Li Xuan personally awarded academician titles to more than 80 of the top science academies in the empire, which once again reflected the empire's emphasis on science and technology, allowing more students to study hard and obtain most of the glory and wealth they dream of.
The book has its own beauty like jade, and the book has its own golden house.
This sentence is still applicable in the contemporary Tang Empire, and to some extent it is even more applicable than in previous dynasties.
As long as you are smart enough and diligent enough, being born poor will never be an obstacle to your success, because the Tang Empire has a series of scholarships that allow you to complete your studies without spending a dime and even receive living expenses to support your family.
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Once everything is accomplished, prosperity and wealth will not be a problem, and you will be able to live a decent life no matter how poor you are.
Not to mention elite students who have received higher education from college or above. Even if they are preparatory students or technical secondary school students, even if they cannot continue to apply for university or junior college, their academic qualifications are enough to give them a bright future, because at present, the Tang Empire’s
In the imperial examination system, the academic qualification requirements for students participating in the imperial examination have been lowered to matriculation or technical secondary school.
This is true even for ordinary middle school students, enough for them to find a decent job.
Studying was a very formal matter in the Tang Empire. Whether they were children from poor families or children from powerful families, they all regarded studying as the best way to change their lives. Even if the students were young and didn't know it themselves, their parents were sure
will know.
Therefore, even very poor families will grit their teeth and send their children to primary school when they are seven or eight years old.
Because they all know that if their children are smart enough and perform well in the first and second years, then they don't have to worry about subsequent school expenses and living expenses, as the government will cover them all.
Well, the premise is that the child is smart enough!
If they are only of average status, they will only study for a year or two at most, and then they will give up. After all, if they cannot get a scholarship, poor families cannot afford to send their children to school.
Studying can change your destiny, which is very realistic in the Tang Dynasty. It is even the only way for poor children to get ahead.
Other methods are basically unreliable and too random.
Under such a social background, the grassroots education in Datang is actually very developed. According to statistics from the Education Department of the Ministry of Rites, the current enrollment rate of school-age boys in the local area has reached an astonishing 100%.
ninety.
However, a considerable number of them are unable to complete six years of primary school education due to various restrictions, and will drop out of school one after another during the six years of primary school.
Only about 50% of those who can graduate from primary school in the end.
By the time you reach the middle school stage, it is basically less likely to drop out of school. Generally, students will have completed three years of middle school education, and the graduation rate is as high as over 90%.
Because those who can go to middle school are either outstanding students who study for free or children from middle-class or above families. Those who cannot pass the exam or cannot afford to go to school have already been eliminated in the further education stage.
Not to mention waiting for the preparatory stage. Unless it is an extreme situation, there are very few students who drop out of school.
It is worth noting that the proportion of preparatory students going to university is still relatively high, reaching about 80%. About 30% of those who go to university are studying for four-year undergraduate programs, and 100% are studying at the undergraduate level.
Seventy years ago, I attended a three-year college.
The admission rate of 80% basically means that as long as you don't commit suicide, you still have a good chance of going to college.
The reason why there is such a high admission rate in the preparatory stage is not because it is easy to apply for imperial universities, but simply because in Datang's education system, students are already selected during the middle school and preparatory stages.
Preparatory schools, whose name means 'preparatory undergraduate', exist purely to train college students. Therefore, the number of enrollments in Datang's preparatory schools is actually very small. They are basically based on the existing number of university enrollments.
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There are few universities in Datang, so there are naturally few preparatory courses.
Therefore, in the current Datang Empire, for those students, the most important threshold in life is not to apply for college, but to apply for preparatory courses after graduating from middle school.
If you pass the exam, you will be rich and prosperous. If you fail, your life will be over...
The current education system of the Tang Dynasty also resulted in the large number of primary schools in the Tang Empire.
In the early years, only counties and towns set up primary schools. Now, basically some large villages will also set up government-run primary schools. And then the number is larger and more dispersed. Almost every village has one, which was reformed from traditional private schools.
of private primary schools.
In fact, primary education in the Tang Empire was very popular.
And among them, private schools bear at least 30% of the teaching tasks.
This situation occurs purely because of Chinese tradition.
The landowners and gentry have always been devoted to education since ancient times, regardless of whether it is for the future of their children from the same village or for the sake of fame, or for something else.
After all, this thing actually doesn't cost much, and it can also gain a reputation as a clean slate.
Although the gentry class of the Tang Empire had turned to industry and commerce, they still maintained many traditions. For example, they liked to live in the countryside, and at the same time they liked to do various good deeds in their hometowns, build roads, bridges, and schools, etc.
Outside, they may be corrupt officials, profiteers or even criminals that everyone hates, but in their hometown they usually pretend to be polite gentry, and donating money and materials to gain fame is standard practice.
No matter what they thought in their hearts, the fact is that the gentry class of the Tang Dynasty still played a great role in promoting the construction of rural areas in the empire.
This also directly promoted the development of basic education in Datang. Otherwise, relying solely on the government would have increased the enrollment rate of school-age boys nationwide to more than 90% in just a few decades.
Still unlikely.
However, Li Xuan is still not satisfied with the current situation where the enrollment rate is high but the dropout rate is also high.
He believes that even a farmer or a worker must at least have a primary school education, be able to read and write, and do basic arithmetic, and then have a basic understanding of the world, and not be too ignorant.
Regarding the current problem of low dropout rate in primary school, Li Xuan is also preparing to solve it in the next two years.
How to deal with it?
In fact, it is very simple, just continue to reduce tuition fees.
Nowadays, ordinary peasant families have to grit their teeth to support one child in primary school.
So what Li Xuan has to do is to turn this situation into a situation where ordinary peasant families can support their children through primary school without too much difficulty.
Reducing the burden on ordinary families to provide education for their children will naturally reduce the dropout rate.