TABLE 3.-Program of studies for the 6-year elementary school

The establishment of secondary schools in China began a little over 80 years ago in the third quarter of the nineteenth century. After the abolition of the old examination system and the introduction of a new educational system toward the end of the century, public secondary schools rose rapidly in different provinces. Many of the old academies of different prefectures and districts were turned into secondary or middle schools. In 1932, the National Government promulgated the Law on Middle Schools. The regulations for each class of secondary schools were issued by the Ministry of Education in 1933, and there have been several revisions since then.

The term "middle school" includes both junior and senior grades. When established singly, the school is called the junior or senior middle

school, according to its standing; when established together, it is simply called the middle school. There are chiefly two kinds of middle schools, public and private; the former may be provincial, municipal, or district. Generally, public middle schools are mostly provincial. Private middle schools are established and provided for by private corporations or individuals. The middle schools established by foreign missionary and religious organizations are classified as private. According to the regulations of the Ministry of Education, the provincial commissioners of education and bureaus of education in municipalities exercise control on the management of private middle schools. On the mainland, as a whole, Chinese secondary schools were permitted to develop in areas which were best able to support them without consideration of geographic location. Nevertheless, since the wealthy trade centers of China were largely started on the coastal areas and along the navigable water routes, these areas quickly developed secondary schools, whereas the inland areas or provinces which lacked communications were not as successful in building secondary schools in large numbers. Taiwan has had similar difficulty for the same reason, but the Ministry of Education has attempted with some success to remedy the situation. The policy has been to divide the provinces into secondary school districts based upon such criteria as population, transportation facilities, and financial resources, including local cultural factors.

The entrance requirement for the junior middle school is graduation from the elementary school. Graduation from the junior middle

school is in turn an entrance requirement for the senior middle school. The senior and the junior middle schools cover a period of 3 years each. The course of study in the junior middle school includes civics, Chinese, English language, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, hygiene, drawing, music, manual work, physical education, and scout work. The course of study in the senior middle school includes civics, Chinese, English language, Chinese history, foreign geography, logic, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, physical education, military training, for girls military first aid, drawing, and music.

The weekly schedules of instruction of the junior and the senior middle schools have been modified and revised following the revisions of the regulations. All subjects of the senior and the junior middle schools are regularized by the Ministry of Education, and there is a standard for each subject to which all teachers must conform. The standardization of the subjects of teaching is the result of a process of gradual growth, beginning with the prescription of the essentials of instruction for every subject of the middle school in the years before the Republic and has continued ever since. Secondary education of the 6-year system is considered as a preparation for career and higher education.

In the recent years, some Chinese educators have been of the opinion that the system requiring 3 years of junior and 3 years of senior middle school should be replaced with a system allotting 4 years to junior middle school and 2 years to senior middle school. The curriculum of the first 4 years would be devoted exclusively to general

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In the "pilot" community school at Chutung, students engage in seminars and debates on the subjects under study. Previously, the lecture method was utilized throughout all schools, with little active participation by students in classrooms.

training and the next 2 years would offer more specialized subjects. These last 2 years would be divided into 2 groups: one for liberal arts and the other for science which would depend on both the aptitude and the needs of individual students. This plan has been tried out on an experimental basis since August 1950, when the middle school attached to the Taiwan Provincial Teachers College and the Provincial Chiagi Girls' Middle School were asked by the Ministry of Education to conduct this experiment.

The Program of Studies in the Middle or Secondary Schools

As stated, the program of studies in the secondary school has undergone several revisions in recent years. The latest revision was made in March 1947 when the Ministry of Education adopted a standard curriculum for secondary schools. The scope and the aim of each subject were defined as follows:

Chinese. The teacher should guide the students to express their ideas succinctly in the Chinese language, at the same time, urging them to do extensive reading and creative writing to develop their reasoning power and ability of appreciation.

English. The number of English words a middle school student is expected to learn should be reduced from 7,000 to 6,000. For practical purposes, a student with a vocabulary of 5,000 to 6,000 English words could do well in class.

Mathematics. A practical application, such as the drawing of designs, should be stressed in the teaching of geometry in junior middle school. Analytic geometry and algebra for senior middle school students should be simplified, the last semester in middle school being devoted to general review of mathematics.

Physics and Chemistry.-Both teaching and laboratory exercises should be emphasized in these 2 subjects.

Biology and Natural Sciences.-Knowledge of animals, plants, and minerals in their natural environment should be taught and the value of observation and research should be stressed. Obsolete material used in former texts should be eliminated.

Physiology and Hygiene.-The aim here is to impart to the student a practical knowldege of the human body and mind. Information on nutrition and mental hygiene should be included in the text.

History, Geography, and Civics.-A working knowledge of history, economics, government, and the law should be the objective of these courses. Manual work.-The aim is to help the students acquire some useful skill and to increase their productive ability.

It would be interesting to compare the changes in the programs of studies in the junior and senior middle school which are in operation today in Taiwan with those which were in effect on the China mainland since 1922. The following tables will be useful for this comparison: