I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 107 Uncle Zhang felt no pressure

The minimum requirement of 500 mu of land for school construction is agreed upon by Pengcheng City, and a certain amount of cross-district enrollment is permitted for the "Super Hope Primary School" project.

After all, according to the framework plan brought by Zhang Zhengdong, this is a super boarding primary school.

With a population of 60,000 in Chenzhuang Town, it is theoretically possible to fill this school, but that is only theoretical.

The actual situation is much more complicated. If the child's parents are farmers in the local area, then there is no need for the child to attend a boarding primary school; a village school can suffice.

If the child's parents are working away from home, then you can give it a try.

However, this is just a simple assumption and cannot be regarded as a fact. If the child is not in front of them, 99% of parents will not be at ease and may not be able to accept it. Therefore, this matter of personal wishes must be taken into account.

Therefore, priority should be given to matching based on individual wishes and the distance from the home address of the child receiving compulsory education.

At the same time, the cost of boarding school accommodation will not be low.

The building area alone must be quite astonishing, and large communal sleeping areas are not an option, since the children are too young; if one child gets up at night to urinate, dozens of children might not be able to sleep.

The gender of the person accompanying the student in the dormitory must be strictly considered, as must their professional skills. You can't just assume things; otherwise, if something goes wrong, it won't just be a matter for one or two people.

Based on the full scale of the completed project, the catering expenses for one academic year would exceed one million yuan. Even with government subsidies, this is still unaffordable for Fengyi County, and not only Fengyi County, but also Pengcheng City.

If this is done every year, the municipal and county education bureaus won't have anything to live on.

Considering both the one-time investment and subsequent long-term investments, without corresponding revenue to offset the costs, given Pengcheng's current financial capacity, undertaking such a "vanity project" is a pure waste of resources.

Now, "Zhang'an Education" is responding to the call of the Youth Development Foundation of Jiangkou Province and, with the assistance of multiple units such as Wudu City, Shazhou City, and Pengcheng City, is funding the education of children in some impoverished counties and townships of Pengcheng City. It's impossible to say that they would refuse, but the scale is a bit large, which makes people feel uneasy and afraid.

"The provincial youth development foundation has mature design plans for the school's hardware facilities, but they are just standard primary school building designs. One of the key focuses of the 'Super Primary School Project Development Department' established at 'Zhang'an Education' is to introduce modern educational concepts, not only improving the hardware but also the software. In terms of teaching models and pacing, we will appropriately learn from Xindongweigang Middle School..."

After Uncle Zhang finished eating the dog meat from Fengyi County, he held a meeting with colleagues from various departments. He was quite meticulous in his work, but something just felt off about his demeanor.

"Xindongweigang Middle School, I don't know if the locals have heard of it? If not, that's okay. Let me briefly introduce it. Last year, the undergraduate admission rate was 100%, and one class also achieved a 100% admission rate to top-tier universities. It's a top-performing school in the province for college entrance exams, and the top scorers in the college entrance exams for two consecutive years have come from this school. So please rest assured about its learning experience, teaching experience, and instructional experience; its level is beyond doubt..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

What they said was absolutely right, but the people at the Pengcheng City Education Bureau were thinking, what kind of bullshit was this, a top scorer in the college entrance examination for two consecutive years? Wasn't that just one person?
The people from the Youth Development Foundation were even more speechless. They knew a little more: the so-called top scorer in the college entrance examination for two consecutive years was not only the same person, but also Zhang Zhengdong's nephew.

To be able to say this so calmly and without batting an eye in front of the comrades in Fengyi County shows a considerable level of shamelessness.

However, the people of Fengyi County were quite happy. They already knew that it was the donation from two top scorers, and now that they heard the confirmation from the supervising leader, that was wonderful!

"In addition to the investment in building construction, we will invest an extra 10 million yuan in teaching hardware facilities to establish learning content beyond academic subjects..."

"During the project construction, the school subcontracted the work and recruited workers from the surrounding student population areas, with the school as the center. Parents of students who need employment were given priority, and there would be additional training in construction-related skills..."

