Thanks for the correction[1]. The first question was about the High Theory of Education, namely that the chief task of the educator is to find the child's unique talent, what it can do better than most. Did Pioneer Palaces attempt anything similar[2]?

[1] I guess friend would have been друг?

"Друг всегда с тобой / если ты бухой"

[2] as their DPRK equivalents seem to, via explicit testing?

The Pioneers were a youth organisation of the CPSU, so their officially stated goal was making sure that the youth has the “correct” ideological upbringing. But from a lot of people I've heard an opinion, that the actual purpose of the organisation was to free up some time for the parents, heh. The Pioneers did have a large network of what were essentially hobby clubs, where children could learn new skill from older kids and counsellors, so they did help children to pursue their interests and talents in a way. Besides that, as far as I know, they weren't that different from Northamerican Boy/Girl Scout organisations.

Sorry for the late reply, just ran across an illustrator who obviously fondly remembers his Pioneer days: https://raven-yellow.livejournal.com/96620.html

(the biggest difference between scouts and pioneers having been mixed groups?)

"Держи дистанцию" is now true again: it's just expanded to 2 metres.