ing the study of the social role of
women was presented to the presidium of the Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences. Another suggestion by the same women's group called for the
study of conditions defining women's role as "mothers, production
workers and public activists."

In the report to the plenary session of the party Central Committee in
July 1968, Zhivkov outlined the functions of the Committee of Bulgarian
Women. These included the coordination of state and administrative
organs in research institutes that studied the role of women in society.
Henceforth, according to Zhivkov, the Central Committee of the BKP would
receive reports on such research and would be directly concerned with
matters concerning Bulgarian women.

Ideological Training

How mass organizations relate to BKP party directives, orders, and
decrees is best illustrated in the area of political education and
indoctrination. The National Conference on Party Propaganda was held in
April 1970 and sponsored by the Agitation and Propaganda Department of
the Central Committee and by the district party committees. During the
conference one of the district secretaries detailed some aspects of a
three-stage system that is being applied.

The three-stage structure corresponds to the educational level as well
as to the political training and age of students. Schools in the higher
level of various district party committees and branches of the mass
organizations train administrative personnel, intellectuals, and party
activists. Training on this level includes theoretical seminars and
study groups. For intermediate personnel, including employees with a
secondary education, there are schools and institutes giving lectures
and talks on Leninism. A more elementary form of mass propaganda is
given to people with less training in theoretical political ideology;
people of advanced age fall also into this category. Political education
for this group consists of lectures in beginners' schools. Compulsory
subjects in primary party organizations are also discussed during
education sessions at party meetings. Except for Sofia, which has a high
rate of literacy, most districts employ this three-stage system of
political education. It is estimated that 60 percent of Communists in
Sofia have at least a high school education; many have college degrees
in contrast to some outlying districts where a large percentage of the
Communists have only an elementary education.

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