Chapter 109 Christmas
After visiting the teaching of the East African School in the first town, Maximiliano I and I were very touched.
Top aristocrats like these two have received royal court education since childhood, and it is difficult for them to come into contact with such a grassroots education model as in East Africa.
Moreover, as East Africa is a colony, there is no need to hide the two. What they see is the most real daily life in East African schools.
East African schools have few courses, with only two main courses: German and mathematics, followed by history and physical education.
The content is also extremely simple, and there is even a lot of repeated content in each grade. After attending an East African school, at most you will be proficient in German reading and writing and simple mathematical operations.
The content of the entire East African education is only less than one-third of the knowledge content of the previous Ernst Elementary School (third grade level).
This was decided to adapt to the weak teaching staff in the East African colonies. Colonies such as East Africa currently only have the ability to provide this kind of poor education.
Of course, at the end of this kind of education in East Africa, there are also channels for advancement. After passing the final exam, the batch with the best scores will be given the opportunity to study abroad in Germany.
In terms of difficulty, it is very simple to pass the exam and get a place to study abroad with the average level of primary school graduates in previous lives, but immigrants from East Africa may not realize the importance of education.
This leads to the fact that only families that value education have a greater chance of their children studying in Germany. Families that do not value education, even if their children have good grades when they graduate, may just stay in East Africa and work in farming. After all, going to Germany requires parental consent.
Ernst did not bother to correct this situation. Anyway, he only needed to cultivate a group of sufficient talents. If there was an excess of talents, it would sometimes be a disaster.
After all, compared with those positions that require high academic qualifications, the most in-demand occupation in East Africa is farmers to develop the land. In the industrial countries of Europe, workers are most in need.
According to the current level of industrialization, only the United Kingdom has completely completed industrialization (the urbanization level has reached more than 50%), while other countries are even lower, and there is still a lot of room for improvement.
The educational level requirements for workers in these industrial countries are not high, not to mention the East African colonies that are still focused on developing agriculture.
The reason why compulsory education is established in East Africa is to assimilate and cultivate the talents needed in the future, which are all needed to stabilize the rule. In fact, it is not to really change the fate of these people (although it has changed objectively).
Just as Prussia launched compulsory education in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the army, the motivation for compulsory education in East Africa is not simple.
You have to ask how much Ernst attaches importance to education. In fact, it is just that, although Ernst received a complete nine-year compulsory education and higher education in his previous life.
But Ernst was a nobleman in this life, and what he was doing now seemed very noble (enclosing land and establishing a country), but the premise was to maintain the interests of the Hechingen royal family and continue to prosper in the future.
The experience of countries such as India in previous lives told Ernst that as long as the country is large and has a large population, even a country with a low-quality population can accumulate a large amount of wealth at its upper level.
Therefore, the aristocracy represented by Ernst essentially does not need too many highly educated people, but needs a population that can create wealth and be obedient.
This is essentially the same routine as why ancient rulers liked to fool the people and why the West was anti-intellectual.
Education in East Africa is somewhere between the two, with a lukewarm attitude toward education, neither teaching too much nor too little, and actively lowering standards.
Apart from paying more attention to national issues and cultural identity (Germanization), they are not keen on changing other qualities and concepts of ordinary people.
As long as you are a German honestly, nothing else matters. Who cares whether your moral character is noble? Is it kind? …This part of education is still left to the family.
Therefore, the East African education system that looks frugal and full of loopholes is actually full of political wisdom behind it.
Of course, Maximiliano I couldn't see it. After visiting the education in East Africa, he couldn't help but make suggestions to the East African government personnel around him. In the view of Maximiliano I, this simple and crude education There is huge room for improvement.
The staff, on the other hand, put their money in one ear and out the other, promising nothing, but actually promising nothing.
The managers of the entire East African government and military, except for the employees of the Hechingen Consortium (basically all with a middle school education or above), others, including the students of the Hechingen Military Academy with a ridiculous-sounding name, are actually all at primary school level.
To the employees and mercenaries it was a job, to the students at the Hechingen Military Academy it was a favor to the rector.
They will only follow the route planned by Ernst and complete the task meticulously. They do not care about the development of East Africa.
That is to say, out of respect for Maximiliano I's identity, he dealt with the matter, but Maximiliano I was still chattering non-stop.
A European intellectual commented on the East African policy, which really proves the saying that a person without an official position is underprivileged.
If he could be as energetic as he is today when he was the emperor of Mexico, he would be able to marry me, and Ernst would really admire Maximiliano I.
…
December 25, 1867.
It’s Christmas again.
Ernst and Prince Constantine, who had been traveling around a lot during the year, returned to Hechingen early to spend the holidays.
Ernst was wandering around the castle holding a little Rottweiler. This little Rottweiler was bought from a farm in Berlin in Ernst's village. His name was "Neville", which had no practical significance. , just to commemorate a pastoral dog that I raised in my previous life. That dog was raised by Ernst in his previous life when he was a child. His name was Neville. Later he died of old age, and Ernst was still sad for a long time.
The castle was decorated with holiday decorations, and firs transplanted from the forests of southern Germany were placed in the hall as Christmas trees.
Different from previous years, this year electric lights were used in the hall, replacing candles and other lighting tools. The entire castle and even the roads outside the castle were illuminated by the Hechingen Consortium's lighting system.
Other royal families and big cities in Europe have also enjoyed the convenience of electric lights. Of course, some more traditional people still use candles to enhance the atmosphere of Christmas, a religious festival.
The huge castle seemed a bit deserted. Because of Christmas, many servants were sent home by Prince Constantine to accompany their relatives, so there were not many people in the castle.
This year, the climate is slightly colder, and there is heavy snowfall in Hechingen and the whole of Germany. Through the window, you can see the white snow covering the ground, the forest around the castle, and the dark green branches and leaves under the snow on the tops of pine and cypress trees.
In the cold winter when Germany is still covered with snow, in the far south, the land of East Africa still looks like spring. The East African government also organized its residents to start Christmas celebrations.
And 1867 will be spent in a few days. 1867 is an unforgettable year. In this year, the East African colonies completely controlled the entire territory of Tanzania and Kenya. The number of immigrants reached 500,000, and it initially became the size of a country. East Africa can already be seen as a political entity, participating in international affairs.