Causes and methods for overcoming academic failure in schools of the Krasnoyarsk region during the Great Patriotic War

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate how the problem of academic performance and the fight against grade repetition were addressed during the Great Patriotic War years, when the influence of school on students declined. Using regional data, this article analyzes the factors that exacerbated the problem of school failure and ways to overcome it. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the fact that two stages in solving this problem during the period under study are identified; the reasons for the Krasnoyarsk region’s failure to solve it are objectively shown. The study found that the increase in grade repetition and the number of students failing grades in the Krasnoyarsk region’s schools was due to a number of objective factors: the deterioration of the financial situation of families, which required an increase in the volume of household responsibilities for teenagers and their mass involvement in the real sector of the economy; the multi-shift operation of schools and their weak material base; the turnover of teaching staff due to mobilization. The measures taken to overcome academic failure (autumn re-examinations, introduction of transfer exams, medals for successful students) did not produce the desired result, because they were aimed at strengthening control over the activities of the school and the student, but at the same time, changes in teaching methods and individualization of education were not considered at all during the period under study.