| Not later than 1903, with the implementation of the “New Deal” in the late Qing Dynasty, the half day schools began to appear in Tianjin as a kind of new style school and developed increasingly. In the atmosphere of attaching great importance to education, the establishment of the half day schools were a valuable attempt for achieving universal education, solving the contradiction between the supply and demand of schools, and dealing with the problems that students had no time to study. It also took into account enlightening the people, improving the development of industries and maintaining the order of public security. Its sources of funding were diverse and the majority of its students were common people. Most teachers in such schools were volunteers and the courses pay more attention to the basic knowledge. As a beneficial attempt to promote the universal education, the half day schools played an important role in prompting the improvement of poor education and the education level of the rabble. |