Education
Before Mao
-Inherited low educational levels from Nationalists in 1949
-Only 30% of males and 1% of females over 7 could read a simple letter
-45.2% of males and 2.2% of females went to school
-Practical subjects such as science was not included
-Modern schools with western curriculum were few and located in wealthy
areas
-Rote learning (Through books and reading) was mainly used
Mao’s views on education
-Education was a priority because he was angered by the inequalities of
education
-He stated in 1927 that ‘In China, education has always been the exclusive
preserve of the landlords’
-He wanted to change the elitist system: 90% of peasants were
uneducated
-Needed education for economic progress (China needed technical
experts) and political reasons (Communist ideas could be spread more
quickly among the peasants)
Success/Failure
-New written language based on Latin alphabet was introduced
-1946-57: Increase in primary school children from 26 million to 64 million
-63% of students were in medicine, agriculture and engineering
-University enrolments almost quadrupled: From 117,000 to 441,000
-Approximately 30,000 schools, one per commune with a total of 2.9
million students
-Available schools simply did not meet the demand
-1958: Teaching was left to barely educated cadres
Before Mao
-Inherited low educational levels from Nationalists in 1949
-Only 30% of males and 1% of females over 7 could read a simple letter
-45.2% of males and 2.2% of females went to school
-Practical subjects such as science was not included
-Modern schools with western curriculum were few and located in wealthy
areas
-Rote learning (Through books and reading) was mainly used
Mao’s views on education
-Education was a priority because he was angered by the inequalities of
education
-He stated in 1927 that ‘In China, education has always been the exclusive
preserve of the landlords’
-He wanted to change the elitist system: 90% of peasants were
uneducated
-Needed education for economic progress (China needed technical
experts) and political reasons (Communist ideas could be spread more
quickly among the peasants)
Success/Failure
-New written language based on Latin alphabet was introduced
-1946-57: Increase in primary school children from 26 million to 64 million
-63% of students were in medicine, agriculture and engineering
-University enrolments almost quadrupled: From 117,000 to 441,000
-Approximately 30,000 schools, one per commune with a total of 2.9
million students
-Available schools simply did not meet the demand
-1958: Teaching was left to barely educated cadres
