The Recommendation of their Fellows

The principle of self-reliance at Hsien Chiao commune was practised not only in production but in education and health services. We visited a primary school which served one of the 18 production brigades of the commune. One third of the school's teachers were recruited from the production brigade on the recommendation of their fellow workers, and were trained by the Education Bureau of the local 'suburb' of Canton municipality.

This meant that an important link was maintained between the requirements of the production brigade and the children's education. Students also spent half a day a week working on the commune. We noticed a blackboard with the slogan "Education must serve proletarian politics and be combined with productive labour".