When the Communists came to power in 1944 they were determined to change the system of education in Bulgaria. Not only did they seek to eradicate certain elements--such as religion and social elitism--from the educational system, but they also were determined to make education universal and, insofar as possible, to create an entirely literate society. As the educational system developed under communist tutelage, however, governmental statements on the subject displayed an increasing tendency to link the system with ideology and principles to the point where the ultimate goal was the creation of the ideal Communist. When the 1947 Constitution was formulated, it established universality and state control over the school system as the two main policies of education. It stated: "Every citizen has the right to education. Education is secular, democratic and progressive in spirit. Ethnic minorities have the right to instruction in their mother tongue; they also have the right to develop their national culture, although study of the Bulgarian language is compulsory.... Schools belong to the State. Private schools can be established only by the passage of a law; such schools are placed under State control...." Statements in subsequent constitutions indicated an increased emphasis on the socialist content of education and its close ties with the Soviet model on which it was based. In 1949 the government issued a statement declaring that education would be "in the spirit of socialism, proletarian internationalism, and indissoluble brotherly friendship with the Soviet Union." Two years later the government stated that "the people's school is a powerful weapon in the hands of the Communist Party and the people's democratic state for education and Communist indoctrination of the people." In the present-day period both Todor Zhivkov, who is the first secretary of the party, and the minister of national education (formerly known as the minister of public education) have reinforced the purpose and function of education in a socialist society. In 1966 the minister of national education stated: "The work of the school, its major and minor tasks--everything for which it exists--must be subordinated to its fundamental objective: training and educating the new man of communist society." Certain distinctive principles form the basis for communist policies of education in Bulgaria. Chief among these is the close patterning of the system on the Soviet model. For this reason Bulgaria tends to be somewhat cautious in its approach to education and reluctant to make sweeping reforms unless the Soviets provide a model for change.