中国是农业大国，乡村是中国社会的基础，若要促进乡村社会进步，提高整体国民的素质，必先推行乡村教育。民国以来乡村教育问题逐渐受到重视，乡村教育思潮和乡村教育运动蓬勃兴起，对此南京国民政府做出了积极的回应：召开第一次全国教育工作会议，通过多项关于乡村教育的提案；国民党三届三中全会通过《发展三民主义的乡村教育案》；成立农村复兴委员会，调查乡村经济，并关注乡村教育问题；鼓励民间乡村教育运动，邀请晏阳初、梁漱溟等乡村教育专家参加全国内政会议，指导乡村教育工作，并把乡村教育与乡村建设结合起来；支持乡村教育书籍和报刊的出版发行，注重研究乡村教育方面的理论与实际问题。在积极回应乡村教育思潮的同时，为了推动乡村教育的发展，南京国民政府在乡村小学教育、乡村女子教育、乡村私塾改良、乡村师范学校、乡村教师培养、乡村学校经费等方面制订了一系列的政策，各地方政府也纷纷出台了相应的法规、条例。有这些政策法规作保障，加上各级政府的努力，乡村教育得到一定程度的发展，乡村小学和学生数量不断增加，乡村女子教育在艰难中缓慢前行。创办乡村师范学校是这一时期比较富有特色的一项举措，为培养适合乡村学校的师资发挥了积极的作用。然而在发展乡村教育的过程中，传统与现代、理想与现实的冲突不可避免。中国乡村传统的教育机构是私塾，它在普及教育、传承文化知识方面有着非常重要的作用。但在学校兴起之后，私塾与学校在对生源的争夺上严重对立，加上有些地方官员采取简单取缔私塾的做法，致使私塾与学校之间的矛盾激化。由于私塾既存在塾师水平不高、教学方法单调、教学内容缺乏现代科学知识等缺陷，又具有弥补学校不足、接纳失学儿童的重大作用，因而政府对私塾采取了改良的态度。1937年6月，南京民国政府颁布《改良私塾章程》，成为改良私塾的纲领性文件，由此，私塾与学校不断走向融合。南京国民政府时期，人们对乡村教育的设计是比较完善的，对乡村教育寄予了厚望，但教师素质低下、经费短缺、失学率高等问题制约着乡村教育的发展。出现这些问题的原因，一是社会动荡不安，天灾人祸频仍，消耗了大量的社会财富，政府没有财力保障乡村教育的发展。二是农村经济破产，农民的基本生活难以保证，无力提供子女上学的学费。三是乡村民众传统观念的阻碍，加上乡村学校教育本身的缺陷，影响到乡民送子女进学堂的积极性。通过以上考察和研究，我们不难看出：南京国民政府在发展乡村教育方面是比较积极的，也采取了一些切实可行的措施，取得了一定的成效。但在当时的历史条件下，要想乡村教育得到令人满意的发展难度很大，落后性、脱离乡村社会实际、不平衡性成为这一时期乡村教育的突出特点。不过，与以前相比，只要有一点进步，就值得肯定。南京国民政府发展乡村教育的经验教训，既为我们今天发展教育提供了有益的借鉴，又树立了有力的警示。

China is a great agricultural Country. The countryside is the foundation of China’s society. If wanting to promote the progress of the country society, improve the general quality of the subjects, the country education must be carried out firstly. The problems of the country education had gradually been attached importance to. thoughts and movements of the country education had risen and flourished since national government founded, to which the national government made a positive response: having the first national educational work conference and passing many cases of the country education; passing the “Act of the country education of developing Three People’s Principle” at the third session of the third Kuomintang’s Congress; forming the reviving committee of the country, investigating the rural economy, and paying attention to the country education; encouraging the civil movement of the country education, inviting the experts on country education such as Yan yangchu and Liang shumin to attend the national interior conference, guiding the work of the country education, combining the country education and the country construction; sustaining the issue of the books and periodical publications of country education, paying attention to study the theories and practical problems on the country education.Nanking national government made active response to thoughts of the country education. Meanwhile, in order to advance the development of the country education, it constituted series of policies in several aspects such as the country elementary education, female education in the country, the innovation of the country private school, the country normal school, fostering the country teachers, the funds of the country school. Each local government came on relevant rules of law and statutes one after another. Based on the guarantee of the rules of law and the efforts of all levels governments, the country education developed to some extent. Country elementary schools and the amount of students increased continually, the female education in the country struggled its way in the difficulties. Founding the country normal schools is comparatively a characteristic measure in this period. It played an active part in bringing up teachers fitting to the country schools.However, during the course of developing the country education, the conflict of the tradition and the modernization as well as the ideal and the reality was unavoidable. The traditional education institution of the country in China was the private school, which played an important role in popularizing the education and transmitting the culture and knowledge. After the rising of schools, which opposed private schools severely on scrabbling for the origin of students, in addition, local officers took simple measures to clamp down private schools, which made the contradiction between them sharpen. Although the private school had drawbacks such as the low level of teachers, the monotonous teaching methods, the teaching content lack of modern scientific knowledge, it played an important part in fetching up the shorting of the school and receiving children unable to attend school. So national government took the reform attitude to private schools. Nanking national government enacted “the statue of reforming the private school” which became the guiding principle document in June, 1937. From then on, schools and private schools had mixed together gradually. During the Nanking national government period, people were full of wishes to the country education, and their design to it was perfect, but elements such as low quality of teachers, lack of funds as well as the high rate of being deprived of education restricted the development of it. There were three reasons for these problems. Firstly, quantities of social wealth were consumed in the social turbulence and the repeated natural and man-made disasters, national government had no enough finance to sustain the development of the country education. Secondly, rural economy bankrupted. The peasantry could not afford their children’s attending school, and their basic lives couldn’t be guaranteed. Thirdly, peasantry’s tradition ideas and drawbacks of the country education weakened the enthusiasm of peasantry to send their children to attend school.By the inspection and study above, we find that Nan king national government adopted comparable positive attitude in developing the country education, took some practical and feasible measures, and got some achievements. However, under the historical conditions of the time, it was very difficult for people to get satisfied achievements in developing the country education. The backward, breaking away from the reality of the country society and the imbalance were the outstanding characteristics of the country education this period. If there was a little advancement in the country education compared to the past, it was worth approving of. The experiences and lessons of Nanking national government in developing the country education not only can provide the beneficial using for reference for us to develop education, but also give us a strong caution.