I'm the Dauphin in France

Chapter 1162 Teacher Training Schools and Mathematics Competitions

Viscount Dubison's eyes widened immediately: "600 francs?! Your Highness, isn't that... a bit too high...?"

It's worth noting that the best governesses in Paris currently charge only around 500-600 francs per year. Female governesses, in particular, can cost as little as 180 francs per year.

This is a one-on-one teaching model.

Private elite schools typically charge between 90 and 150 francs per year. The Crown Prince, however, demanded four times that amount!

Joseph gestured for the headmaster to get into the car and smiled, "Since nobles value appearances, they won't care about prices. In fact, the higher the price, the more it reflects their status."

He knew very well that it was unrealistic to have the children of noble families and commoners squeezed into the same classroom; the nobles would only feel that it was a loss of face.

So it would be better for nobles to spend money to buy a sense of prestige, and then use that money to subsidize free primary schools.

This elite school district, which enrolls 100 students each year, generates 6 francs in revenue, enough to support eight or nine primary schools.

If this model is used to promote compulsory education, the government may not need to spend much on education.

Joseph continued, "I will create a position for you in the Ministry of the Interior, specifically in charge of non-profit educational work, reporting directly to me. The tuition fees collected will be managed by the Ministry of the Interior's Education Funding Committee."

"Subsequently, we will open some fee-paying campuses in the Saint-Germain and Marais districts, with slightly lower tuition fees, to cater to nobles of different income levels."

"By the way, these campuses need to be renamed to distinguish them from the new primary school."

Viscount Dubison never expected that his work in public education would lead to an official position. He was so excited that he bowed repeatedly, saying, "Ah! Thank you for your trust, Your Highness. I swear I will do my best to make basic education in Paris the best it can be!"

He then thought of another question: "Your Highness, should we make special textbooks or something similar for these fee-paying schools? I mean, the nobles pay high tuition fees, so we should make them feel that they are getting their money's worth."

“We’ll use the new elementary school textbooks; they’re the best available right now,” Joseph said. “However, the paid campuses will use the deluxe edition, the kind with gold foil covers.”

"Let's offer more courses in Latin, horseback riding, and other subjects. And let's have some nice, imposing school uniforms."

Schools can be tiered, but the curriculum must never widen the gap between different classes. Having commoners and nobles use the same textbooks is also a way to preserve upward mobility for them.

Joseph continued his discussion with the newly appointed "Commissioner of Compulsory Education" about the aristocratic school district. Only after the carriage stopped in the square at Versailles did the latter take his leave alone.

Joseph gestured for Emmanuel to bring Mirabeau and Vinio to see him, still pondering the matter of compulsory education.

Given the popularity of primary school textbooks, we can leverage textbooks and teaching methods to extend our influence to ordinary schools and even universities.

Therefore, the compilation of textbooks for regular schools should be put on the agenda as soon as possible. Regular schools correspond to secondary schools in later generations.

On this basis, we also need to find ways to dilute the church's influence on the education system and encourage more people to send their children to the new primary school.

For example, organize math competitions, essay contests, and shorthand competitions, and increase publicity. The competition venue could be the Palace of Versailles.

Students educated in church schools are no match for the modern education model in these areas. Church schools consistently rank last in these competitions, and people will soon vote with their feet.

Yes, we should mandate that all schools participate in the competition; no one should be allowed to skip it.

Joseph then realized that once the new primary schools were widely established, the demand for teachers would inevitably surge.

Given the current number of education professionals in France, a shortage of teachers will soon emerge.

At the same time, the quality of teachers varies greatly—as long as you know the relevant course knowledge, you can become a teacher, with no professional certification whatsoever. Therefore, it is necessary to establish teacher training schools and implement teacher qualification examinations.

Later, the teachers of church schools, that is, the priests in charge of the schools, were also included in the teacher qualification examination.

This will certainly be opposed by the church, but once church schools finish at the bottom in math and essay competitions, the government can use the excuse of "misleading students" to allow priests to study at teacher training colleges.

These priests, who have paid the price for their education, mostly choose to teach at secular schools with higher salaries after graduation.

Even if they were to return to church schools, they could still improve the teaching standards there.

Joseph did not reject church schools; if they could produce qualified individuals, he was perfectly willing to let them coexist with the new primary school.

Before long, Mirabeau and Venio arrived at the Crown Prince's reception room and bowed together with their hands on their chests.

Joseph gestured for the two to sit down and got straight to the point: "I have a method for preserving food for a long time, and I need to build a processing plant."

Mirabeau realized that the Crown Prince must have invented something new, and immediately took out his notebook and began to record it.

Joseph began to explain the canning process: "The core of this method is to put the food into a small tin box and steam it for about... half an hour, or an hour, depending on the experiment."

"Then immediately seal the tin box."

"Food treated in this way can stay fresh for more than a year without spoiling or rotting."

The Minister of Industry and the Minister of Agriculture exchanged surprised glances—the method sounded too simplistic for them to trust.

Mirabeau stopped writing and asked cautiously, "Your Highness, should we add any other reagents or something?"

“No need,” Joseph said, noticing their skepticism. “Food spoils because of microorganisms, like bacteria, that attach to it. You just need to kill them with high temperatures, and the food can be preserved for a long time.”

"Oh, you must keep this information strictly confidential."

Venio hesitated, "Your Highness, but this method seems to be more troublesome than pickling..."

Pickling is a common method of food preservation—using high concentrations of salt to dehydrate and kill bacteria.

“My method keeps meat, vegetables, and fruits fresh without adding salt. They’re almost as fresh as if they were just cooked,” Joseph said. “And it takes very little time to prepare. The cost for mass production is also lower than for cured meat.”

"This is incredible!"

If anyone else had said that, Mirabeau and Vinio probably wouldn't have believed it, but since His Highness the Crown Prince said it was possible, then there must be no problem.

The cured meat has an extremely high salt content, so you can only eat a little at a time. Moreover, it's hard and unpalatable; if you eat it for half a month straight, you'll feel nauseous just from the smell.

Therefore, fresh vegetables and meats were considered treasures when marching, fighting, or going to sea.

Especially on warships, sometimes chickens and pigs are raised in the hold, and even vegetables are grown, so that they can have some fresh food.

Therefore, fresh meat and vegetables were usually luxuries that only high-ranking military officers could enjoy.

“If the navy were here, they would be ecstatic,” Mirabo, who had served on the expedition to Corsica, immediately remarked.

(End of this chapter)