Comments on Lu Dingyi’s Speech Draft [1 “Teaching Must Be Reformed”] Delivered at the National People’s Congress (April 7, 1960) To Comrade Lu Dingyi: Read and approved; very good. Mao Zedong April 7 Based on the manuscript for publication. Notes [1] This speech draft, submitted by Lu Dingyi—alternate member of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, head of the Central Cultural and Educational Leading Group, and Vice Premier of the State Council—to Mao Zedong for review on April 4, 1960, pointed out that, starting now, we intend to carry out large-scale trials to appropriately shorten the duration, raise the academic standard, control instructional hours, and increase labor components in full-time primary and secondary education. We plan to implement the reform of the full-time primary and secondary school system gradually, in stages and batches, over a period of ten to twenty years. We can already set the following goals: during the Second Five-Year Plan, basically eradicate illiteracy among young and middle-aged workers and peasants and universalize primary education among school-age children; and during the Third Five-Year Plan, adopt a two-pronged approach to essentially universalize junior secondary education, while vigorously developing senior secondary, secondary specialized, and higher education, establishing a number of accelerated institutions of higher learning, expanding part-time education at all levels and of various types, and training a contingent of scientific and technological personnel who are both politically reliable and professionally competent, as well as a cadre of Marxist–Leninist theoreticians, for the country. To accomplish this task, it is imperative to carry out educational reform. Since 1958, we have conducted experiments across the country

to reform the school system, the curricula of primary and secondary schools, and teaching methods, which have demonstrated that educational reform is indeed feasible. At present, provinces and municipalities are making concrete arrangements in light of their respective conditions and undertaking larger-scale trials of educational reform. Education and teaching must be closely integrated with productive labor. The primary purpose of involving teachers and students in labor is to transform their thinking, to overcome the separation between education and productive labor and the disconnect between education and practical reality, and to improve relations between the intelligentsia and the working class and peasantry. This is a major political and ideological undertaking that must be resolutely carried out. Our preliminary conception of the new school system is to reduce the total length of full-time primary and secondary education to about ten years, while raising the academic standard to the level of the current first year of university. Of course, mere experimentation is not enough for educational reform; we must also prepare both material and ideological conditions. The material conditions include: first, raising the professional level of teachers, which requires corresponding reforms in teacher training and careful organization of continuing education for existing teachers; second, gradually converting the existing “two-shift” schools into full-time schools in successive batches, and then further transforming them into boarding schools—this will necessitate substantial infrastructure development; third, ensuring the adequate provision of kindergartens and nurseries, which calls for a major expansion of preschool teacher-training institutions and schools for training nursery nurses; fourth, adopting new educational tools such as audio tapes and overhead projectors, and fully equipping schools with necessary instruments, models, and other modern teaching aids; and fifth, securing an ample supply of paper. The ideological conditions consist primarily in a thorough critique of bourgeois pedagogy and the development of a communist theory of education. We must oppose the servile attitude of bowing down before bourgeois pedagogy, advocate dispelling superstitions, liberating thought, encouraging bold thinking, outspokenness, and decisive action, fully mobilizing the masses, and adopting a thoroughly experimental, communist style in all our work. On April 9, 1960, Lu Dingyi delivered a plenary address at the Second Session of the Second National People’s Congress based on this submission for review. The next day, the People’s Daily published his speech in its entirety.