On-Site Technical Training - I (c. 1980) Following the example of the Soviet Union, the education system in the GDR “went polytechnic” starting in mid-1950s. The goal of this change was to introduce students to industrial work. On September 1, 1958, the GDR introduced a weekly “School Day in Production” for all students in grades seven and higher. In 1959, this was supplemented by the introduction of courses in socialist production and technical drawing. Additionally, on September 1, 1959, the general ten-year polytechnic secondary school became the standard in the GDR. In the photograph below, students work with the pantograph of a mine locomotive as part of their polytechnic training in the Lauchhammer Brown Coal Combine [Braunkohlenkombinat Lauchhammer]. Photograph by Paul Friedemann.