Educational Policy of the Party

It is the general direction and general guideline which are proposed by the CPC, for developing education in a certain historical period, which also provides an action plan for guiding the development of the whole educational work tasks. Educational Policy of the Party is often based on the requirements of different historical periods, such as revolution, construction or reform periods, its layout is designed by theorizing or summing up the practical experience of education in specific historical periods. In January 1934, Mao Zedong put forward the Party's educational policy for the first time at the Second All-China Soviet Congress. He pointed out: "What is the general policy of Soviet culture and education? It is to educate the broad masses in the spirit of communism, to subordinate education to the revolutionary war and the class struggle, to link labour with education. In the educational field the central tasks confronting the Soviets are the enforcement of compulsory education throughout the whole land, the development of social education on a wide scale, the rapid liquidation of illiteracy, So as to enable that the broad masses of Chinese people can to enjoy civilization and happiness”.

During the Anti-Japanese War (1936-1946) and the War of Liberation (1946-1949), Mao Zedong put forward a new policy of education in the revolutionary base areas in the light of new realities. He pointed out: “that the purpose of Chinese national culture and education should be the culture and education of New Democracy, the new culture and education of the Chinese nation. That is to say, China should establish its own new national, scientific and mass culture and education.” In 1956, with the socialist transformation of national capitalist private ownership of means of production basically completed, the socialist system was basically established in China. According to the new evaluation principal contradiction of China in this period and due to changes in the focus of Party central work, Mao Zedong timely put forward the socialist education policy of the country.

In February 1957, Mao Zedong pointed out in his article "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People”: “Our educational policy must enable everyone who receives an education to develop morally, intellectually and physically and become a worker with both socialist consciousness and culture.” In 1958, Mao Zedong once more made a speech on this issue: "Education must serve proletarian politics and be combined with productive labor." On September 19, 1958, in the same year, the Central Committee of the CPC and the State Council issued “the Directive Concerning the Educational Work”, which was officially adopted as the Party's educational policy. Later, this education policy was simplified as the socialist educational policy of "three educations and two haves” and “two musts". The Party's educational policy clearly defined the nature and function of the Party's educational undertaking, and elaborates the tasks, training goals and basic ways of education.

Among them, "education must serve the proletarian politics" is the high-level generalization of the nature and function of socialist education, and indicated the direction of socialist education; the cultivation of workers with both good education and socialist consciousness, fostering all-round development in morality, intelligence and physique profoundly revealed the function socialist education, and which also stipulated the training goals of it; and the policy of education" should be combined with productive labor", elaborated the fundamental way of training talents within socialist education and pointed to the development direction of development for all kinds of schools from all levels across the country.

This policy fully embodies the requirement that education should promote social development and that it should promote the requirement of all-round development of human beings, and pointed to the development direction of development for all kinds of schools from all levels across the country. On September 22, 1978, Deng Xiaoping pointed out in his speech at the National Conference on Education: “we should carry through to the end the policy put forward by Comrade Mao Zedong of fostering an all-round development in morality, intelligence and physique, and workers with both education and socialist consciousness, and carry it through to all aspects of the new society as a whole”.

On March 18, 1995, the Third Session of the Eighth National People's Congress adopted the “Education Law of the PRC”, which stipulated: “Education shall serve the construction of socialist modernization, be combined with production and labour and satisfy the needs of training constructors and successors with all round development of morality, intelligence and physique for the socialist cause”. In 2012, the 18th National Congress of the CPC gave a new formulation of the Party's educational policy: “We must give high priority to developing education, implement the Party's education policy to the letter, ensure that education serves socialist modernization and the people, take fostering integrity and promoting rounded development of people as the fundamental task of education, and train participants of and successors to the socialist cause who develop morally, intellectually, physically and aesthetically”. Mao Zedong's educational policy of "three educations, two haves" and "two musts" is the product of the Sinicization of the educational principles of Marxism and constitutes a scientific judgement in line with pattern of modern education. In 1978, Deng Xiaoping evaluated this policy and commented: "three educations, two haves " reflect the internal development law of education and "two musts" reflects the external development law of education.