Chapter 50 Education

December 9, 1866.

Today, another school was established in Heixingen, Heixingen Cultural School. This school is actually a primary school. Unlike the Heixingen Military Academy, it recruits Chinese students as well as local students in Heixingen.

After all, going to the Hechingen Military Academy means going to East Africa in the end. Which German parent would rush to send their child to Africa?

Therefore, apart from Chinese students, most of the other German students at the Hechingen Military Academy were orphans from all over Germany.

Heixingen Cultural School is different. It is a regular school, while Heixingen Military Academy is actually a fake university.

The Hechingen Military Academy is not included in the Prussian education system. Its students are recruited entirely through the academy's independent enrollment, and the graduates' career destinations are also clearly defined.

The Hechingen Cultural School was registered with the Prussian government, and the Chinese students here all studied as "international students."

Ernst, a student at the Hechingen Military Academy, could be given household registration in the East African colony, while the Chinese students at the Hechingen Cultural School were still Chinese in the Prussian government's archives.

After all, these Chinese students will go to other schools in Germany in the future. They do not have identity documents issued by the government and are theoretically illegal immigrants, so they simply use the name of international students as a cover, and Ernst is the guarantor.

The Hechingen Military Academy can only meet the demand for military talents, but Ernst will need professionals from all walks of life in the future.

In order to make use of limited educational resources, students with excellent academic performance could continue their studies in German middle schools, and Ernst also planned to set up a middle school.

Then Ernst would recommend the best among them to attend classes and study at various universities in Germany.

As for those who are not good at studying, they can only enter Ernst's factory to screw screws after graduation. Of course, they can also apply for the Hechingen Military Academy, and finally go to the East African colonies to serve as soldiers, or become German teachers.

Now the Upper Coast District has begun to pilot German education. The first German primary school has been established in the First Town. The East African Colony requires all Chinese immigrants in the First Town to send their children to the German primary school in the First Town.

The teachers in the school are students who graduated from the Heixingen Military Academy, and the textbooks are the ones they have used before.

When it comes to the education of immigrants, of course we start with the children. The older generation of immigrants don’t require them to speak German, as long as they can master a few common words.

The thinking of these adult Chinese has long been formed, and they have passed the most suitable age for learning. If they are directly taught literacy, the cost can be imagined, and the final effect may not be satisfactory.

As long as they are made aware that German is the future of the colonies, the smart ones among them will take the initiative to learn German.

In fact, some smart immigrants had already learned simple German through communication with colonial officials and were thus arranged as managers.

For immigrants in the colonies, there was no psychological burden in sending their children to school. After all, there is a saying that goes, "All things are inferior, only reading is superior."

Those bureaucrats in the Far East did indeed rely on the monopoly of knowledge and education to block the path to upward mobility. As the folk operas say, as long as you pass the imperial examination and become the top scorer, you can have whatever you want. The common people have never eaten pork, but they have seen pigs run.

The local scholars, juren and officials, those who have educated themselves, all have real benefits. Even a scholar can escape from physical labor by teaching, not to mention the economic privilege of being exempted from some taxes and the improvement of his social status.

The education in the East African colonies was certainly not the education model of selecting officials in the Far East. It was simply to educate these ordinary immigrant children.

Of course, the earlier people receive compulsory education, the greater the benefits they will receive. For example, when arranging better jobs in the colonies, immigrants who have received colonial education will definitely be given priority.

In the future, as compulsory education becomes more popular in East African colonies, this bonus will become smaller and smaller, and it will then become the lowest threshold.

The educational content of the first school in East Africa was actually very simple. Apart from German education, there were only simple addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and finally the idea of ​​"loyalty to the emperor and patriotism".

So these children only have half a day of classes every day. They go to school to study in the morning and go home to help in the afternoon.

In order to improve their quality of life, immigrants will try to generate some small income, such as growing vegetables near their houses, or raising chickens and ducks, but the colonies do not care about these.

As long as the work assigned to the colony was completed on time, the rest of the time could be arranged at will. Because the land was relatively abundant, there was a lot of vacant land in the East African colonies.

For example, the houses of colonial immigrants were not as crowded as those in the Far East, but were rather scattered. When these houses were planned, they were arranged with two open spaces in front and back, a garden, and a drainage ditch.

Chinese immigrants had never heard of the concept of a garden. It would be better to use the land to grow vegetables. The drainage ditch was behind the house, so there was actually no need for so much land. The land next to the ditch could be turned over and used to grow crops.

The extra income generated by utilizing idle land is earned by the immigrants themselves and does not need to be handed over.

Only the Germans' residences had real gardens and lawns in front, while the land behind, beyond the drainage ditch, was deserted.

This can only represent the different life attitudes of two kinds of people, and Germans do have higher wages and less busy jobs.

The Germans were also curious about the Chinese immigrants growing vegetables in their gardens. Sometimes they would take the initiative to ask these immigrants what vegetables these were and what those tools were used for.

When the Chinese came to East Africa on board the ships, they did not come completely empty-handed. The colonies would not confiscate their belongings, but those that were too large could not board the ships.

Some Chinese people brought plant seeds to East Africa, resulting in the appearance of various Far Eastern vegetables on African soil.

The land in Africa is most suitable for growing vegetables. After all, vegetables are essentially grass, and Africa is suitable for growing grass, so it has the world's largest savanna.

There is no winter here, and plants can continue to grow as long as there is a water supply.

There are also some ideological differences between German and Chinese immigrants. For example, Germans value their territory and cannot allow others to enter their yard without their consent. Chinese immigrants visit each other and have no sense of territory.

The Chinese would not take the initiative to go to the Germans' yards. After all, Chinese immigrants naturally feel shorter than them. In fact, these Germans did not have that kind of arrogant idea. After interacting with the Chinese, they had a good impression of them. After all, they all came from farmers' backgrounds, and after exchanging some agricultural experiences, they had a good impression of them.

Chinese immigrants who did not have braids were more hardworking and hygienic. These were the result of colonial regulations, but the Chinese were highly obedient, so some of their shortcomings were covered up.

The Germans in the East African colonies were also rough and uncouth people from the Prussian region and did not care about some small details.

The only difference between the two sides is that the Germans have received compulsory education, so their cultural level is relatively high, but they have only received primary education, so their quality is limited.

In the eyes of these Germans who came from farming families, Chinese immigrants are easier to deal with. The thinking of ordinary farmers is relatively simple and straightforward.

Unlike later generations, some people who went abroad would pick flowers and grass in other people's yards, and pretend to be aggrieved and make excuses after being criticized. You would say he is uneducated! Since he went abroad, his education level is generally not low, so education level has little to do with quality.

This was the situation that Chinese people encountered in developed countries in the past. When Ernst was in Africa, the Chinese were hated by everyone. There were many workers from his motherland at the construction site where Ernst worked.

Their education level is not high. At least many of the ones Ernst knows have only high school or junior high school education. But in Africa, they treat the natives like monkeys.

He acts like an idiot every day, giving snacks to the indigenous children, teaching them some "stupid words", taking photos with his mobile phone and sending them to a certain audio platform, appearing to have a very superior feeling.

In fact, the natives regarded them as jokes and even took advantage of some of them.

Although Ernst also looked down on the natives, the education he received in his homeland prevented him from doing such impolite things, as it would be too cheap to do so.

However, in this era, due to the weakness of the country, the difficult living conditions of the people, and the slave education, Chinese immigrants overseas dared not act like they did in later generations, acting like "God is the boss and I am the second."

Being submissive is the true portrayal of the situation, so the Chinese immigrants who are willing to take a step back and see a broader horizon get along relatively well with the Germans.

(End of this chapter)