I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1140 Love Brain

In fact, De Bison just happened to be at the right time.

Developing a complete education system is no simple task.

For example, Joseph had already organized people to secretly compile the most basic teaching materials for about a year and a half, and the official version was only recently completed.

It's important to know that preparatory schools across Europe, which are the basic education programs for children under 12, still use the Bible as their textbook.

It's not just church schools; even the most prestigious private schools are the same. At most, responsible teachers might add some Homer's epics or similar texts as supplementary material.

This results in many children being unable to perform even the simplest reading and writing after a year of study, although they can all recite scriptures fluently...

And it was only at this point that Joseph learned that French did not yet have a standard phonetic alphabet.

Even the most advanced phonics instruction uses a letter-name association method invented over a hundred years ago. For example, the letter name "bé" represents the /b/ sound. Before learning a word, a child has to memorize a sound combination that may be longer than the word itself. The learning curve is outrageously long.

So Joseph directly adopted the standard phonetic symbols of later generations, and had a group of language experts compile them into a book. He also wrote a dictionary that used the phonetic symbols.

Next, we began compiling specialized primary school textbooks.

The textbook consists of six volumes, with the usage rate of words and the difficulty of grammar increasing progressively. It also uses phonetic symbols to represent the sounds of the words, making it far more scientific and efficient than teaching with the Bible.

At the same time, Joseph also commissioned the compilation of "A Guide to Primary School Teaching" based on the primary school curriculum system of later generations.

While ordinary schools of that era, that is, secondary education, did have some specialized textbooks, such as the "Teaching Plan" compiled by the Jesuits, this was the first of its kind in all of Europe specifically for the enlightenment education stage.

And so, just as the complete set of textbooks, exercise books, and teacher's guides were compiled, Viscount Dubison's school was also completed.

Joseph originally intended to select a few private elite schools for pilot programs, but Dubison's "non-profit school" was clearly more suitable for the compulsory education model. In the end, children from ordinary families were the first to enjoy the new primary education system.

Upon entering the first classroom, Joseph couldn't help but frown.

The only decent teaching equipment here is the stone slab hanging on the wall—that should be a blackboard.

As for desks and chairs, there were none at all.

He turned to look at Dubison: "Where do the students write?"

"Use that, Your Highness." The latter gestured to the twenty-odd planks neatly stacked in the corner, then picked one up and showed it to the others.

Basically, they sat on the ground, with a wooden board placed on their laps as a desk.

The construction cost for each school was less than 6 francs, and that was all they could manage. In fact, most church schools in France had only this level of facilities.

Joseph suddenly realized that the 650 million francs he had prepared for the implementation of compulsory education might not be enough.

There are very few people like Dubison who are willing to invest in basic education without considering profits, and in the future, the bulk of the funding will definitely have to come from the French government.

He sighed and said to Dubison, "I will personally donate 1 francs to purchase a batch of tables and chairs."

These four "new primary schools" are "model schools" for compulsory education, and we should try our best to make them as perfect as possible.

Dubison immediately bowed with delight, clutching his chest. "Thank you for your generosity, you really are..." "It's nothing," Joseph interrupted, waving his hand. "By the way, how are the admissions going?"

“To be honest, it’s a bit worse than I expected,” Dubison said. “Currently, schools in the San Antonio district have confirmed 110 children to enroll next month, while here we’ve only enrolled a little over 70. The other two schools are about the same.”

"So few?" Joseph was somewhat surprised. This was only one-third of the school's capacity.

He originally thought that by promoting the idea of ​​a modern school, enrollment would be booming. He even got Dubison to advertise in the Paris Handelsblatt newspaper.

“Well…you know, church schools don’t charge tuition. And many people rely on their children to work and earn money, so they don’t let them study.”

Joseph immediately said, "Then let's provide the students with two loaves of bread every day. The government will subsidize the extra cost to you through tax breaks."

The awkward thing about the “new primary school” is that it cannot be free directly—that would make the church immediately realize that it is targeting them, and most likely they would find that the government has provided subsidies.

Currently, the Church still wields considerable influence over the French education system. Until a system capable of replacing church schools is established, it is necessary to maintain stability within the Church for the time being.

“This will definitely help,” Dubison said with a hint of helplessness, “but most people will probably still choose church schools.”

Habits are not something that can be changed overnight. Moreover, people in this era are devout believers, and they go to church schools to get closer to God.

Joseph nodded: "Let's give it a try."

He was already thinking that he needed to push forward with church reforms as soon as possible.

If all the church's tithe money were invested in education, enough schools to accommodate all the children in the country could be built in just a few months.

Once compulsory education is in place, France will quickly have millions of high-quality workers, which will greatly improve industrial production efficiency.

Historically, Prussia achieved its industrialization breakthrough by relying on a comprehensive and universal compulsory education system. Their victory in the Franco-Prussian War owed a great deal to this compulsory education system.

However, France is now destined to be about thirty years ahead of them in this regard. [Note 1]

Joseph then inspected the entire community and discussed with Dubison the plan to continue opening "new primary schools" in other areas with royal funding.

After he left the school's bakery, which was also the canteen, he instructed Emmanuel to prepare to return to Versailles.

Just then, he suddenly noticed Miss Clary, who had been following behind Debisson, and asked with a smile, "Viscount Debisson, when will you and your fiancée get married? I will personally come to congratulate you."

Dubison was taken aback, then quickly waved his hand, saying, "Your Highness, Miss Clary and I are just friends. Actually, her fiancé..."

He paused abruptly, then turned to look at Clary.

The latter bit his lip, took a few steps forward, knelt down, and mustered his courage to say, "Your Highness, I know this may offend you, but I beg you to allow me to go to Elba Island."

[Note 1] Prussia stipulated in 1763 that all children over the age of five must attend school, but this was not truly implemented, especially in rural areas where no one paid attention to these policies. It was not until around 1826 that compulsory education was truly universalized in Prussia.

　Many thanks to the generous donation of 15000 Qidian Coins from the esteemed Alliance Leader Lin Jia Er Shi! The humble author is deeply grateful and will certainly do my best to update more frequently and efficiently!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)