On The Literacy Education Movement In The Period Of Nanjing National Government

At the beginning of its foundation, Nanjing National Government treated education as the fundament of the new country . The whole educational circles exhibited a new look , and the Literacy Education Movement, which had been hard from the late Qing Dynasty , then achieved a new development again . From 1929 to 1948 , this Literacy Campaign , which promoted by the National Government for nearly 20 years , developed to a systemic social project in which the government played a leading role and the basal literacy education was the kernel .It implicated abundant educational, political and social significance , which was not merely equal to simplex literacy education or generally "eliminate illiteracy " movement already . Analysing the Literacy Education Movement's immanent law and deep-seated reasons through its process of origin, occurrence , development and decline ,as well as the success and failure , the article discusses the leading place and role of Nanjing National Government to reveal its important historical and profound practical significance.In the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republican period, the Literacy Education Movement came into being during the transformation process from traditional moralization to modern social education. Compared with the enthusiasm and attention of the social force, the deficient effort of all previous governments failed to fulfil the movement. Since the New Culture Movement, the appeal of literacy education was raised again, some educator and educational fellowship even do some instructive experiment. Conforming to the historical trend of the times, Nanjing National Government started the whole literacy education program when it had achieved its formal unification. Publishing "Propaganda Scheme Outline of the Literacy Education Movement" in 1929 and "Implementing Scheme of Adult Continuation Education" in the next year, the National Government boosted the Literacy Education Movement all over the country, which was intending to be finished in 6 years. With the double effort of government and social force, the movement achieved such striking success that even attracted international attention, and became a remarkable item of the educational circle of that time. The movement, which was still developing insistently the early days of Anti-Japanese War, declined atthe later period of War, and broke off at the early period after war. Though the Ministry of Education claimed to promote the Literacy Education Movement until accomplishment in 1947, the campaign died a natural death with the social education, which got full paralysis in 1948 dued to the Economic collapse of the Kuomintang ruling region.The National Government constituted comprehensive policies and regulations, as well as complete matching measures during the process of the Literacy Education Movement, which took public schools as basic organization , public education museum as central organs , public library as "live education model". The two ways which school type and society type ran parallel, formed the pattern of Government-led and broad participation of social forces. On disposition, the movement that took experimental zone for the model to education, was gradually promoted from developed areas to undeveloped areas, from urban to rural areas;on the implementing ways, the movement, flexible and diversified, took suit measures to the local condition, continued to emerge.The Literacy Education Movement, to a certain extent, enhanced the national literacy rate and fostered civic self-government, independent capacity and national consciousness. It made public education press close to the people and "people-oriented" education concepts be identified with people. It's practice help to the methods exploration of transformation of rural society. However, owing to the magnitude of the task and the social environment, realistic conditions, as well as policies, measures errors of national government, "out illiteracy", the basic task of the Literacy Education Movement, could not be completed on schedule . The political, educational, social and other dimensions of goals and ideals that the national government laid in the movement were far from being achieved. Its success or failure on the issues in how to "broaden knowledge" to improve the national quality, and how to improve rural education in the transformation of rural social, provides us with a profound historical lesson.