This paper examines education in China from 1949 to 1979. Education plays a key role in Chinese society. The main goal of Chinese educational policy is to produce workers with both socialist consciousness and culture. The Chinese conception of education is very broad and includes the regular school system, work-study education, and informal mass education. The paper quotes significant points from the "Common Program," the first tentative constitution adopted in 1949. The educational achievements in China between 1949 and 1966 are then reviewed and assessed. In 1949 China declared war on illiteracy. Efforts were undertaken to make the Chinese written language easier to learn. Romanization was used as a tool to aid pronunciation of the Chinese characters. The written Chinese characters were also simplified by reducing the number of strokes. Nurseries, kindergartens, and primary and secondary school education were expanded. Vocational and specialized schools were opened. In 1949 there were 207 higher educational institutions. By the mid 1960s there were 400. On May 7, 1966, Mao issued the famous "Directive on Education" which has served as the basis for all subsequent revolutionary activities in education. The reforms and innovations which occurred between 1966 and 1976 are described. For example, the down-to-the-countryside program was launched in 1968 and continues to be one of the key policies of China. The dilemmas encountered during the Cultural Revolution decade are also examined. The paper concludes with a description of the contemporary revised educational approach, 1977-1979, and the national emphasis on the "Four Modernizations." (RM)

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