Comment on the Directive Concerning the Rectification in Schools
(September 9, 1950)

To all Central Bureaus, Sub-Bureaus, and forward to all Municipal Party Committees and Provincial Party Committee Propaganda Departments:

Regarding the issue of rectification in schools, the directive issued by the Northeast Bureau on September 3[I] is correct. Please forward it to the Party committees of the schools under your jurisdiction for reference. Has there occurred in the rectification in your schools any undesirable phenomenon similar to that at the Shenyang Agricultural College? Please pay attention to this and report to the Central Committee.

Central Propaganda Department
September 9

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[I] Refers to the telegram sent by the Northeast Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on September 3, 1950, to all provincial and municipal Party committees and reported to the Central Committee, concerning the rectification situation at the Shenyang Agricultural College. It stated that at the Shenyang Agricultural College, there normally existed a lack of unity among leading cadres, and between Party-member cadres and non-Party personnel. During this rectification, the main Party-member cadres were all away on work assignments, and rectification was not first carried out within the Party and among the leading cadres. Instead, non-Party faculty and staff were mobilized to inspect the work, resulting in the masses rectifying the cadres and confrontations arising among the cadres, further increasing the disunity between the Party and the masses and among the cadres themselves. Due to the lack of leadership, the opinions raised were mostly limited to issues of lifestyle and work style, and the faculty and staff were not guided to raise opinions on the implementation of educational policies and the execution of the Party's educational policies. For this reason, the Northeast Bureau instructed that the rectification in specialized colleges and above should henceforth pay attention to the following issues: (1) The leadership must clearly understand that the main purpose of school rectification is to enable Party-member cadres to be good at uniting all teachers and students to correctly implement the educational policy and run the schools well. Therefore, the focus of rectification should be on the teaching policy and the implementation of the Party's educational policies in the schools, and experiences should be summarized. (2) Rectification should be limited to Party-member cadres holding administrative positions, primarily leading cadres. (3) During rectification, leading cadres may combine this with soliciting opinions from non-Party faculty and staff. When conditions are ripe, they may also be drawn in to participate in the inspection work, but they should not undergo rectification in the same manner as cadres; the main issue for them is ongoing unity and education. (4) Strictly prevent and correct any behavior during rectification that departs from principles and engages in personal prejudices and factional struggles.