Bullet-point notes on the problems with education in China, and the successes and failures of education under Mao (including schools, polytechnics, universities, adult education and literacy).
Problems in education in rural areas:
- Only 30% of all males over seven, and just 1% of all females over seven, could read a
simple letter.
- 45.2% of males and only 2.2% of females had received any schooling.
- Males attended 4 years of school on average, and those few females who did attend
attended three years.
- Practical subjects required by a modern economy (maths and science) were not
taught.
- The system remained elitist with the best kindergartens and schools located in
wealthy areas of the cities. Tuition fees were charged, and there were entrance
examinations.
- Within higher education only 3% studied agriculture.
Successes:
- Between 1959 and 1957 the number of primary school students increased from 26
million to 64 million.
- The ‘min-pan’ (run by the people) primary schools were financially supported by the
local village.
- Winter schools provided short courses for adult peasants with the Party claiming
that 42 million peasants attended from Winter 1951-2.
- University enrolments increased from 117,000 to 400,000. There was a focus on
training for specialised technical jobs needed for running a modern economy.
- 20 new polytechnics and 26 new engineering institutes specialising in steelmaking,
mining and geology were created. By 1953, 63% of students were in engineering,
medicine and agriculture.
- Pinyin was introduced to improve communication across China.
- During the GLF, the min-pan schooling system was extended to secondary education.
- Mao promoted a ‘half work, half study’ curriculum that rejected traditional rote-
learning. New agricultural middle schools ran vocational courses, preparing peasants
for operating local rural industries and supporting modern agricultural techniques.
- By 1960 there was approximately one school per commune (around 30,000 schools)
with a total of 2.9 million students.
- As part of the Socialist Education Campaign, education was re-focused on Marxist-
Leninist theory and class struggle with Socialist heroes playing a central role in
school.
- ‘Barefoot doctors’ were trained for six months to provide healthcare in rural areas.
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