A Study of College Student Admission during the Cultural Revolution in China : From a View-point of Combinining Education and Work

In China higher education reform during the Cultural Revolution seems to have been rapidly abandoned since its close in 1977. This paper, however, intends to re-examine student admission, the main issue of the reform and to analyze its merits and demerits from a view-point of the principle of "combining education and work" which was the basic idea of the reform as indicated in several of Mao's derectives. Historically, implementation of the principle of combining education and work, particularly in Yenan period, would entil three desirable effects, namely, moral value in the formation of ascetic attitude, expansion of educational opportunity, and contribution to the economic development. These effects presumably underlay Mao's personal commitment to the principle throughout his life and persuaded him to envisage the reform based upon it. The reformed admission system was connected with the principle in the following points. Firstly, the obligatory work experience between secondary education and higher facilitated the interaction of the "educational period" and the "work period" in the human life-cycle. And it helped to some extent to enhance young people's morale and motive to study as a successor of revolution. Secondly, "working" people were allowed to participate in the very central process of student selection which was a very important role in the sense that the selected would play a vital part in future development of their country. Thirdly, knowledge and skills not separated form "work" came to be highly regarded. On the other hand, there appeared in practice not a few problems which contradicted the historically observed effects through the implementation of the principle of combining education and work. For instance, it was rather defficult to transmit the revolutionary tradition of enduring difficulties to every youth who had grown up in relatively affluent circumstances. While the student quotas were alocated to the basic work unit, enterprise or commune, those in un-assingned units, regardless of their ability and eligibility, could not even try to gain access to higher education. Emphasis on practical knowledge and skills seemed to face the difficulty of making an appropriate contribution to the contemporary needs of economic development.Preface I. Basic Principle of the Reform II. Introduction of the New Admission System III. Merits and Demerits of Student Admission during the Cultural Revolution Conclusio