Why it never ends

Chapter 1029 Mixed Age
Pacat looked at Hesta's face and was lost in thought for a moment.

"We met outside a cafe near Saint-Lom's Freedom Square," Hesta said, "I helped you carry your things upstairs."

"...Ah, it's you." The old man nodded, "I remember now."

"Are your legs all right?"

"Neither good nor bad." The old man walked back slowly with his cane, "I didn't invite you to sit in the house at that time..."

"That's understandable," Hesta said, "After all, he's a stranger who suddenly appeared."

The old man looked up and asked, "Why do you want to run a school on this farm?"

Hesta briefly but completely spoke about Eleven, and Pakat listened quietly, nodding continuously.

"I see. So that means that when you run a school, you don't need to be responsible for any indicators other than education. Am I right in understanding it this way?"

“What other indicators will there be besides education?”

"There are many ways," Pacat said, "such as using some fashionable educational concepts to attract parents from a certain class..."

"It would be great if you could do that," Hesta said. "There are some children on the plantation. If you can make this school more attractive, Eleven and Kiki will have more classmates."

Pacat laughed.

"It looks like you're not too busy right now," Hesta said, "Let's do the interview while we're walking."

"Have you ever run a school before?" asked Packard.

"No," Hesta answered, "this is the first time."

"Then how are you going to interview me?" Pacat said, "In my opinion, there is no one more suitable than me, but you have no experience and I'm afraid you don't know how to evaluate a——"

"Where are you from?"

"Legas," Pacat replied, "is a city in the north of the Third District, not very famous. I haven't been back for a long time."

"You are not from the south, so why did you go to Nia Province to open a school?" Hesta said, "And you stayed there for ten years. From what I know, they don't seem to attach much importance to education issues."

"The first school I opened was in a big city like Tanyi, but that didn't help the subsequent promotion of the model..." Pacat said, "If a set of educational methods causes positive changes in children from middle-class families, it doesn't mean that the method is effective, because these children can also get enough support outside of school--"

Hesta had understood. She sighed in realization, "So you went to the Nia province."

"Yes, I believe that it is precisely those children who are moving from the wilderness to habitable areas who need more educational resources," Pacat said. "If a new educational method can work on these children, it will be convincing."

Hesta frowned slightly: "No offense..." "Please go ahead."

"If the final result is convincing, why haven't you obtained the real qualification to run a school in Nia Province for ten years? If you run a pilot program like this year after year, once you lose an official who supports you, the whole model will not be sustainable... Doesn't this mean that your so-called 'results' may not be so 'convincing'?"

Pacat was silent for a moment.

"That brings us back to our original question," Pacat said softly, "What kind of indicators are you responsible for?"

"I don't have a clear idea yet," Hesta said, "but I think the first thing this school should teach children is reading skills and physical training. With these two foundations, subsequent education can be promoted. I have contacted a group of teachers, and the specific framework will be discussed after everyone arrives."

"That's good." Pakat nodded approvingly. "For children of this age, these two abilities are indeed very important, but at the same time, children's creativity, communication skills, critical thinking and--"

"It's a bit hollow." Hesta looked ahead, "How do you measure whether a child's 'creativity' has been truly cultivated?"

"This is the nature of every child," Pacat said, "but it requires the care and guidance of teachers."

Hesta stopped and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Just give me a successful case you have done. I want to hear a case full of execution details."

Hesta looked at his watch. "You don't have to think about it now. I'll give you one night. Tomorrow morning I'll -"

"I can give you a detailed case right now," Pacat said softly. "You have been to the reserve base in District 3, right?"

Hesta was a little surprised: "...Yes, what?"

"Normally, school dormitories are divided by age," Pacat said. "First-year students are together, second-year students are together... but in the reserve base, a dormitory of four people is usually composed of four spans of reservists. The base always deliberately arranges several mercury needles of different ages to live together. Have you ever thought about why this is the case?"

"Because there are very few Mercury Needle Reserves," Hesta said, "When I entered the base that year, I was the only newcomer."

"What about those who are a few years older than you?" Pakat looked at Hesta with a smile. "They should have no shortage of peers in the base. Do they live with reservists of the same level as themselves?"

Hesta's expression was a little puzzled: "I haven't thought about this question. I guess..."

"This is because the reserve base in the third district took the lead in adopting the 'mixed-age class' approach," Pacat said. "For children and adolescents before and after puberty, they are more likely to feel competition among their peers, but when they are in a mixed-age environment, they are more likely to take the initiative to learn from the elders and take responsibility for taking care of the younger ones - in this process, everyone will be trained.

"So why put children of the same age together? They are the same age, have common experiences in the base, are similar to each other, and will inevitably compete with each other in schoolwork... Even if this kind of competition has its benefits, it is more likely to make everyone nervous. Children of different ages, because there is no direct competition relationship, their mutual assistance behavior will be more in-depth and harmonious.

"That's why the base has adopted a mixed-age dormitory management method," Pacat said. "Also, in order to strengthen the connection between the children, each new Mercury Needle will be assigned a more experienced assistant officer - all of this is to give the reservists a greater sense of security."

Looking at Hesta's somewhat stunned expression, Pakat laughed.

"You are wondering why I know this, right?" Pacat said softly, "The series of rules and regulations of the Third District Reserve Base were jointly drafted by me and my best friends thirty years ago. At first, it was only tried out in the Third District, and then slowly spread to the reserve bases of other districts."