educational reform Flashcards
state of education pre 1949
around 45% males and 2.2% received any schooling
Males 4 years, Females 3 years average of schooling
80% of education was illiterate
Classic education received didn’t include arithmetic and science
system remained elitist best schools in cities, charging fees and entrance exams to reduce access
how did communists reform literacy
by mid 1950s national system of primary education set up
1949 to 1957 no. of students rose from 26 million to 64 million
literacy rates 64% by 1964 (slowed down during CR to 70% by 1976)
winter schools provided to adult peasants which the party claimed 42 million attended in 1951-52
unis focused on producing scientists, doctors and technical expertise
new polytechnics and engineering institutes were set up
many were sent to Russia to train until Sino soviet split in 1959
failures of educational reform
no longer opportunity to study in the west
early progress would’ve been faster if govt spent more on primary education as it was only 6.4% of total budget 1952
spent less on Korean war
many elitist schools still lived on, children of govt officials were reserved places
standard of rural education low as teacher barley educated themselves
collapse of education after 1966
during CR many schools and universities closed
up to 130 million youth received no education
teachers were attacked for being part of the 4 olds (old culture as figure of authority) many were subsequently killed and books were destroyed
even after cultural revolution due to up to the mountains down to the villages campaign many didn’t receive schooling.
education undermined, and restoring belief in the system was hard. changed as greater focus on practical work and vocational training with less exam
and elitism remained as children of party members returned to their old lives in cities while other remained in poverty.
what new language did the ccp introduce
Pinyin in 1956
how did Pinyin improve education
as the Chinese language hard to learn due to use of ideograms and pronunciation which varied between region to region
Pinyin meant all sounds of mandarin were given a symbol making it more straightforward to learn and write so literacy spread faster and increased communication
