Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 296 Official Selection
Chang'an, formerly the Cordoba Provincial Congress Building, is now the location of the Han Dynasty's central government office building.

Military flags were fluttering, guards were tight, and in front of the wide central square, a group of young men in dark cadet uniforms were sitting upright.

"Your Highness, the students and officials participating in the ceremony are all here." Liu Pu reported in a low voice on the marble steps opposite the central square.

"We can start now. First, hand out the commissioning certificates to the new officers. Finally, I will say a few words to the trainees."

Li Mingyuan sat in the center of the meeting platform opposite the students and said with a smile. …

"Chen Zhaonan, Zhao Xueduan, Li Guotao..."

"arrive……"

When the students heard their names, they stood up solemnly, received their appointment certificates from the officials presiding over the ceremony, with unconcealable excitement on their faces.

More than half of the students who participated in the ceremony for new officials graduated from colleges and universities, while the rest won the opportunity to work in various administrative departments of the central government through open elections.

After establishing and improving the local education system at all levels, the appointment and selection system of officials tended to be formalized and professionalized. The appointment of officials to the administrative departments directly under the central government needs to go through two procedures: primary screening and official professional skills assessment. They must then be reviewed and approved by the head of the Ministry of Personnel who is in charge of official selection and appointment. Only then can they become a promising central government official.

"Your Highness, there are a total of 361 grassroots officials entering the central government departments. Among them, there are 197 graduates from the National Nanhua University (Xinjing University before the reorganization), Imperial College of Technology, and National Medical University. Among them, more than a dozen students have excellent performance and have good training potential."

The process of issuing the appointment certificate was nearing completion. Sun Bin obtained a list of outstanding graduates from colleges and universities from the Ministry of Education and handed it to Li Mingyuan.

"Yes, there are some good seedlings."

Li Mingyuan looked at the list and smiled, "The country's strength has expanded, and the government's territory has expanded to 340 million square kilometers. In the past few years, there was a lack of literate officials, so we could only pick the best from the worst and set up a makeshift government. Now it's different. The government has invested in developing education. Every year, students graduating from intermediate technical colleges and colleges can serve as grassroots officials, and the requirements for selecting officials must be stricter."

"According to the instructions of His Highness, the selection qualification of county and state officials has been raised to a degree above the secondary professional college level. The appointment of grassroots officials such as townships, towns, and villages will mainly be retired military officers, and they are required to have basic writing skills and troop management experience."

"The township and county administrative divisions are the foundation of the country's administrative power, and the selection of grassroots officials cannot lower the standards."

Li Mingyuan emphasized to Sun Bin again, and continued, "The training and selection of professional technical officials must also be accelerated. After the integration of Chang'an University (formerly University of Cordoba), Central University of Technology, National University of South China (formerly Xinjing University), Songjiang University (formerly University of Buenos Aires), and National Medical University, each school should add relevant professional disciplines according to actual conditions, and train more talents urgently needed by the country."

"Your Highness, Dr. Mannister, Dr. Jedlik, and Mr. Estrom have been complaining about the lack of manpower. The five local colleges and universities have a total of three graduating classes this year. Among the first two classes, about a quarter of the students stayed in school to work as teachers, and the remaining half entered the Royal Academy and various military production factories. The remaining small number of graduates also entered government departments."

Sun Bin observed Li Mingyuan's expression from the side and continued, "Before the merger and reorganization of colleges and universities, there were only 60 graduates in the first class of Xinjing University, 52 graduates in Central University of Technology, and many students in National Medical University who were originally Chinese medicine doctors. The situation was better, with 107 people. However, the graduates of the three colleges and universities added up to only more than people. The core technical personnel of more than important factories such as the Royal Academy, Xinjing Shipyard, Iron and Steel Group, and military production plants are mainly foreigners. The first batch of students of Xinjing University and Central University of Technology have not graduated yet, and the heads of more than factories have allocated suitable technical students through the Ministry of Education. Your Highness, several local colleges and universities lack high-tech teaching talents. Faced with many state-owned factories and government departments that apply for the allocation of graduates, the Ministry of Education also has considerable difficulties."

"The government has a limited amount of fiscal expenditure each year, so every subordinate department has its own difficulties."

Li Mingyuan turned his gaze away from the group of young students and said directly, "Okay, no need to beat around the bush. How much is the funding gap of your Ministry of Education? How much financial funds did the presidents of the five colleges and universities ask you for? Tell us all at once."

"Chang'an University was reorganized on the basis of the University of Cordoba. There were 87 Argentine teachers in the school who were not qualified for the teaching tasks of the new college. The remaining Argentine white teachers who were willing to stay and were able to take on the teaching tasks were 21, less than one-fifth of the original number of teachers at the University of Cordoba.

Chang'an University's teachers in various disciplines need to be transferred from other colleges, and more than two-thirds of the teaching equipment needs to be purchased again. Their college applied for the most financial funds, 110 million Han yuan, equivalent to 60 taels of silver. "

"National Nanhua University, Central University of Science and Technology, Songjiang University, National Medical University, how much funding do they need?"

"The situation of Songjiang University and Chang'an University is similar. The president of the college applied for 100 million yuan, and the other three colleges applied for a total of 240 million yuan."

"Five colleges and universities applied for 450 million yuan in funding. It's a pity they could even say that."

Li Mingyuan has been troubled by the financial funding gap recently. When he heard Sun Bin talk about education funding subsidies, he was instantly filled with anger.

"Tell the presidents of several colleges that they don't have 450 million Hanyuan, and the maximum they can give is 200 million Hanyuan. If they still can't get things done after getting the money, they should stop asking for funds and just resign."

"But Your Highness, the Royal Academy and several heavy industrial production enterprises need outstanding technical talents. If we don't increase the investment in education funds, we won't be able to meet their talent needs!"

Sun Bin looked up at Li Mingyuan and said cautiously.

"Priority should be given to training technical personnel for research institutes and heavy industrial production plants, and this cannot be changed."

Li Mingyuan rubbed his forehead, thought quietly for a while, and said, "The number of students admitted to the mechanical, physical, and chemical departments of the Central University of Science and Technology and the National Nanhua University remains unchanged. Graduates of the three disciplines will be given priority to the Royal Academy, Xinjing Shipyard, military production plants, and steel smelting groups. The number of students admitted to the economics, agriculture, water conservancy, management, and textile departments will be increased. Except for the mechanical, physical, and chemical departments and the economics department of the National Nanhua University and the management department of Chang'an University, the number of students admitted to other disciplines will be increased. At this stage, the training of mid-level applied technical talents is the main focus. When recruiting students, the admission standards can be appropriately lowered."

"What about education funding?" Sun Bin asked.

"The first batch of education funds, 50 yuan, will be allocated by the Ministry of Finance. The remaining 150 million yuan will be allocated in three installments. The specific allocation time will be coordinated and negotiated by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance."…………

(End of this chapter)