Education in China

Angela Kappus
HONR 298 – Topic 5
Key Topics
 The history of
Education in post-
revolution China
 Comparing the
Structures of U.S
and Chinese
Education
 Why the heck do I
have to go there
again?: A
discussion on
Study Abroad in
China
 Chinese Education After
1949
 In 1949, only around 20% of children were
enrolled in Primary Education. By 1956,
still fewer than 50% of primary and
secondary aged children were in school.
 Higher education reforms started with the
introduction of the Soviet model. The first
National Higher Education conference was
held in 1950.
 1951 – The reforms increased. The CCP
works to reform the way Universities
teach.
 History con’t: The Soviet
Model
 Universities were
divided into three
types:
– Comprehensive,
combining the
sciences and
humanities
– Polytechnics, with
several applied
sciences in one
building
– Specialized
Colleges
 History con’t: Primary and
Secondary Education
 The push became adding more
Primary schools, especially in the
cities.
 Secondary schools were also split
into College Preperatory and
Technical
 Students were being trained to
match the needs of the economy
 Standards were created and
streamlined
History con’t: Problems with
the Soviet Model
 Many people still
remained illiterate
 Urban-Rural gap in
students going to
college remained just
as wide
 China still wasn’t
producing enough
trained people to run
the Western
technology they
wanted
 “Hundred Flowers” Movement
– 1956
 Objective became
universal Primary
schooling within 12
years, and the
elimination of illiteracy
within 7.
 Collectives now ran
village schools
 The first mandatory
trips to work in the
countryside began
 The first post 1949
Graduate Program
was established
 Anti-Rightist backlash
 Professors were included in the “anti-
rightist” movement
 Anyone who had critiziced the
Government during the previous
movement was ridiculed and some
lost their jobs
 Movement towards “walking on two
legs”, which officially split schools
between work-study and College
preperatory.
The Cultural Revolution -
1966
 Many students started
protesting against
administration
 Liu Shaoqui at first
worked to quell the
uprising, but Mao
stopped him, giving the
students implied
support
 Schools fell into control
of the Red Guards, the
PLA, or even the
peasants
 A large number of
young children were
educated due to
widespread commune
 Deng Xiaoping’s Reform -
1976
 A new focus on the “Four Modernizations”
- agriculture, industry, national defense,
and science and technology
 Remembering the “Four Cardinal
Principles” -
the socialist road, the people's democratic
dictatorship, the Chinese Communist Party
leadership, and Marxism-Leninism-Mao
Zedong thought
 A new focus on quality over quantity
 1985 – “Decision of the Reform of the
Education System”
The Structure Today
 Education is required for
everyone for 6 years of
Primary and 3 years of
lower secondary school.
 You must pass an exam to
get into Senior Middle
school. Otherwise, you go
to vocational school.
 Curriculums include
Chinese, mathematics,
physics, chemistry,
biology, geology, English,
history, geography,
politics, music, fine arts
and physical education
 College Entrance Exams
 A national exam, usually
taking place in June, that
affects nearly eight
million people.
 It consists of compulsory
papers in Chinese,
mathematics and a
foreign language (usually
English). A selection from
the six optional subjects -
physics, chemistry,
biology, history,
geography and political
economy will also be
included.
 These exams are
psychologically intense,
with many students
committing suicide.
 Chinese Universities
 By the end of 2004,
China had 2,236
colleges and
universities, with over
20 million students
enrolled.
 Top Universities
include Peking
University, Fudan
University, Nanjing
University, Tsinghua
University, Shanghai
Jiao Tong University
 However, many
Chinese Students still
go to the United
States to study
 Resources
 Surowski, David B. History of the Educational System of
China.
http://www.math.ksu.edu/~dbski/publication/history.html

 Pepper, Suzann. Radicalism and Education Reform in 20th-

Century China: The Search for an Ideal Development Model.
Cambridge University Press, 2000.

 The BBC and The Open University. Chinese School.

http://www.open2.net/chineseschool/china_overview.html

 Landsberger, Stefan. Stefan Landsberger’s Chinese

Propaganda Poster Pages.
http://www.iisg.nl/landsberger/index.html

 Chinasmack.com. Buried under Textbooks Preparing for

Entrance Exam.
http://www.chinasmack.com/pictures/buried-under-
textbooks-preparing-for-entrance-exam/