By RF MONIKA SINGH
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18 August, 2021
The Party School System of Communist Party of China
1. Introduction. The Party School System plays an important role in governance of China. The Party Schools serve as key institutions for training Party cadres, government officials, military officers and even business leaders. Besides the Central Party School in Beijing, the CPC maintains a network of around 3000 Party Schools [i] at provincial and sub -provincial levels. The primary role of these schools is to familiarize students with the guidelines and ideology of the Party. They also impart administrative and domain training to cadres, serve as thinks tanks for party and as interpreters of party policies to people. The system offers training programs in Marxist-Leninist ideology, party organization, administration, management, leadership, economics, history, international relations, philosophy etc.
2. Distribution of Work. The system distributes its training load between the national, provincial and sub -provincial branches of party schools with the Central Party School (CPS) at the apex in Beijing. The Central Party School trains national-level cadres from CPC and State Council at the rank of minister or vice-minister. They also train select provincial PLA and entrepreneurial cadres who are due for promotion to national roles. The Provincial Party Schools mainly train provincial and municipal department level cadres. There are about 34 provincial-level, 15 sub-provincial level, 360 city-level and 2,500 county-level Party Schools.[ii] The Sub-provincial Party Schools train county and municipal department and township department level cadres. Provincial and sub-provincial Party schools’ curricula are generally in congruence with that of the Central Party School. However, they have autonomy in structuring their own courses based on local needs. Each party school broadly divides its work between Administrative, Academic and Research Departments.
3. Training at Party Schools. Party school system is often the first undergraduate education many cadres receive and therefore is key to the growth of the cadres. Therefore, it provides training in administrative skills, as well as ideological indoctrination. The party schools offer three types of training. They are principal courses, distance education and degree courses like postgraduate and doctoral degrees. They charge a fee for the course usually paid by parent organisation. According to a 2006 CPC Directive, all cadres must have a minimum of three months training every five years. The party cadres also have a rank based promotion system and training at party schools are a prerequisite for promotion to higher ranks.
4. Central Party School (CPS). The CPS, situated in Beijing, was founded in 1933 as School of Marxist Communism. It is an important source of ideas and policies for Central Committee that sets the ideological template for the nationwide network of Party schools at lower levels. The CPS is headed by a member of the Politburo, who is often an important leader. Hu Jintao, Zeng Qinghong, Xi Jinping and Liu Yunshan have previously headed the CPS apart from Mao himself. Chen Xi, Head of CPC Organisation Department is the current President and He Yiting is the Vice-President of CPS. Chen Xi served with XJP during his tenure in Beijing.[iii]
5. Courses at CPS. The CPS runs a variety of courses throughout the year. Ministerial and Provincial leaders undergo specialized courses from week to year-long courses. Mayors and County Party Secretaries usually undergo training for four-and-a-half months. Cadres involved in ethnic work undergo six months to two years of training and young cadres at the central level prior to promotion to vice-ministerial or equivalent level have courses of varying durations. The CPS administration has 1,360 staff members and its faculty is recruited from universities throughout China. The selection of trainees is done by the Organization Department (OD) of the CPC. The CPC Central Committee has issued a work regulation for Party schools in 2019, highlighting the Party's leadership over the school work, as well as cultivating officials who are loyal have moral integrity and demonstrate a keen sense of responsibility.[iv] A Party representative from OD lives with the class throughout the year and he writes assessments of each member. All class members must live in a dormitory on the CPS campus and can only return home on weekends, even if they live in Beijing. There are guest lectures and field trips to domestic and foreign destinations as part of courses. One crucial benefit of the course is the immense networking of alumni much like elite institutions anywhere else giving access right up to the Central Committee general office and policy research office cutting across the normal CPC chains of communications.
6. Party Schools at Lower Levels. Provincial Party schools are under the provincial Party committee, while the provincial schools of administration are under the provincial government. Through Provincial Party school system, local cadres remain in touch with the central Party organization to keep abreast of ideology, recent policies etc. There is a variety of shorter courses for provincial and sub-provincial level cadres from the entrepreneurial and banking sector. County schools are also responsible for providing training sessions for cadres at township or town party schools. They often provide training for a week for village and party committee members which include interactions with cadres of the county’s organization department. Degrees taught at county and prefecture party schools include a wide range of subjects beyond the traditional syllabus to include finance, management, accountancy, IT, economics etc. They attract not only government cadres, but also students from many other backgrounds. There are other roles that CPS serves and there are schools for cadres, Communist Youth League and United Front which are linked to the Party.
7. Conclusion.Unlike other political parties in other countries, the CPC constitutes the selected ruling elite of China. Therefore, members of the CPC are carefully chosen ‘vanguards’ from various domains. The party derives its legitimacy to rule, based on its cadre’s performance. Therefore, the cadre requires constant training and evaluation both in ideology and governance. The Party School System undertakes this role of periodic, ideological training and links it to cadre’s promotion. The school system, thereby, plays a two-way role of interpreting CPC ideology and being a forum of feedback from trainees to upper echelons. This education, along with regular ‘study sessions’ right up to Politburo level fulfils need for institutionalized training for ruling elite. The network of Party Schools is therefore a unique feature of the CPC through which it ensures that it remains effective to govern China.
(The views expressed in the article are of the author and do not reflect official views.)
References:
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[i] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/inside-chinas-top-party-schools-plenty-of-communist-doctrine-on-tap/2019/07/15/17261a78-9f55-11e9-b27f-ed2942f73d70_story.html
[ii] https://www.chinadailyasia.com/special/cpc95anniv/2016 -06/28/content_15455973.html
[iii] https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/clm44cl.pdf
[iv] http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/03/c_138525796.htm