Chapter 1333 Reform of the Public Education System
"Not since the Napoleonic Wars has the relationship between Britain and France been so fraught."
The headlines placed beside the round table in the conference room are in a state of neglect, just like the turbulent situation in Europe at this time. It is important, but it is under the calm sea.
Bang bang, Alan Wilson clapped his hands to attract the attention of the participants of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs meeting and ordered, "Go to Moscow this time and get the trade agreement we want. During this short window period, we must not let France Under the current situation, it is extremely important for the UK to re-develop trade relations with Eastern Europe. The UK must be at the forefront of science, and backward lifestyles will be eliminated, which is inevitable."
"Britain will catch up with the white heat of the scientific and technological revolution, and outdated industrial systems and operating methods will be eliminated." This is what Harold Wilson said when he was campaigning. Now Whitehall is working hard to help the Prime Minister fulfill his campaign promises.
Of course, Whitehall has also tried its best to help the Conservative government, but Eden is a diplomatic expert, and his best efforts are reflected in diplomatic work.
The pace of Whitehall's work hinges on Alan Wilson's judgment that, for example, the nationalization of water systems, he will not complete even one day left this year. It will take a whole year to implement it successfully without harming the interests of all parties. As for economic and trade relations with the Soviet Union, the sooner the better. Nothing is absolute.
"Understood, Secretary-General." A group of diplomats assured them one after another that after being the Permanent Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for so many years, Alan Wilson had replaced the people in each department with his own people.
There are no pro-American factions in the current Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and certainly no pro-European faction. It is all a moral vacuum from a British perspective.
The Supreme Authority is different. He is both pro-American and pro-European. When necessary, he can even be pro-Soviet.
After the meeting, Alan Wilson walked out of the conference room of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and on the way back to his office, he met Frank, the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance. From the look on his face, he knew that he must be unhappy.
After calling Frank down and the two of them walking on the outdoor lawn, Frank didn't hide anything. "The two big problems at present are related to the Ministry of Finance. Nationalization requires money, and the construction of public universities is not a big deal either." Small expense.”
"Indeed." Alan Wilson nodded. After taking office this time, the two things the Prime Minister focused on promoting were, in addition to nationalization, education in public universities.
Public universities in the UK cannot be said to be perfect, at least compared to the public education system in the United States, they are completely conscientious. With a Prime Minister from the Labor Party, it is expected to be strengthened in the coming period.
Don't look at the fact that Mrs. Thatcher served as education minister for a period of time during the Eden government. Her education minister had almost no political achievements. Many educational work was promoted by Alan Wilson himself, demonstrating objectivity and neutrality, and facing up to British colonialism. History has emphasized the different policies of the major colonial empires, and Britain is actually the most conscientious one.
Regarding the triangular trade, it is emphasized that Britain first abolished slavery. It was the Americans who persisted in selling black slaves. This has nothing to do with Britain.
The number of North American Indians did not start to decrease because of the British landing in North America. It was also caused by the westward expansion of the United States.
With his concern, the British textbooks also included some content from the hostile camp to demonstrate objectivity and neutrality. For example, if a country in the Soviet bloc criticized a country for the existence of a foreign military base, it was not a completely independent sovereign country. So what should it be afraid of?
There are none in the UK, but there are quite a few in Germany, and France currently has NATO military bases. Even if British students see passages in textbooks, they can stand proudly.
"In fact, there are two ways to promote the public education system. Let's talk about it then." Alan Wilson looked at the time, and it was almost time to get off work. No matter what important matter there was, we had to talk about it tomorrow.
In fact, it is nothing more than two evolution routes,
The first one is happy education. Of course, this name may not sound good, so we can change the name to quality education.
This is not without its benefits. At least it is a way to spend a small amount of money on happy education to achieve big things and reduce the cost of mass education. Teachers in public middle schools are low-income earners. Several teacher strikes have resulted in a 5% salary increase.
The salary cannot be increased, and teachers have no sense of responsibility in teaching. School ends at three o'clock in the afternoon, so there is less homework. In this way, you are happy to study and I am happy to teach. The combination is happy education. Ordinary poor people go to this kind of school.
what's the result? Education automatically completes social stratification. The poor feel that they are enjoying "happy education", which is not bad and allows them to let their nature go. Societies above the middle class do not believe in this and still practice high-intensity learning under high pressure.
The initial intention of Happy Education was to save costs and expand the scope of education, but was it nothing more than that? The United States has its own national conditions. After transforming into a loan society, this original intention collapsed. Education is still happy, but students who go to school still spend a lot of money.
