had equal chance if they passed exams well enough - in fact messing around with this system was guaranteed to get you in prison for corruption. And in there were many examples of poor families from very disadvantaged backgrounds sending kids to top universities because they studied hard enough to pass the entrance exams - there was no bribe you could give anyone to get you in, because the principles of fair admissions were upheld as the greatest value. I'm sure there are examples of it happening that we could find, but my understanding is that it was incredibly rare.
Now, top posts at universities - that's a different situation. To be the dean you had to be in the party and know the right people to be considered for the position. But students? Anyone could get anywhere and study completely for free.
- m4rtink 1y agoThe main issue was not the general admission being itself corrupt (though I can't imagine you could not get a top party member child in if you wanted). The main issue was that anyone the state was not comfortable with was banned from higher education, including their children. Have any connection to the pre-communist politics, be involved in religion, be reported by your neighbors as speaking against the regime or just got in the way of someone i power - congratulation comrade, you and your children (regardless of how gifted) are now second class, can't go to university & are relegated to second class jobs, for ever! And this basically applied to everything the communist state could miss-use to award or punish people - jobs, internal and foreign travel, housing, being able to do art or write books, etc. And any time the single party that could never do any wrong decided to punish you - there was no recourse.
- throwaway3060 1y agoI don't know about Poland, but within the USSR, a Jewish person would be unable to go to a good university without paying a bribe (which for many families was beyond their means). Jewish applicants would get a different set of test questions that would be nearly impossible to solve.
- kvemkon 1y ago> unable to go to a good university Or rather to a one of TOP 3 best universities in a one of TOP 3 largest cities in the country unless choosing some engineering specialization. > a different set of test questions that would be really hard to solve, indeed.
- throwaway3060 1y agoI'm using "good" to include the prestigious engineering subfields. For those, even minor schools in smaller cities would be barred to Jews.