Technicum

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Technicum (Russian: те́хникум, tekhnikum , Russian pronunciation: [ˈtʲɛxnʲɪkum]) was a Soviet mass-education facility of "special middle education" category 1 step higher than PTU, but aimed to train low-level industrial managers (foremen, technical supervisors etc.) or specializing in occupations that require skills more advanced than purely manual labor, especially in high-tech occupations (such as electronics). This category remained in use in post-Soviet republics.

Thus technicum may be regarded as labor trade-oriented analogue to Western two-year college. Therefore after the collapse of the Soviet Union many technicums in CIS countries were renamed to colleges.