After going home and explaining the current situation, Pamela Mountbatten remained silent, and then asked, "My dear, do you have any other options besides this?"
"There is another way to make it more difficult for children in their early stages of learning, so as to eliminate most of the ordinary people who are not qualified right from the beginning." Alan Wilson said this and suddenly sighed, "It seems that this time, One more purpose of visiting the Soviet Union was to inspect the Soviet education system.”
Can we put things other than education into it and take up some of the education time? And it can also benefit the country from another level.
The light in Alan Wilson's eyes flashed away, and it was accurately captured by Pamela Mountbatten, who directly asked, "What other ideas do you have?"
"I am going to strengthen the patriotic education in the UK." Alan Wilson glanced at his wife and said in a long tone, "The best way to demonstrate the patriotic education is to add military training content and freedom to education at all levels. , it also needs people to protect it.”
There is no military training in British universities, but there is in the Soviet Union. In the Soviet Union, all middle schools, technical schools, and vocational schools will conduct preliminary military training in accordance with the "Law of Universal Military Obligations."
The "Law of Universal Military Obligations" is the basic law for establishing the national defense system of the Soviet Union and is the core of the entire military law system of the Soviet Union. This statute stipulates the basic composition of the Armed Forces of the USSR, as well as the responsibilities, conditions and methods for Soviet citizens to perform defense of the Fatherland, military service and other obligations related to national defense.
"Will people question me if I study Soviet military training?" Pamela Mountbatten frowned and asked cautiously, "There has always been a saying that the Prime Minister is supported by the Soviet Union."
"Those idiots in the Conservative Party who only have muscles in their brains don't know anything about the Soviet Union. What I want to learn is the United States. Don't you know that the history of the American Boy Scouts is earlier than the Soviet Union? Of course it is a non-governmental organization and a national organization of the Soviet Union. It’s different. But the national conditions are different. I would say that I am learning from the United States, but in fact I am adopting the Soviet model.”
However, the most famous thing about the Boy Scouts of America in later generations is that various Boy Scout organizers did some shameful things to the boys and girls in training. As for the United States, the military discipline of the U.S. military is well-known. Although it is notorious in overseas operations, American soldiers have proven with actual actions that we are all equal regardless of internal or external conditions.
Alan Wilson was thinking that in this way, during the military training process, students suitable for specific talents could be screened out. For example, students suitable for being soldiers? Be an athlete? play soccer? If all public schools are included, the educational time of public universities can be compressed. By compressing one month per year, private schools can get a lot more educational time out of thin air.
We can also increase the relationship between the military and the people, and we don’t expect any good relations between the military and the people. But the improvement of the relationship between the military and the people has other benefits. For example, if British citizens are enthusiastic about national defense, they will not want to cut military spending from time to time. Isn’t this a big gain? What?
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. He didn't even notice that Hepburn's movie was playing on the TV, and he was completely immersed in his own world.
"Hepburn is really an elegant woman." Pamela Mountbatten looked at the image on TV and sighed sincerely.
"It's just as thin as ribs." As soon as Alan Wilson spoke absentmindedly, he immediately felt that something was wrong. He glanced at his wife from the corner of his eye and breathed a sigh of relief.
About ten seconds later, Pamela Mountbatten suddenly reacted and asked with a right twist on her neck, "It's like you've seen it before."
Ten seconds bought Alan Wilson precious time to survive, and he answered in an unquestionable tone, "Why don't you see it? Just look at the cheeks and you will know that there is definitely not much flesh on the body."
Alan Wilson came to the prime minister's office and added an inspection of the Soviet education system to the diplomatic team that was about to set off to sign a trade agreement. "Prime Minister, we have to know our enemy."
"Alan, don't say that. We are in a world of reconciliation." Harold Wilson did not object to this suggestion. The reform of the public education system he promoted was his campaign promise. Seeing that Whitehall is now so concerned about it, he felt sad in his heart. He was also happy, "Tell me what Whitehall thinks about this matter."
Of course, it was a compliment based on the Prime Minister's wisdom and greatness as the core and the national interest as the criterion. Alan Wilson's statement on behalf of Whitehall made the Prime Minister very happy.
"I am going to let Dixon be the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Education. I know him well. He will definitely overcome all difficulties to ensure the smooth progress of the Prime Minister's reform. I think after the negotiation this time, the appointment will be very suitable." Alan Wilson Advising the Prime Minister on the future of the Foreign Secretary's Principal Private Secretary.