In the transformation of the social structure, the Communists brought down the former aristocracy and anyone else who they considered might be opposed to the new order. They then attempted to elevate the status of the former lower classes--that is, the workers and peasants--but because of the elitist structure of the party the great leveling process faltered, and new classes were created despite the prescribed ideology of a classless society. The party elite became the new upper class, and immediately below them was a growing group of lesser party functionaries, technocrats, managers, scientists, teachers, and other professionals. The privileges, life-styles, and aspirations of these groups ran far ahead of those of the workers and peasants who once again found themselves at the bottom of the social pyramid. Upward mobility is possible, and the key to it is education; the key to educational opportunity, however, is most often political influence, which also plays a large role in the accessibility to jobs that lead to higher social status. A stabilizing of the social structure that became apparent toward the end of the 1960s, although it did not block upward mobility, would seem to indicate that such social movement will be more difficult in the future. Children of workers and peasants will not be denied opportunity for higher education, but it would appear that the path to opportunity will be easier for children of the party elite and the professional classes. To the people, education is important as a means of social advancement; to the regime, however, the educational system is the prime means through which it inculcates socialist ideals and trains the professionals, technicians, and skilled workers needed to run the country. The first great goal under the Communists was the eradication of illiteracy, which, according to the government, had been achieved by 1958. A concurrent and continuing goal was the training of skilled technicians, foremen, and middle-level managers. The country's rapid industrialization and economic growth caused severe shortages in these categories and, in the early 1970s, the educational and training programs still had not met the demands for the upgrading of unskilled workers. Modifications of the educational system have been concentrated on the extension of basic primary education from the four-year program that existed after World War II to a compulsory ten-year program that is expected to be fully operative by 1973. Along with the expansion of curricula and the extension of the time spent in primary grades, the regime has also reemphasized the importance of ideological and political indoctrination for the nation's youth. Adult education has also been stressed by the government in its efforts to raise the overall educational and skill levels of the entire population.