In the U.S.S.R., the trade unions see the continuous growth of the general educational, cultural and technical level of all workers as one of the conditions of social and scientific progress in the interests of the working class. The role of the unions in the lifelong education of the population is determined by their status in the political system of the socialist state. The trade unions, under socialism, participate directly in managing state and public affairs, in planning the country's economic and social development, in raising the general educational, cultural, and technical level of the Soviet people. The unions participate in a businesslike manner in the development and improvement of all types of general and specialized education, as well as in the plan-based training and retraining of workers in accordance with the requirements of production and management conditioned by the high rate of scientific-technological progress in the interests of the working people. The Soviet trade unions take part in planning the training of personnel, in staffing educational establishments, in organizing cultural and mass activities and educational work among industrial and agricultural workers, at the workplace and at community cultural and educational institutions. The trade unions have at their disposal a solid material base for participation in the organization of lifelong education; about 25 percent of the union budget is earmarked for cultural activities, physical training, and sports. Unions in the U.S.S.R. participate in improvements in the education system, develop lifelong education, and carry out the system of trade union education. (KC)