TNAG-0176-FCO40-212-Brief-on-communist-controlled-schools-for-Lord-Shepherd-s-vi-1969 — Page 71

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Annexure 'C'

Daily Activities of a secondary student

in a communist school (December 1968)

Heung To Middle School

The student arrived at the school at about 8 a.m. on a Monday morning and unpacked his books. The bell rang at 8.15 a.m. The first period was a morning reading lesson during which the first thirty minutes were used in reading Wen Wei Pao and discussing the daily news. The next ten minutes were spent in singing revolutionary songs; the bell rang again at 8.55 a.m.

2.

Following a recess of ten minutes the first scheduled lesson, Algebra, was held from 9.05 a.m. to 9.45 a.m. This followed the normal syllabus. After another recess of ten minutes during which the students changed into P.T. shorts and shoes a physical training lesson followed in the school's playground. It consisted of 15 minutes of straight exercises after which the class broke up into groups to train for athletics and gymnastic exercises.

3.

A recess period of ten minutes followed and the students cleaned themselves and changed back into trousers and shoes for the next two lessons which were "English" and "Physics".

4.

In the "English" lesson, which lasted from 10.45 a.m. to 11.25 a.m., an English translation of "The Red Lantern" was used as the text book. MAO's quotations were used also as reference and in explanation of points. After another brief recess, the "Physics" lesson was given in which the normal syllabus was followed.

5.

This was the last lesson of the morning and at 12.15 p.m. the school broke off for lunch until 2 p.m. Some of the students went home for lunch while others who had brought a packed lunch from home ate it inside the classroom or in the playground.

6.

School resumed at 2 p.m. and the two lessons in the afternoon session were both "Chinese Literature"; various works of MAO were used as text books and the normal syllabus was never followed.

7.

The afternoon session finished at 3.30 p.m. While most students left for home those who wished to were permitted to stay behind to study in the classrooms until 5 p.m. when the school was closed.

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