"Those with a junior high school education or above can apply for engineering equipment operation skills training, which includes engineering vehicles such as forklifts, loaders, excavators, etc. The training location is in the Chengdong District of Jiangning City, the provincial capital, at the eastern end of Xianlin Avenue..."

"In terms of fund management, there will be multi-party supervision, with the participation of the provincial youth development foundation's superior leadership unit, and the audit will be conducted by the provincial state-owned accounting firm and..."

After eating local dog meat from Fengyi County, Uncle Zhang seemed to regain his intelligence, speaking clearly and fluently, making everyone at the meeting feel like he was a completely different person.

"We'll address any specific questions one by one, starting with student recruitment. We'll also answer questions about construction and recruitment later. If you have any questions, feel free to ask now. We'll quickly go through them and try to finalize the general direction and framework this month so we can start going to the countryside to promote the message during the Spring Festival. Before that, we'll conduct intensive training for a group of rural promoters who can clearly explain the message."

In fact, Uncle Zhang didn't have the air of a leader. He used to attend meetings at the Shazhou City Education Bureau, but he was just a nobody there, a nobody for a long time, with no right to bark like a dog.

Today, he is making great strides and doesn't have the smug look of a petty person. His innate kindness, stemming from his "earth dog" constitution, hasn't put any pressure on the comrades in Pengcheng City.

The main reason is that dog meat is just too delicious!
Uncle Zhang is quite capable of learning; otherwise, his nephew wouldn't have forced him to learn a foreign language, and he actually managed to learn a couple of foreign phrases.

Before the meeting, Zhang Da'an told his uncle that the Q&A session should be paced and the content should not be mixed up. Each session should last one hour, followed by a ten- to twenty-minute break, before starting the second Q&A session.

Without collusion, there will be no division of power. Even if some villains want to scheme, they cannot make exceptions under these circumstances. That would be tantamount to provoking trouble and challenging the authority of multiple departments.

So Uncle Zhang finalized the agenda for the meeting in advance, and no one thought there was anything wrong with it. In fact, everyone was cautious, bold, and meticulous.

Especially since Zhang Zhengdong had repeatedly mentioned "ten million" and "other funds" when it came to funding, no one could resist listening closely.

People who are hard of hearing won't come here.

"Director Zhang, what is the expected total enrollment size?"

"One to two thousand will directly solve the problem of schooling difficulties for school-age children in twenty to fifty villages."

"After enrollment, how will the teaching staff be allocated? Because many village schools only have grades one, two, and three, the number of teachers ranges from two or three to five or six. Management is still mainly handled by the local township. In the future, will there be a clear division of authority and responsibility among the local townships regarding enrollment?"

"In terms of enrollment, the plan is based on two classes per full teaching team. Local substitute and regular teachers will all undergo retraining and be assigned to different grade levels based on their teaching abilities. One of the mandatory requirements is that they must teach in Mandarin. Therefore, those who do not meet the standard will no longer be engaged in front-line teaching and will instead teach daily life-related subjects, because the local dialect has a greater advantage outside of academic subjects. Therefore, in the process of ensuring enrollment, the original teacher-student relationship and local ties in the village school will not be directly broken; they will still be preserved, just in a different form..."

After explaining, Zhang Zhengdong picked up a water glass to moisten his lips and continued, "The construction of this 'Zhang An Hope Primary School' project is led by the provincial Youth Development Foundation, with the cooperation of multiple departments. Therefore, delegating management authority to the townships is not enough. Pengcheng City will establish a relevant management team, with Fengyi County providing assistance. The local townships will also play a role in ensuring and supervising its operation."

Simply put, this super elementary school is like an emperor to the gods, only the magistrate of Fengyi County can give it a few pointers, and even the second master has to step aside.

But this is just a suggestion; don't have any other ideas.

Once a line is drawn, things become simple; at least for the local towns and villages, they certainly won't have to take the blame. Of course, providing support is irrelevant; if you can't even serve people, you might as well quit.

