Empire Rising: Spain - Chapter 233 - 160: Education Reform (Part 3)

Reporting the current status and plans of the Ministry of Education to Carlo was a decision made by the Minister of Education, Gerard Wilson, after much consideration.

Gerard Wilson is actually a member of the Liberal Party. It was due to his extensive experience in education, combined with some ideas on educational reform, that he gained the favor of Prime Minister Prim, and thus became the Minister of Education under Prime Minister Prim’s cabinet.

Originally, Gerard Wilson only intended to focus on educational reform within the Ministry of Education, but upon learning that a significant portion of the ministry’s high budget was attributed to Carlo’s requests, he realized he could not remain indifferent.

After all, Carlo is the King of Spain, and even Prime Minister Prim must maintain enough respect, let alone a newly promoted Minister of Education.

“Your Majesty.” When seeking an audience with Carlo, Gerard Wilson lowered his stance considerably, showing no airs of a cabinet member.

“Minister Gerard, I am pleased to see you become the Minister of Education. I believe that under your leadership, the education department will achieve greater accomplishments,” Carlo nodded plainly, gesturing for Gerard Wilson to take a seat on the sofa nearby.

The previous Minister of Education was not reappointed in the second cabinet government, primarily because he had no outstanding achievements in education.

That Gerard Wilson, an advocate for educational reform who is not from the Progressive Party, could become a cabinet minister also demonstrates Prime Minister Prim’s emphasis on educational reform.

In essence, the existing educational system in Spain is too outdated and is evidently not keeping up with the new educational approaches of the European Powers.

Some countries have already started implementing universal education, yet Spain has not even fully reduced its illiteracy rate, which is why Prime Minister Prim is anxious.

“Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty. I will certainly address the shortcomings of the previous government’s education department and create a better educational environment for all Spaniards, changing the state of education in Spain,” Gerard Wilson did not indulge in excessive humility, as sometimes humility is not the best option.

Carlo nodded, beginning his inquiry: “Minister Gerard, does the education department have any new thoughts on the direction and priorities of future educational reform?”

Upon hearing Carlo’s question, Gerard Wilson did not rush to answer but instead thought carefully for a moment. After organizing his thoughts in his mind, he respectfully replied, “Your Majesty, I believe it is very necessary for Spain to undertake educational reform.

I have spent some time studying in Germany, where the importance they place on education is unparalleled by any other country. Germany’s formal laws on compulsory education date back to the Rural Education Code enacted by the Kingdom of Prussia in 1763, but their efforts in universal education began even a century earlier.

I believe that one of the main reasons Germans were able to defeat Austrians and French successively, aside from their powerful military and advanced military technology, is their early promotion of universal education.

The illiteracy rate across the German Region is the lowest in the entire European Region, illustrating the German emphasis on education.

Therefore, I feel that in Spain’s development, education is an absolutely indispensable component. Even if we cannot establish a compulsory education system like Germany’s, we must introduce policies to alleviate the burden of education on the populace.

Only as more of the population becomes educated can we cultivate more talent. The enhancement brought by talent to the nation and society is evident, and the talent developed through education will make the country increasingly powerful, which cannot be matched by attracting talent from abroad.

This aligns with the direction of Spain’s educational reform. I believe the primary goal should focus on basic education and technical education.

In terms of basic education, I believe we should universally implement basic compulsory education across the nation, ensuring that all Spaniards can receive about 2 years of basic education, thereby fundamentally reducing Spain’s illiteracy rate.

The approximately 2-year period of basic education is just temporary. Once the government’s budget is sufficient in the future, I believe we should extend the basic education period to cover the entire primary school stage, around 6 years.

Only by ensuring that all Spaniards complete about six years of primary education can our educational reform be considered a preliminary success, with tangible achievements from the reform becoming apparent.

Next is the area of technical education, which primarily targets our adult population, with the aim of cultivating a sufficient number of technical talents for Spain.

Developing a talent from infancy takes a long time, but our country presently lacks a significant number of technical talents.

To address this issue, I believe it is necessary to build more technical schools to aid in the technical training of ordinary workers, helping them grow into technical workers.

This approach will not only fill the gap in our technical talent but also effectively increase the wages and income of these individuals.

To solve the shortage of advanced technical talents, I think we can also implement a dual-track education system to cultivate our excellent technical talents from a young age.

The idea of the dual-track education system is as follows:

One conventional track allows students to complete regular education from primary to secondary school, high school, and eventually university, producing university graduates who are the advanced talents we lack.

The other track allows students to choose basic technical education and advanced technical education after completing basic or primary education, ultimately cultivating the advanced technical talents we need.

To provide more pathways for these technical talents, those engaged in basic and advanced technical education can also take exams to enter high school or university, eventually returning to the first track of the education system.

Your Majesty, this is the direction I have envisioned for Spain’s educational reform, as well as some key points for the future of Spain’s educational reform,” Gerard Wilson respectfully yet confidently outlined his goals and plans for educational reform to Carlo.