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Abstract
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The establishment of National High Schools was one of the special secondary education policies during the period of Anti-Japanese War. The significance of this policy was that it broke the regular rule “Local governments set up high schools, central government set up universities” since the late Qing Dynasty in China. By this policy, the high schools became crucial institutions which not only settled a great number of high school students and teachers, but also saved their lives during the wartime. Since the outbreak of Sino-Japanese War in the July of 1937, most of the China’s coastal areas were occupied by Japanese army within a few months. Thousands of Chinese refugees, escaping from the scourge of war or refusing under Japanese rule, followed the National Government to retreat from eastern provinces to western ones. In order to maintain social order and prepare for a full-scale resistance against Japanese, National government took many measures to solve refugee problems even lack of resources. The policy of establishing National High Schools was one of them in order to protect homeless high school students and teachers. By this way, schools became shelters for students to study continually. In addition, it contributed to save numerous intellectuals who had become one of the most important human resources for reconstructing the country after the war. This article aims to analyze the shift of focus in National High Schools throughout the Anti-Japanese War. In the study, it finds out that the government set up National High Schools in different reasons since 1939. The reason for establishing the high school at first was to provide shelters for high school students to continue their studies and to keep teachers’ lives and jobs. However, as the ever-changing situation under the war, the Ministry of Education has established National High Schools for other reasons under the effect of politics, military, and international situation. Since 1940, new high schools established under heavy political influences have become mainstream. That is to say, the Ministry of Education was not the key executive for nationalization of these high schools but was a passive coordinator.
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