Since the preliminary confirmed school site is near a major transportation route in Chenzhuang Town, with a total population of 60,000 in Chenzhuang Town, even if we don't dare say more, we can still find 60 top-notch, hardworking rural women out of a thousand.

However, this matter will not be discussed now; it's a minor issue. The "benefits" of the school's construction process are countless, including providing hundreds of short-term jobs.

But anyone with a sharp mind wouldn't be so short-sighted as to just focus on the number of workers on a construction site.

In fact, the officials in Fengyi County no longer feel much psychological pressure. As long as the scope of their powers and responsibilities is clearly defined, the size of the school or the size of the school will not scare them.

At this point, it's all about how daring people are and how much the land yields.

Those in Fengyi County who have ideas certainly hope for as many as possible.

However, in reality, things are definitely not that smooth. Each household has its own ideas. Of course, this is their daily work routine, which they have long been accustomed to and familiar with.

"Director Zhang, I also have two questions. They mainly concern student recruitment. Many villages in Fengyi County are quite impoverished, and many older, traditional families have relatively conservative mindsets. They are more eager for increased family labor and lack a proper understanding of the importance of education. Therefore, our colleagues working on the front lines in rural areas already face numerous difficulties in the existing recruitment efforts. Now, with such a large-scale, cross-regional collaboration, the workload for those on the front lines will undoubtedly double. I'd like to know if Director Zhang and other leaders have any preliminary solutions in this regard. Thank you."

"That's a good question, and it's also related to the recruitment process we'll be discussing later. I'll give a brief report on the specific solutions and preliminary plans here."

Zhang Zhengdong picked up his speech, glanced at it, and began to explain with remarkable clarity.

Years ago, Zhang Da'an specially hired people from the Grand Theater and the Foreign Trade Hotel to train his demeanor, and the benefits became apparent at this time.

Don't be fooled by their down-to-earth demeanor when eating dog meat; when they speak, they exude a remarkable air of sophistication.

Of course, the main reason is that Zhang Zhengdong himself is good-looking. He is in his forties but has not gained weight, his head is not bald, and his clothes are neat and capable. His dignified appearance is a great plus, whether he is dealing with superiors or subordinates.

In any case, the grassroots officials who asked the questions did not feel that there was any potential verbal intimidation.

"It's true that we need to reason with our fellow villagers. But individuals and families are different, so this is a clash of ideas. Just like the country emphasizes 'revitalizing the nation through science and education,' for many ordinary people, science is too far removed from their lives; daily necessities are what matter most. So, when we do our work, we can't just talk about principles without considering the underlying principles. We need to explain our advantages clearly, and the people want to hear what benefits we're offering. Even ten or eight yuan isn't too little; as long as there's something, we can discuss it."

"Our main advantage in this matter is that we can offer two things. First, a short-term employment environment, which means we can provide job opportunities. We can explain to our fellow villagers and the public that if you support compulsory education and education, then we will also support you in earning more money through employment. The greater the support, the earlier the employment will be arranged. We can provide training in advance, start work in advance, and receive wages in advance."

"Secondly, we can provide long-term vocational skills training, that is, employment skills training. Those who want to learn to drive can learn to drive, those who want to learn to operate excavators can learn to operate excavators, those who want to learn to be bricklayers can learn to be bricklayers—there are hundreds, even thousands, of different trades, so there's bound to be one that suits you. If someone's education level is too low, and they can't even understand the equipment's user manual or maintenance manual, they can attend primary school with their children first. Having vocational skills means having the ability to survive in the city. As the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. A skilled craftsman will never go hungry."

"These two advantages can be explained through communication and discussion. The villagers who used to push wheelbarrows to transport grain on both sides of the Da Sha River back then, could they have changed their race in just a few decades? We are sincere, not trying to cheat or 'close the door to beat the dog,' so we can get the job done sooner or later."

Before the people in the city could even react to what he had said, the people from Fengyi County immediately clapped and applauded.

Because this is equivalent to making a promise – “guaranteed allocation”.

