THEME 4 - Education and Health Flashcards
Summarise Mao’s beliefs about education and health provision
Mao believed learning should be through experience rather than the old traditional schools in China. However, he needed a higher literacy rate to benefit the economy and society.
Health needed improvements as well to provide a healthy workforce for a productive economy.
What evidence is there that literacy rates improved under the CCP?
Literacy rate rose from 20% in 1949 to 50% in 1960 to 64% in 1964.
- This was due to a national system of primary education set up by the communist government.
. What evidence is there to suggest the growth of literacy rates was limited?
The war in korea in 1950 drained much of the budget that could have been spent on better education.
There also still remained a divide in class in schooling as “key schools” would have better teachers and were available only to the elite classes.
How did the focus of education change after 1949?
The focus on science and engineering subjects showed China’s new drive for technological advancements.
How were China and the USSR linked through education?
Due to the sino-soviet pact in 1950, many chinese students could go to schools in the USSR for better education. These schools were much better than those in China at the time.
What is Pinyin and why was it introduced?
A modernised form of phonetic Mandarin. It was adopted in 1956 to help spread the literacy as it was much simpler to learn than actual Mandarin.
Why was Pinyin a positive change in China?
Pinyin gave all the sounds of Mandarin a particular symbol which meant it was much more straightforward to learn and write.
It enabled those illiterate to learn the language much easier.
. What evidence is there to suggest the education system collapsed during the Cultural Revolution?
Schools were closed during the cultural revolution so up to 130 million young people missed their education. Even after the radical parts of the CR were over, the students were thrust off to the countryside and still had no education.
When schools eventually reopened, students found it hard to fit back into school life. Also, many teachers had been denounced during the CR so there was a lack of staff.
Did Zhou manage to rebuild the education system by 1976?
As part of Zhou Enlai’s four modernisations, he made strides in rebuilding education. However, this was a slow process.
Instead, Zhou focused on more vocational studies.
Who were the barefoot doctors and when were they utilised?
One million trainee doctors were sent to the countryside to provide basic medical hope after the end of the CR.
They were usually trained for 6 months before being dispatched to provide healthcare.
Why were the barefoot doctors created on medical grounds?
To prevent the spread of common diseases such as typhoid, cholera. malaria e.t.c.)
Why were the barefoot doctors created on ideological grounds?
Hope to show young medical students the conditions of the countryside so they would not steep into bourgeois culture
Why were the barefoot doctors created on economic grounds?
it was cheap healthcare
How successful was the barefoot doctors scheme?
The scheme was successful both health-wise and through ideology. The new health provisions was welcomed by the peasants who wanted cheap, readily availalble healthcare. It was a step to health care being a universal right.
What evidence is there of success in health-care reform?
Propaganda to explain the importance of hygiene. Motivated campaigns such as “four pests”
Death rate from waterborne diseases dropped as told to dig well deeper to avoid. “night soil” was discouraged (using human poo as fertiliser)
