Education

Minister Pierre nodded with satisfaction as his request was decisively granted. Arthur smiled and said, "Minister Pierre, as long as you successfully complete this three-year plan, you will definitely be credited for your contributions. But don't forget one thing: while developing our steel industry, don't neglect the construction of other industries we need."

"Yes! Your Highness," Minister Pierre nodded solemnly.

"Industrial development burns through money quickly. Minister Pierre, I'm allocating you twelve million pounds, to be paid over three years. All industrial equipment will also be handed over to you. I look forward to seeing your results," Arthur said with a smile.

With ample industrial equipment, twelve million pounds over three years, meaning four million pounds annually, was certainly not a small sum.

"Yes, Your Highness! I guarantee I will complete the mission!" Minister Pierre suddenly stood up and said very solemnly to Arthur.

"Alright, since the industrial sector's plan is temporarily settled, it's time for the education sector, isn't it? As the saying goes, 'a nation prospers through education.' With a large influx of talent into national development and construction, Australia will truly have hope for resurgence," Arthur turned his gaze to the Minister of Education, Richard Noble Chapman, and asked with a smile.

"Your Highness, our country's educational situation is currently quite backward. The literacy rate is only a little over sixty percent. This might not seem like much, but our primary school graduation rate is only fifty-one percent, with nearly half of the population not even completing primary school. This is partly because our per capita income is relatively low, making education costs unaffordable for some. On the other hand, it's also because the overall educational environment in Australia is currently very poor, and we don't have enough schools to accommodate all school-aged children," Minister of Education Richard Noble Chapman stood up and said with a wry smile.

Although Minister Richard had done a good job in education in Tasmania, the population of Tasmania was small, and the difficulty of developing education was greatly reduced.

Looking at Australia as a whole, to completely solve the education problem, besides building enough schools to accommodate students, it's also necessary to reduce tuition and fees as much as possible so that most Australian families can afford them.

"Does the Ministry of Education have any good solutions?" Arthur inquired.

Arthur was somewhat aware of Australia's educational situation.

Logically speaking, the majority of Australia's population were European immigrants, who should have a high level of education.

But in reality, most of these people were gold prospectors drawn by the gold mines and the gold rush. These individuals were mostly poor people in Europe who couldn't afford to eat, crossing oceans to Australia in search of survival or even a chance at sudden wealth.

Under these circumstances, it was already an unexpected outcome that Australia's literacy rate and primary school graduation rate could both be maintained above fifty percent.

"Your Highness, I believe our current education policy should prioritize the development of basic education, rapidly increasing the literacy rate and the popularization of basic education. According to the general trend, with the country's various construction and development efforts, a large number of high-income positions will emerge. These positions generally have one thing in common: they involve some specialized knowledge and fields. Although our basic education cannot teach workers these skills, it can at least make them more adaptable when encountering them," Minister Richard said.

A person with knowledge and cultural reserves is highly likely to learn new things faster than someone without them.

Australia will inevitably have a large number of technical positions in the future, and these positions will naturally be filled by Australians.

This means that the government must now rapidly improve the knowledge and cultural level of Australians, at least significantly increasing the literacy rate, so that Australians can adapt quickly when taking on these positions in the future.

"Hmm, continue," Arthur nodded with satisfaction, signaling Minister Richard to proceed.

"Your Highness, another benefit of prioritizing basic education is that it's not as urgent for research equipment and teacher training. I believe our primary task is to rapidly popularize basic education in Australia. At the same time, we should concentrate some funds to build a key university. This will not only satisfy the domestic shortage of universities but also become a cradle for our future talent. If this university has substantial research funding, it might also contribute to our talent recruitment efforts in Europe," Minister Richard said with a smile.

The education in various European countries is very good, and their universities cultivate a large number of talents every year.

But precisely because of this, there will always be some talents who are dissatisfied with their treatment and seek opportunities elsewhere for their dreams.

If Australian universities offer substantial research funding to all talents, they will certainly attract some scientists who are passionate about research but cannot obtain much funding to come to Australia for research.

Once these talents arrive in Australia, it will be very easy to control them.

This is the purpose of Minister Richard's proposal for unlimited research funding at universities – to attract talent to Australia through massive research funds.

"Hmm, a good proposal. How much funding does the Ministry of Education need in total? How long will it take to see results from basic education development?" Arthur inquired.

Richard's proposal was excellent, not only saving the government funds to the greatest extent but also improving Australia's educational situation and even attracting talent to Australia in the future.

However, without seeing tangible results, all of this was ultimately just talk.

"Your Highness, if we are only popularizing basic education, we only need to build primary schools in cities and towns in each state and city. Because the scale will vary, the required funds will also differ. According to my conservative estimate, the funds needed to popularize basic education will be around two million pounds. The primary schools can be put into use six months after construction, and our educational environment can be improved within a year," Minister Richard said slowly after thinking for a while.

"What if we include the construction of a university?" Arthur asked.

Regardless, a university, the cradle for nurturing high-level talent, must be built, no matter the cost.

Therefore, the construction costs of the university must be included, and even executed as soon as possible.

"Your Highness, the cost of building just one advanced university might run into millions of pounds. If we include the funds for purchasing research equipment and attracting talent, a conservative estimate would be two million pounds," Minister Richard took a longer time to think, and after a long while, gave a surprising answer.

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