Of course, they also know that this is completely different from the previous "assignment system," but when it comes to explaining, frontline cadres can just say it like this.

Ordinary people can't handle ten or eight pages of precautions and disclaimers. Just focus on the key points and don't ramble on about irrelevant details.

For impoverished rural people who are eager to change their lives and living conditions, it's not that they don't know how to seize opportunities; the prerequisite is that they first need to have something called "opportunity."

You're just spouting nonsense about something that doesn't exist.

When the meeting was held here, the mood was clearly high, especially among those working at the grassroots level, who had all sorts of thoughts, both good and bad, that burst forth instantly.

However, they haven't been blinded by the allure of "windfall gains" yet, because whenever a project is initiated, funding and resources are the first priority.

Without money and supplies, it's just an empty promise.

When it comes to student enrollment, every aspect, from eating and drinking to sleeping, needs to be carefully calculated. So, several village primary school teachers from Chenzhuang Town, feeling nervous and uneasy, stammered as they picked up the microphones and stood up to ask Zhang Zhengdong questions.

Uncle Zhang quickly reassured them, telling them not to be nervous and to just sit down and ask the questions. Then, an older teacher asked, "Director Zhang, hello, I'm from Tengdikou Primary School..."

After introducing himself, the veteran teacher clearly held considerable respect for a "high-ranking official" like Zhang Zhengdong, but still managed to explain the problem completely: "...If the children go to boarding school, they will definitely have to live on campus. Then there's the issue of meals, clothing and bedding for the children, hot and cold water for showers, and a place to see a doctor if they have a headache or fever..."

The discussion was rambling and disorganized, but the key issue remained: who would pay for the expenses related to food, drink, sanitation, and sleep?

In fact, Zhang Zhengdong had already raised some of these issues before, but out of respect for the teacher representatives, he brought out the budget and price list again and gave a reply: "On the basis of the existing national student subsidies, each student at 'Zhang An Hope Primary School' will receive a daily meal subsidy of five yuan; for medical and health checkups and screenings, in addition to routine checkups organized by relevant units in Fengyi County, we will also provide additional support by building a school hospital, which will be supported by the school hospital jointly built by Shazhou City Binjiang Town Hospital and Xindongwei Port Middle School. Professional basic medical personnel will be rotated regularly and included in the internal assessment system of 'Zhang An Education'. Similar to medical personnel, there are also teachers. 'Zhang An Education' has signed strategic cooperation agreements with 'Yangtai Teachers College' and 'Shanghu Teachers College'. As long as recent graduates teach at 'Zhang An Hope Primary School' for one or two years, they will be eligible to directly participate in the internal training program. I can also give a preliminary hint about this training program, which I believe some people already know about. This training program is called the 'Zhang An Education Volunteer Targeted Training Project'."

"Some teachers here might worry that young people are unwilling to work in challenging locations. Please rest assured, the 'Zhang An Hope Primary School' we are jointly building doesn't mean creating a harsh working environment in a difficult place. 'Zhang An Education' is a for-profit company, and they have very high standards for their work environment. Therefore, even in challenging locations, the working environment will definitely not be harsh. Also, if you are interested, you can check out the salary and benefits at 'Zhang An Education.' For example, the basic annual salary for a subject group leader was 150,000 yuan last year, and this year it has increased by 20% to 180,000 yuan, not including bonuses, project dividends, and other income."

"Therefore, please believe that the allocation of teaching staff may not reach the level of the Xindongweigang Middle School, but it will definitely far exceed the existing primary school teaching staff in the region."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Zhang Zhengdong's tone was very friendly, and his speech was not aggressive. He was even considered handsome. However, the words he spoke were like a thunderbolt. Not only were the teacher representatives completely stunned, but even some local cadres who were planning to ask questions wondered if they had misheard.

Is this "Zhang An Education" a gold mine? Why is it being done like this?

And this "Zhang An Education" boss, is he your son, Director Zhang? He just throws money in like that?

Is this really not a scammer?

(End of this chapter)