Leonid Kotliar with his pupils
From the left on the foreground this is me with 8th grade pupils of secondary school #55 in Kiev. Kiev, 1961.
In 1947 I entered the Faculty of Literature in Kiev Teacher's College, a reduced 2-year course. After the ending of institute on 24 September 1949 I came to school in Varovichi village of Kiev region. I worked in this school until 7 November and was transferred to the school in Seschina village where there was no electricity or radio. Shortly afterward chief of the district department of education assigned me as a district inspector. I didn't quite like this job. Firstly, I had to run around a lot, and secondly, teaching personnel was weak: teachers could not solve a 3rd grade problem with 3 questions. I worked as inspector for a year and then went back to school. After finishing my teachers' college I received 10% lower salary than teachers with a diploma of Pedagogical Institute. In 1956 I entered extramural department of the faculty of Philology of Kiev Pedagogical Institute. I finished it in 1959. After finishing this Institute I worked in a school in Kiev several years and then I worked in village schools of Kiev region.
I retired in the late 1980s. I couldn't imagine my life without working with children, so I was head of an artistic word studio in the district children's house for many years.
