Training the Heavens

Chapter 333 University Reform
After the ceremony, Sun Yat-sen started working and used the West Flower Hall in the Governor-General's Office of Liangjiang as the "temporary president's office". The living room was a two-story building not far from the office that was once used for staff residence.

This was also done to put pressure on Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai of course did not agree. On the one hand, he ordered the Beiyang Army to attack the South and asked the Beiyang generals to send telegrams to express their opposition to the South. On the other hand, he pretended to be furious and said, "I am the Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty. How can I support a republic? You want me to bully orphans and widows and be cursed by the world for eternity? I will not do it!"

These methods were also a form of pressure. Because he had the most powerful Beiyang New Army in China under his control, his strength was stronger. Sun Yat-sen gradually fell behind in the struggle.

The North and the South were in great turmoil, but the work that needed to be done still had to be done. Because Zhang Xingjiu was unwilling to serve as the Minister of Education, the position was given to Cai Heqing. He quickly gathered people to discuss the reform of the education system, and A Zhang, who was a teacher in Shaoxing, was also called over to serve under him.

Zhang Xingjiu did not return to Shanghai. He discussed with Ma Xiangbo and others what kind of education system the Republic of China should implement under the title of consultant. Influenced by him, Ma Xiangbo did not accept the position of mayor of Jinling.

The old friends met again, and this happened when the Qing Dynasty was on the verge of collapse and the republican system had been established on the surface, so Zhang was very happy. He and Zhang Xingjiu had a few drinks, but they had a meeting the next day, so they couldn't enjoy themselves to the fullest.

The meeting officially began. Cai Heqing put forward the agenda of this meeting. First, we will discuss the new school system for general education, then discuss higher education, and then form a system and order all provinces to implement it accordingly. The former is what we will discuss today.

Cai Heqing has been engaged in the education industry for many years and has his own ideas on how to implement general education. He came up with his own plan and named it "Interim Management Measures for General Education", which is mainly aimed at primary education institutions such as primary schools, high primary schools, middle schools, and junior normal schools.

There are a total of fourteen methods, including that all previous schools should be renamed as schools; supervisors and hall heads should all be renamed as principals; primary schools can be co-educational; primary school reading courses should be abolished; all textbooks must conform to the principles of the Republic; and all textbooks issued by the Qing Ministry of Education are banned.

All textbooks in popular circulation should avoid any content that venerates the Qing Dynasty court and the old official and military systems. Bookstores should revise these on their own and submit samples to this ministry, the provincial Civil Affairs Bureau, and the Education Association for record. If school teachers encounter content in textbooks that is inconsistent with the principles of the Republic, they may delete or revise it at any time, point it out, and submit a petition to the Civil Affairs Bureau or the Education Association to notify the bookstore to make the corrections.

More emphasis should be placed on handicrafts in primary schools; the old system of rewarding students for their family background should be abolished; gymnastics courses in high primary schools and above should focus on military forms; arithmetic courses in elementary schools should also include abacus from the third year onwards, etc.

The participants were very enthusiastic in speaking and expressing their views. Zhang Xingjiu also put forward his own suggestions. The first was to unify the textbooks. If the textbooks of different provinces were different, how to conduct exam screening?
Taking into account the current conditions of transportation, communication, printing, etc., it is not realistic for the Ministry of Education to uniformly print and distribute textbooks. Even the conditions for compiling standard textbooks and allowing provinces to print them on their own are not available.

Therefore, at the beginning, we can only list the required knowledge points and let the provincial education departments compile textbooks based on these knowledge points. When the conditions are right in the future, the textbooks will be unified.

Cai Heqing accepted this. He knew that even if it was issued, the provinces might not necessarily comply, but it was better to have it than not. He also gave the task of organizing the knowledge points of mathematics, physics, and chemistry to Zhang Xingjiu. He had previously compiled many textbooks at Aurora University and was a world-renowned scholar. No one could say anything about letting him be responsible for this job.

Zhang Xingjiu accepted the task, which proved to be a relatively easy one for him. Besides his extensive experience compiling textbooks, he had also repeatedly experienced the entire learning process, from elementary school to university and even doctoral studies, and understood the most essential knowledge for students at the foundational level. Then came the discussion of higher education, for which Cai Heqing was equally prepared. He believed that universities should aim to teach advanced academic disciplines, cultivate talented individuals, and meet national needs. They should be divided into seven disciplines: liberal arts, science, law, business, medicine, agriculture, and engineering. Only universities could be called universities if they prioritized liberal arts and science, offered both, or combined liberal arts with law and business, or science with medicine, agriculture, and engineering.

The university has a three-year preparatory course that accepts high school graduates and those who have passed tests and have equivalent academic qualifications; it has a three- to four-year undergraduate course that accepts preparatory course graduates or those who have passed tests and have equivalent academic qualifications, and after graduation they are called bachelors; it has a graduate school with no set length of study that accepts graduates of all disciplines or those who have passed tests and have equivalent academic qualifications.

Zhang Xingjiu also has different opinions on this. First of all, undergraduate education alone is not enough. Technical colleges should also be added to cultivate professional talents. From a certain perspective, the Republic of China currently needs even more technical college talents.

The three-year preparatory course and the three-year or four-year undergraduate course are too long. It takes six or seven years just to study, which is equivalent to directly excluding students from poor families. Therefore, the preparatory course can be shortened to one year. Both undergraduate and junior college programs can adopt the credit system. If you complete enough credits, you can get a degree and a diploma.

Someone immediately raised an objection, believing that the current domestic educational foundation is weak, and only one year of preparatory courses is not enough to lay a solid foundation for these students to meet the standards for entering undergraduate studies.

After some debate, both sides compromised and the preparatory course would still last three years, but outstanding students could take the entrance examination one year later. If they passed the examination, they could enter undergraduate studies without having to study for the full three years.

There is not much objection to junior colleges, because there are already some normal colleges, mining schools, railway schools and other similar schools. These students are not yet qualified to go to undergraduate school and also need a placement.

Zhang Xingjiu knew that Yuan Shikai would soon replace Sun Yat-sen, and the things they discussed would probably be difficult to promote quickly across the country, but some work had to be done by someone, and as long as someone did it, it would play a certain role. If no plan was even made, how could the domestic education industry develop?

With these two documents, those who are passionate about education across the country will know what they should do. By managing schools and training students according to the above methods, they will be able to cultivate more talents for China that meet the needs of the times.

After the meeting, A Zhang continued to stay in Jinling to work, while Zhang Xingjiu and Ma Xiangbo returned to Shanghai to continue to preside over the daily management of Aurora University.

A few days after returning, Zhang Xingjiu went to the Medical School of Aurora University and found Wu Lien-teh, who was the dean there.

(End of this chapter)