I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 61 Brother Units Joining Hands for Progress
Originally, the plan was to establish a branch school at the boundary river between Mazhou City and Jianggao City. The Shazhou City Education Bureau only followed up and provided support in principle, without being particularly proactive in terms of facility renovation and school qualification assessment.

However, following this explosive interview on the provincial education channel, the municipal bureau acted decisively, working with its sister units in Jianggao and Mazhou to quickly remove all unnecessary barriers.

Things like school accreditation assessments usually require officials from higher levels to follow procedures, but this time it's different; it carries a hint of "acting first and reporting later."

Originally, the project was not scheduled to proceed at all, since it was just a facility renovation and not the establishment of a new civil engineering project. However, the municipal bureau's internal assessment predicts that "Zhang'an Education" will be a huge success, so the Xilai branch of Xindongweigang Middle School will inevitably also experience a booming market.

"The pollution control of the boundary river must be approved as a project. The inland river near Xindongwei Port Middle School has been transformed according to the same standard. New sluice gates will be installed, and the riverbed will be flushed. We aim to complete the transformation before the autumn harvest."

"Isn't it... a bit too wasteful?"

"The boundary river is a small river. We can set up a sluice gate at the entrance of the Jiaogang River and complete the project within three million. We have experience and have had people conduct on-site surveys and assessments. Furthermore, after your Mazhou City Education Bureau proposed this, you will have more say in the various renovations of the Xilai Branch School than other bureaus. This leadership is very important."

The three parties held a meeting, where the Shazhou City Education Bureau explained the pros and cons, mentioning the word "leading role." The other units, which had been hesitant, immediately understood.

Some projects can be developed by any organization, it's not certain, but whoever takes the lead usually gets the project.

Take the current Xilai branch of Xindongweigang Middle School, for example. Was it handed over to the urban construction unit? Or to the investment promotion department?

Actually, either way is fine, but since it's organized by the Education Bureau, it's impossible for just any Tom, Dick, or Harry to take all the credit. This kind of "scratching the peaches" behavior, unless they have truly outstanding abilities, will definitely lead to a war of words. If it really comes to the point of sabotaging the project at all costs, it's not a big deal.

Generally speaking, things will fall into place naturally.

Projects brought in by the Education Bureau, regardless of whether they attract businesses or investments, are credited to the Education Bureau, not the relevant departments involved in attracting investment.

Of course, the industry and commerce departments should still provide follow-up support services. Even if they have not made any contributions, they should still be expected to provide hard work.

"Director Qiu, you sound very confident, don't you?"

"How can you say we're very confident? We are absolutely confident!"

Qiu Jianmin, in high spirits, stubbed out his cigarette, poked the butt a couple of times in the ashtray, and then said with a smile, "The interview Mr. Zhang An gave to the provincial education channel had a very wide impact and generated a strong social response. I won't go into the details, but our office in Jiangning City alone receives over ten thousand inquiries a day from various sources, all asking about retaking the college entrance exam. And the people who inquired all specifically asked if Mr. Zhang An was last year's top science student, and whether his score this year was really around 700 in the humanities."

"What if I don't get the top score in the liberal arts exam? Will that have any impact?"

"What does it matter? What we want is influence. His top score in science last year is enough. We'll see how well the 'top scorer tutoring class' performs this year. Although it will be another 10 or 20 days before the scores are released, we've already checked internally. The school with the best college entrance exam results in Shazhou City this year is Xindongweigang Middle School. The score difference is quite significant, leading the sampled scores of other schools by at least 100 points."

Checking the grades was a quick process. The teachers in charge of the grade groups of the four key high schools in the city actually checked the high school grades of Xindongweigang Middle School twice. The error in the results after the two checks by the four key high schools was negligible, less than 0.5 points.

The verification of grades in the "Top Scorer Tutoring Class" involved each student checking their own answers, using Zhang Da'an's answers as a reference. After the results were compiled, they were sent to the principal's office, where Zhang Zhengdong reviewed them. Zhang Zhengdong's review was conducted at the Municipal Education Bureau.

Qiu Jianmin's confidence stemmed from the fact that this year's overall college entrance examination scores were generally low. Of the four key high schools in the city, very few students scored above 600; one key high school even had only two students scoring over 600. Therefore, the municipal education bureau judged that, excluding Xindongweigang Middle School, this year would be a year with relatively low overall college entrance examination scores.

This is basically consistent with Zhang Da'an's remarks in the interview.

"So the size of the branch school actually needs to be increased?"

"If necessary, we can borrow the qualifications of a local secondary school for a year. The original plan may have to be scrapped. While expanding the main campus, the branch campuses should be planned on a one-to-one scale, at least 60%."

"Sixty percent... Even at the current scale, that would require nine... ten classes. Wouldn't that...?"

"It's 58,000 per person. This year, the branch school is still offering a discounted price, while the main campus might raise it by several thousand."

"Still going up?"

"One year is one year. Chairman Zhang An said that 'Zhang An Education' aims to achieve a 100% college entrance rate improvement for its students and minimize the number of students who need to re-enroll. So, strictly speaking, the customer base is completely different every year. Whether or not prices are raised, there will be no negative impact on the families of existing students. Raising prices will only make them feel like they've made a profit... Oh, those were Chairman Zhang An's exact words."

"..."

Do you only feel like you've made a profit when prices go up?

After a moment's thought, the people from the Mazhou City Education Bureau and the Jianggao City Education Bureau realized that it made sense.

These parents who have already paid are very unlikely to pay again, so they'll definitely feel good if others pay more for the same service.

It’s just that!

Slightly different from their counterparts in Shazhou City, the people from the Mazhou City Education Bureau were somewhat embarrassed and hesitant. Would making money so openly and honestly tarnish the image of the Education Bureau?

However, when Qiu Jianmin said that the Shazhou City Education Bureau had replaced all the cinder tracks in the city with plastic tracks this year, the comrades in Mazhou City were filled with respect!

Ten classes represent five hundred students retaking the college entrance exam, but also five hundred high-quality clients, and more importantly, twenty-nine million that the Mazhou City Education Bureau can smell!
Add to that the profits from the high school entrance exam retake classes, and it must have cost at least fifty million!
Thinking of this, the person who was just hesitating and struggling suddenly became a little short of breath.

This generates real revenue and boosts the local economy.

At this moment, the Mazhou City Education Bureau is very grateful for the opening of the Jiyang Yangtze River Bridge. Investment in infrastructure has indeed driven economic development.

(End of this chapter)