Comrades: I am fully in favor of your undertaking.

Half work, half study; work-study program; not taking a single cent from the state; with elementary schools, middle schools, and universities all present, scattered across various mountain areas throughout the province, and a few on the plains. Such schools are indeed very good. The youth make up the majority of those enrolled, and there is also a portion of middle-aged cadres.

I hope that not only Jiangxi but every province will have such schools. Every province should send responsible comrades who are capable and knowledgeable to Jiangxi to conduct inspections, draw on their experience, and return to launch trial operations. Initially, the number of students should be small, then gradually increase, until reaching the scale of Jiangxi, which has as many as fifty thousand people.

Furthermore, Party, government, and mass (trade union, youth league, women’s federation) organs should also run schools, on a half-work, half-study basis. However, these would differ from the half-work, half-study schools of the Jiangxi type. In Jiangxi, the work is in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and similar fields, and the study is in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and similar subjects. Whereas the work in Party, government, and mass organs is the work of those organs, and the study is in such subjects as culture and science, current affairs, and Marxist-Leninist theory. Thus the two are different.

The central organs have already set up two schools. One is run by the Central Guard Regiment and has been operating for six or seven years. The soldiers and cadres, starting from basic literacy and elementary school, then progressed to middle school, and then to university. In 1960, they had already entered the university stage. They were very pleased and wrote me a letter. This letter can be printed for you to read. The other was established last year (1960) and is run by various Party organs in Zhongnanhai, also on a half-work, half-study basis. The work is the work of the organs, involving, quite simply, confidential personnel, life service personnel, reception personnel, medical personnel, security personnel, and others. The Guard Regiment is a military unit; they have guard duties, that is, standing sentry and patrolling—this is their work. They also undergo rigorous military training. These differ from the schools of the civilian organs.

In August 1961, for the third anniversary of the Jiangxi Communist Labor University, the organizers asked me to write a few words. This is a matter of great importance, and therefore I have written the above remarks for them.

Mao Zedong
July 30, 1961
Printed based on the manuscript.