Fireworks and firecrackers continued for more than ten days. In mid-March, the festive atmosphere of the new lunar calendar gradually dissipated, and citizens from various industries such as government agencies, schools, and the military also went to work one after another to start the new year's work.
"In 1888, the government's financial revenue was 100 million Han yuan, fiscal expenditure was 8.7 million Han yuan, and the savings was 1.3 million Han yuan."
In the Chang'an Palace, at the first court meeting after the New Year, Zhao Yan, the Minister of Finance, reported on the government's fiscal revenue and expenditure for the past year as usual.
“How much financial funds does the government invest in education?”
Li Mingyuan asked as he sat in the upper position.
"The annual education expenditures of primary and secondary schools are approximately 1.3 million Han Yuan, and the expenditures of higher education institutions and overseas study education are 7 million Han Yuan. The total expenditure of the two is approximately 2 million Han Yuan, accounting for the total fiscal revenue of the central government.
About 20% of the amount.”
After Zhao Yan finished his report, Sun Bin, the director-general of the Ministry of Education, standing next to him, added: "In 1888, the number of school-age children enrolled in primary and secondary schools increased by about 1.07 percentage points compared with 1887. The overall number of junior schools
The enrollment rate has reached 93% for the first time. However, according to the feedback of many grassroots teachers in the past half month, there are still more than 100,000 school-age children who have not been able to receive education due to factors such as parents' disability and loss of labor force.
Opportunity."
"Have the education department and local government agencies cooperated with schools to participate in helping out-of-school children solve their family difficulties?"
“Last year, the Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, and local state and county government agencies, carried out a total of 43 activities to help children from poor families enroll in school. However, due to objective reasons such as parents’ disabilities and limited family financial resources,
Even though many parents know that their children have the legal obligation and right to attend school through explanations by local officials, they still do not have the ability to send their children to school."
The Director-General of the Ministry of Education said with helplessness in his words: "The law does not care about people. For those children who dropped out of school due to poverty, the Ministry of Education and local governments mostly adopt a gentle approach to persuade their parents to send their children to school. As for the family conditions, it is very difficult."
, parents really do not have the financial ability to support their children to complete primary school education. The Ministry of Education and local governments have no better solution despite limited financial funds. They can only watch as seven or eight years old, eleven or two
Children who are 20 years old stay in rural villages, take on family responsibilities early, drive cattle and sheep to graze on the grass, and live the same life as their parents."
"Families with parents who are disabled or chronically ill have low economic income. The annual tuition fee for junior school is 4 Chinese yuan per person. For ordinary workers and peasant families, it may not be a big deal, but for parents from poor families, it is a big deal.
It’s a big expense.”
Li Mingyuan's heart was not affected by the fact that children from poor local families were out of school.
“Education is the hope for a country’s rise, and primary education is the foundation of national education. About 7% of school-age children are out of school. Expanding to the entire local area means that nearly 200,000 children have lost the opportunity to receive education.
The Han Empire is the motherland of all citizens, and it is also the motherland of those children who are out of school. As the king of the country, I care about and care for children all over the country as if they were my own children. I sit back and watch nearly 200,000 children lose the opportunity to enter school.
, I feel uneasy."
Thinking of the problem of out-of-school children from poor local families and the example of free compulsory education in later generations, Li Mingyuan thought for a moment and made a decisive decision: "There are more than 1.5 million local primary school-age children! The annual tuition fee is 4 Han yuan per person.
, which adds up to 6oo Han Yuan.
The current government fiscal surplus is 1,300,000 Han Yuan. I plan to use 4,000,000 Han Yuan from the national fiscal revenue, plus part of the annual profits of several large-scale military enterprises controlled by the royal family, as primary school education funds, with an annual cost of 6,000,000 Han Yuan.
The Han-won education allocation will replace the tuition expenses of children of primary school age at home, and the five-year compulsory education system for primary schools will be implemented free of charge. Starting from June today, it will be promoted nationwide from Gyeonggi Province."
"Your Majesty is merciful. After the implementation of your virtuous policies, children and citizens across the country will definitely be grateful for your Majesty's grace!"
Sun Bin, the director-general of the Ministry of Education, bowed his hands and said in an exciting tone: "Children who are out of school in various parts of the country are also the descendants and hopes of every adult citizen. Therefore, I sincerely request your majesty to start with the Ministry of Education and call on all government departments and society to do so."
Citizens from all walks of life have initiated donation activities to raise part of the funds for local primary school education! To fill the gap left by insufficient financial funds!"
“I second the proposal.”…
The suggestion of Sun Bin, the director-general of the Ministry of Education, was unanimously approved by the interior ministers, and everyone unanimously handed over their hands and asked.
"You are all the pillars of the country. The monarch and his ministers are united. Why worry about the failure of national education! Why worry about the failure of national rejuvenation!"
Regardless of whether the ministers below are really willing to spend money to subsidize free education in junior schools, Li Mingyuan still has a look of satisfaction on his face.
“Financial allocations and national donations can alleviate some of the financial expenditure pressure on local families, but relying solely on the junior school tuition exemption system still cannot solve the problem of children from poor families enrolling in schools.
If we want to fundamentally solve the problem of out-of-school children, we must start from their families and establish a basic social security system imitating the German Empire.
