Quote Originally Posted by gRomoZeka View Post
Sorry, but there is a little bit of muddling.
You make it sound as if these graduates were limited in their choices (state jobs ONLY), while in fact they could work anywhere (within their area of competence, of course), since technically ALL existing jobs were provided by the state (be that a janitor or a rocket scientist). And all these jobs were available to them.
I agree, they were. That's what I think I said: the state was the only employer. So, if a janitor wanted to clean the public washrooms on the north side of the street or on the south side of the street, that was a choice available to him or her. However, the janitor would get the same salary established by the state regardless how clean those washrooms were. And the janitors would live in a place provided by the state when and where the state would see fit. So, when it comes to the education, it made sense for the state to cover the education cost for a rocket scientist and make those scientists work for 120 rubles a month for the rest of their lives regardless of what they were actually doing and how they performed. So, the whole point I was trying to make was that it's the communist propaganda that's muddling and makes it seem like the free education they provide is part of the state care for their people. I was trying to explain why I think it's a lie in a big picture. And back to the topic, the Belorussian government declares a free education (бесплатное образование) whilst, in fact, it doesn't provide it for free. But, in the meantime, they make it seem like they care about the young generation and that the education is their priority (or something like that). So, when a simple Belorussian is looking around and asking:

- Why am I living worse than a similar average citizen of Poland?
- Ah, but it's the whole package that matters. There's no free education in Poland, for example, but it's free in Belorussia to the good students.
- Ok, I see. The education is important for my kids too. Hope, they will be able to become engineers some day and provide good living for my grandchildren.

So, I was trying to say it's a lie, that's all. No muddling.