Page "Cultural Revolution" Paragraph 79

The ten years of the Cultural Revolution brought China's education system to a virtual halt.

The university entrance exams were cancelled after 1966, and were not restored until 1977 under Deng Xiaoping.

Many intellectuals were sent to rural labour camps, and many of those who survived left China shortly after the revolution ended.

Many survivors and observers suggest that almost anyone with skills over that of the average person was made the target of political “ struggle ” in some way.

According to most Western observers as well as followers of Deng Xiaoping, this led to almost an entire generation of inadequately educated individuals.

The impact of the Cultural Revolution on popular education varied among regions, and formal measurements of literacy did not resume until the 1980s.

Some counties in Zhanjiang had illiteracy rates as high as 41 % some 20 years after the revolution.

The leaders of China at the time denied any illiteracy problems from the start.

This effect was amplified by the elimination of qualified teachers — many of the districts were forced to rely upon chosen students to re-educate the next generation.