In 1883, the German Empire promulgated and implemented the first social insurance bill in Western countries, the "Sickness Insurance Law", which limited the scope of insured persons to miners, quarryers, and lower-class white families with an annual income of 2,000 marks.
According to the actual situation of the citizens in the local area, the Han Dynasty can expand the scope of application of the "Disease Insurance Law" to all agricultural workers with a monthly salary of less than 6 Chinese yuan, servants, primary school and tutors, theater employees, crew members and those engaged in household industries.
Compulsory insurance is required,
Insurance funds are borne by both the employer and the employee. For example, the insurance premium for enterprise workers is generally borne by the employer.
Two-thirds of the total insurance premiums will be borne by the workers, and one-third will be borne by the workers. The amount of insurance paid by the workers each year is limited to 1% to 3% of the annual income, and this range shall not be exceeded.”
“Should the Disease Insurance Law paid by employers and workers be included in the national administrative supervision system?”
“Yes, the insurance premiums paid by employers and workers are deposited in the Central Bank. At the same time, the insurance funds supervision board is composed of representatives of employers and workers. The board of directors has the power to jointly supervise and manage the reserves and use of insurance funds together with the local branches of the Central Bank.
condition."
After Li Mingyuan shared some of the social security systems he knew with everyone, hundreds of officials initially reached a consensus on establishing a basic social security system after slight discussions and modifications based on the local government's financial situation and historical background.
.
The central government is preparing to establish a social security system based on three insurance bills: the "Disease Insurance Law", the "Accident Insurance Law", and the "Orphans and Disability Insurance Law" for all citizens in the local area.
The insurance content of the "Disease Insurance Law" includes free diagnosis and treatment, medical care, death and funeral expenses and recuperation expenses during illness. The recuperation expenses are about half of the insured's usual salary and are paid starting from the third day of illness. If the illness lasts for six months, the remaining
The remaining medical expenses will be paid from the accident insurance fund.
The "Accident Insurance Law" was intended to apply only to a small number of particularly dangerous occupations in the ten years before its official promulgation, that is, from 189o to 1900.
Ten years later, the scope of application of the "Accident Insurance Law" was expanded to all citizens whose monthly salary is less than 30% of the local average salary, including the postal and telegraph industries.
Personnel in industries such as civil service, railway business, naval factories, government employees, etc. can all enjoy the social security provided by the Accident Insurance Law.
The cost of maintaining accident insurance is borne solely by the employer. Employers operating similar businesses form an insurance association to manage the fund.
Every person who opens or acquires a business falling within the scope of this Act shall also become a member of an insurance club composed of local employers in the same industry and shall pay to the club proportionate to the wages billed by him and the degree of risk borne by his employees.
Insurance premiums. This type of club is managed by representatives selected by the employer, and the club is fully responsible for the compensation paid. The amount of compensation is stipulated by local law.
Anyone who suffers an accidental injury, becomes incapacitated for more than 3 days, or dies during the course of employment, not due to negligence or deviant behavior, should receive compensation. Compensation includes free medical care and cash pension. The cash pension is paid as follows:
From the 4th day to the end of the 4th week, 50% of the monthly salary of similar local workers will be paid from the sickness insurance fund, but it will not be more than 10 Chinese yuan per month.
From the 5th week to the end of the 13th week, in addition to the cash amount mentioned above, the employer's insurance company will pay an additional 1/6 of the salary.
After the 13th week, it is calculated as 2/3 of the injured person's average annual income, and all is paid by the employer's insurance company. The pension amount for the terminally disabled is 2/3 of the average annual income.
The death and funeral expenses are 1/15 of the deceased's annual income, plus alimony that totals no more than 60% of the deceased's annual income.
The Orphans and Disability Insurance Act, as a direct solution to the problem of out-of-school children, will be first promulgated and implemented before December 1889.
The main contents of the Orphans and Disability Insurance Law are:
Anyone who is over 16 years old and has a wife and children at home must take out insurance to prevent the risk of disability and loss of labor.
Those who pay insurance premiums and live on wages enjoy the following benefits: Those who become permanently disabled and lose more than 2/3 of their working ability will be given an annual disability subsidy;
If there are children under the age of 18 in the family who are in primary or intermediate schools of appropriate age, they will be given a minimum education subsidy of 2 Chinese yuan per month during the five-year primary school stage. During the three-year intermediate school education stage, depending on the degree of family difficulty,
Provide 50% to 100% tuition fee reduction and exemption assistance respectively.
If students from poor families are admitted to public institutions of higher learning, the government will provide interest-free loans and tuition-free subsidies to help students complete two years of preparatory studies and four years of formal studies, a total of six years of higher education, and continue to study.
During the period, the government will also provide financial subsidies for living expenses at its discretion.
In addition to families impoverished due to illness and disability, some young widows and their children whose husbands died due to other accidental reasons,
During the period of not remarrying, the widow's alimony is entitled to 3/10 of the husband's salary during his lifetime. In addition, the government adds 20 Chinese yuan each year to provide living allowances for widows and their children.
The three social security bills basically cover the life security issues of people with special difficulties. Among them, for widows who are of the right age and have not yet lost their labor force, the government, in addition to paying them the minimum child care expenses, is mainly to encourage them to remarry.
Remarriage, after all, the number of local men of working age has always been higher than that of women. As long as the local immigration policy is not abolished, the imbalance of the male-female ratio will become a stubborn problem that has always accompanied the development of the country.
