On page 37 under
Primary Skills:
AtB 2nd Ed. wrote:With the destruction of formal academia in The Crash, thousands of universities and colleges went from glowing centers of knowledge and research, to clusters of empty buildings. Worse, waves of anti-technology panic resulted in the wholesale destruction of schools, libraries, stores and laboratories. Nuclear winter, savagery, deterioration and the elements took care of the rest.
So here you can see that much of the educational infrastructure was destroyed by anti-tech panic, nuclear winter, war, and the elements. The section goes on to describe that "for at least a generation" there was no such thing as an education system and that new generations were brought up in "the most casual way," passing along "the basics of reading and arithmetic."
Later, when the current society arose, they fell back on the old way of teaching through trade apprenticeships. This was supported by the surviving doctors, mechanics, blacksmiths, etc.
On page 41 under
Skill Descriptions in regards to some skills with lower base percentages compared to other Palladium settings:
AtB 2nd Ed. wrote:"This takes into consideration the often primitive cultures and lack of formal education in After the Bomb."
As described in the previous section "Primary Skills", since actual teaching facilities are "very rare", most characters have to learn by "hanging around" qualified instructors for several (6-10) years.
macksting wrote:For a population as small as Cardania's to maintain 1950s era technology would, I think, require a better education per capita than is usually available in the real world.
On page 170:
AtB 2nd Ed. wrote:"...but scattered groups of humans remain. Many of them hard at work helping the mutant animals establish schools, factories and governments for the new animal order."
As described here, there are some humans that are trying to help build schools, factories, etc, but success will probably vary. You can probably also imagine that anti-technology panic still exists, and that some animal communities may shun the pre-Death ways, so some of these facilities probably get burned down during or after construction.
There is no reason, IMHO, to assume that education per capita and any better off than how it is conveyed in the book(s). The "Academic Underground" (in AtB 2nd Edition) is most likely the group that is most responsible for maintaining the infrastructure those surviving humans have been able to get running again.
macksting wrote:We're talking some serious tech here. 1950s America was pretty impressive, really. Medicine, medical advancements, and the first (commercially unsuccessful) microwave ovens.
On page 170-171 under
Economy:
AtB 2nd Ed. wrote:"Cardania produces most of the manufactured goods for the known animal world. Technologically, it's comparable to America in the mid-1950's...unable to handle advanced optics, electronics or computers."
Cardania's description and stats have not changed in 2nd Edition, which pretty much puts the bash on microwave ovens.
After the Bomb is not some utopian post-apocalyptic setting. Life is hard. There are no Burger Kings, no Wal-Marts, no information superhighway. The animal societies are still young and "civilization" has a long way to getting back to anything we are accustomed to.
Most rural areas most likely do not have a school, hospital, or even a telephone exchange. The lucky ones that do most likely have nothing more than single room school house where the most basic of skills are taught due to the lack of formally educated teachers, a clinic which a local doctor visits once a week, and maybe a wireless telegraph/radio communications office. Then there are the universities which are controlled and guarded by the Academic Underground, and I would imagine that their entry requirements are quite strict and expensive.
Sure the surviving humans have helped Cardania reestablish technology back to 1950's level, but that doesn't mean that the whole nation is living like "Leave it to Beaver." Smoketown and maybe one or two other "cities" may have a decent quality of life, but the rest of Cardania and other animal nations are still just getting by. Also keep in mind that the population of Cardania is only ~400,000. That's not that many when you really think about it, and most of them are most likely poorly educated, living in the rural parts of Cardania, or just making a living in the factories (not unlike many of the uneducated dropouts in America today).
macksting wrote:...is there any explanation of how 1940s technology level could be maintained without higher education, without a single masters-level education?
Take it from me, I've worked in several tech industries (electronics, computers, television) and all it takes to keep this stuff running is one or two good engineers. Most of the people who worked at these places couldn't tell you how the stuff worked or fix it without the engineers to support them. So my answer is no, you don't even need people with "masters-level" education to keep 21st technology maintained, let alone 1940s or 1950s technology.
And in regards to New Kennel, it's description is also the same as in the first edition.
AtB 2nd Ed. wrote:"New Kennel hasn't even made it out of the 19th Century."
I get carried away sometimes and start sounding like a raving lunatic --> 
