The educational programs of the Great Leap Forward (GLF) represented the first organized attempt by the Chinese government to restructure and align the educational system with the national economy. The educational policies of the GLF ultimately foundered because of patterned inertia within the educational system.(Author)

Noting that, as a developing socialist society, China requires an educational system which develops in the individual both political loyalty and technical skill, the author surveys China's efforts, from 1949 to the present, to implement these two potentially conflicting educational objectives. (SJL)