Education is the foundation of a country, and talents are the foundation of a strong country.
Education is equal to technology, and technology is equal to productivity.
A country that has never produced truly well-educated citizens cannot be called a great country; a country that cannot pass on the basic values of civil society to the next generation cannot be a good country; a country that does not put education as the highest priority status, no country can be strong.
After a hundred years of educational efforts, the beautiful country of later generations has grown from a colony attached to the United Kingdom into the world's number one military and economic power.
According to research on beautiful countries in later generations, half of their country’s economic strength comes from the contribution of education. Among the top 20 universities in the world, 17 are in beautiful countries. It is precisely because of the power of education that the beautiful country has an endless stream of talented people, achieving its absolute hegemony in military, economic and technological aspects, and China has also suffered greatly.
If compulsory education could be promoted in China in the early thirteenth century, China would have been ahead of the world for who knows how many years, and the world's civilization would have been infinitely promoted by the Song Dynasty.
How many scholars were there in the Song Dynasty?
In the Humble Administrator's Garden and the imperial study, Zhao Hong asked several ruling ministers the same question.
Of course, his purpose in asking this question is also to check and fill gaps in the implementation of compulsory education.
Seeing that several ruling ministers were confused, Zhao Hong continued to speak.
"In other words, in the entire Song Dynasty, how many children between the ages of 6 and 15 were studying?"
It is impossible for the descendants of officials and powerful people to have everyone be well-dressed and well-fed, and all of them have official positions. The children of ordinary people will not even have the opportunity to study.
If something is done too well, people will scold you. And he is thin-skinned and can't bear to be poked in the spine.
"Back to Your Majesty, I once knew that Tanzhou has 140,000 households. Adding up schools in all states, prefectures and counties, as well as local private schools, free schools, etc., there are about 7,000 scholars. The same is true for other places. It should be regarded as 10% Up and down. As for children aged 6-15, it is 10% of their peers."
Zhen Dexiu once served as the magistrate of Tanzhou and the official of the first government, so he had a lot of say.
"Tanzhou is a wealthy place, and there are more scholars. Less than 10% of the scholars who want to come to Song Dynasty come to me."
In terms of population ratio, in the Song Dynasty, the number of children aged 6-15 should be close to ten million, and the number of people studying in the Song Dynasty should be more than one million.
Among these more than one million people are children who dropped out of school after two or three years.
"Your Majesty, why are you asking these questions?"
Xue Ji was uneasy and asked softly.
According to the emperor's consistent performance of being civilized and vigorous, he wouldn't let people go to school, right?
If this is the case, it would be an anecdote for the ages!
Why?
It’s not the compulsory education that Zhao Hong has always had in mind.
Talent is the foundation of a strong country. We must let every child in the Song Dynasty go to school!
"I plan to implement compulsory education in the Song Dynasty so that all children can go to school for free, and no one will be exempted."
Zhao Hong made no secret of his ambitions and told them truthfully.
It takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. It is related to the centenary plan of the Song Dynasty and the hundreds of years of national destiny of the Central Plains Dynasty. No matter who becomes the emperor, he will have no shirking responsibility.
"Compulsory education? Free schooling?"
Xue Ji was confused and looked at each other with several other ruling ministers. Everyone waited for Zhao Hong's explanation.
"My lords, yes, it is compulsory education. I want to enlighten the people's wisdom, let more children go to school, and improve the quality of the whole people. Therefore, it is imperative for me to implement compulsory education!"
Zhao Hong's face was calm, but his tone was unquestionable.
Education is the foundation of the country. Therefore, he must continue to provide compulsory education.
"Your Majesty, I am stupid, can you explain more clearly what is compulsory education?"
Xue Ji understood something, but couldn't explain why.
Free schooling for everyone sounds great. However, the children of common people and the children of powerful people enjoy the favor of the court, which feels a bit strange and unnatural.
"My lords, it is said that it takes ten years to cultivate trees and a hundred years to cultivate people. Compulsory education is the foundation of our great power in the Song Dynasty. It has three points: compulsory, public welfare and universality. This is the characteristic and nature of compulsory education."
Zhao Hong's saliva flew everywhere and he kept talking.
The so-called public welfare is clearly stipulated in the laws of the Song Dynasty: no tuition fees or miscellaneous fees will be charged. Therefore, it is free of charge and does not charge a penny.
Zhao Hong adopted the same method as later generations, but implemented a six-year compulsory education system. The physical foreign language mathematics of later generations has a profound level and requires nine years of primary school, junior high school and high school study. And in this day and age, six years should be enough.
As for kindergarten, he doesn't encourage it. The nature of children is indelible, so let them have a good time before going to school.
As for uniformity, it means formulating unified standards for textbooks, teaching standards, funding standards, construction standards, public funding standards for students, etc. in the compulsory education stage. Various standards are reflected and guaranteed by laws in different forms.
Compulsory education is also called compulsory education and is also a major feature of compulsory education. It is the obligation of schools, parents and the entire society to allow children and teenagers aged 6-15 to receive compulsory education. Anyone who violates this obligation will be punished by law. If parents do not send students to school, the parents must bear legal responsibility; if the school does not accept school-age children or teenagers, the school must bear legal responsibility; if the court does not provide corresponding conditions, it must also be regulated by law.
"This is really..."
Xue Ji was greatly shocked and stopped talking.
Isn’t this giving the benefits of the second and third generation of officials and the second and third generation of power to the poor?
Several ruling ministers looked at Zhao Hong with their eyes straightened.
It sounds high-sounding, but why do you feel that one is favoring one over the other, and there is no distinction between high and low.
"My lords, the first step is for the court to formulate laws and protect them with laws to ensure the implementation of compulsory education. A basic principle of the new "Compulsory Education Law" is that children aged 6-15 must go to school. Otherwise, the court will force the family to fulfill its obligations."
While the ministers were in a daze, Zhao Hong put forward basic requirements for compulsory education.
"Your Majesty, how will the academic system and teaching materials be formulated?"
Zhen Dexiu reacted, and his tone was a little urgent without realizing it.
Children aged 6-15 must attend school!
His middle-aged heart was beating faster without realizing it.
All children go to school. This is a lasting achievement and a grand event that will leave its name in history. As for whether they were superior or inferior, he didn't care.
At this moment, he seemed like a "scholar" who cared about the country and the people, rather than an "official" who only wanted to be an official.
"Good question, Mr. Zhen. The schooling system is first set to six years, three years for elementary and three years for intermediate. These six years are compulsory education. The teaching materials are based on Jinling Academy and are passed down from easy to difficult. The teaching materials are from Jinling University. It was compiled with teachers and instructors from Jinling Martial Arts Hall. It should highlight practical learning and apply it to the world, such as mathematics, surveying and mapping, agriculture, astronomy, calendar, geography, water conservancy, etc."
The Imperial College of the Song Dynasty all had these subjects, and they are being taught at Jinling University. The basics can be divided into levels according to local conditions and taught to students at all levels.
Zhao Hong originally wanted to join in steel smelting, industrial manufacturing, etc., but eventually gave up.
These more advanced things are more suitable to be taught at Jinling University Hall, Jinling Martial Arts Hall, and Imperial College.
