Education: before 1949 Flashcards
What percentage of the population were educated?
45.2% of men and 2.2% of women.
What type of people gained an education?
The privileged population of China (landlords) - peasants did not receive an education.
What subjects were taught?
In higher education the humanity subjects were the most common - 59% of students enrolled in a full time degree programme studied law, politics or the liberal arts. Only 10% studied natural sciences, 11.5% engineering and 3% agriculture.
Arithmetic and science were not taught.
What were the teaching methods?
Rote learning.
What was Mao’s attitude towards traditional Chinese education?
Mao was unhappy about the inequality of educational opportunities. He felt that the education from ‘foreign style schools’ did not serve the needs of workers and peasants.
Mao did not like how the attitude of teachers ‘towards the peasants were very bad, far from being helpful to the peasants’.
What political motivation was there for reform?
Educational allowed the indoctrination of the communist regime to take place. Attributes such as self-sacrifice for the nation, obedience and discipline were instilled.
