Multimedia Conference Room.
The Weekly Meeting was held here every week.
Normally, the Weekly Meeting was conducted internally by the school and was far more casual.
Today, leaders from the Education Bureau had come. Whether they were here to observe or had something to say—
As long as outsiders were present, the atmosphere of the Weekly Meeting became much, much more serious.
Li Yuan entered the conference room on time and sat with Chen Yong in the sixth row.
Li Yuan was no longer picky about where he sat.
Ever since Mingzhuo had gone to compete for a Youth Martial Tournament qualification, the higher-ups had begun keeping an eye on him.
No matter which corner he sat in, he would draw attention.
After Li Yuan and Chen Yong sat down, they looked around the conference room.
On the stage, an Education Bureau leader sat beside Principal Yin.
Li Yuan had seen this man before. He had been the leader of the group during the last Open Class.
The Education Bureau's deputy director, Zeng Chang.
At that moment, he sat beside Principal Yin, and the two chatted politely.
"Birds of a feather!" Chen Yong muttered beside him, clearly displeased.
Li Yuan hurriedly tugged at his arm. "Keep it down. This leader is actually fairly impartial."
His A Minus last time had been proposed by this man.
"Impartial?
Look how close he is with Principal Yin, chatting and laughing away.
Maybe he came today to give you trouble again." Chen Yong warned in a low voice.
There had been all sorts of rumors lately, and quite a few outside organizations had criticized Li Yuan.
At a time like this, why had an Education Bureau leader come?
It was perfectly normal for Chen Yong to suspect that.
But Li Yuan felt he was jumping to conclusions.
Adult social interactions always required a certain degree of decorum.
Even if Deputy Director Zeng Chang had a terrible relationship with Principal Yin, they would still have to put on an act in public.
One brief exchange was not enough to judge anything.
At the same time, Li Yuan looked toward the far-left seat in the first row.
That figure was already familiar to him: Gu Yu, the Grandmaster's disciple.
The outcome of that match had already been decided, so why had he suddenly returned?
He had helped Jin Fan participate in that match.
Though losing had damaged his pride, he was not the one most affected by the matter.
As an outsider, Gu Yu should have had even less right to attend an internal school meeting.
Seeing Gu Yu, Li Yuan really did begin to speculate.
Were they still planning to make an issue out of the competition qualification?
Soon, the large conference room was full.
The teachers of First High School naturally knew that today's meeting was different.
With Deputy Director Zeng Chang from the Education Bureau present, every one of them was far more restrained.
Once everyone had arrived, Principal Yin began the meeting.
As usual, the meeting began with a summary of Lingshan No.1 High School's teaching work.
Ever since that match, Principal Yin had deliberately avoided mentioning Li Yuan or the Youth Martial Tournament.
Many people had been wondering whether today's Weekly Meeting would bring up the Youth Martial Tournament.
At the same time, Principal Yin had already begun addressing the main matter.
The Education Bureau leaders had likely come for this as well.
"In late September, the Provincial Education Bureau will arrange a major Open Class inspection.
It will conduct a concentrated review of the educational quality of middle schools across the cities in the Southeast Region. Lingshan No.1 High School, in particular, will receive special scrutiny.
Starting today, all teachers must devote more effort to teaching and improve the quality of their instruction."
After saying this, Principal Yin looked toward Deputy Director Zeng Chang beside him.
Zeng Chang nodded, then took over.
"Last month, the Municipal Bureau came to First High School and observed Open Classes for two days.
Other than a very small number of teachers who performed exceptionally, the rest were far from satisfactory.
If you face the Provincial Bureau's inspection in this state, none of you will receive satisfactory results in the end."
The deputy director of the Municipal Education Bureau wore an extremely stern expression.
To them, this was a major matter.
The Municipal Education Bureau's responsibility was to manage education in Lingshan City, with educational quality being one of its core responsibilities.
If Lingshan No.1 High School performed poorly, the Provincial Bureau would not hold the school directly accountable.
But it would hold the Municipal Bureau directly accountable.
"Over the past few years, the young martial artists in our Southeast Region have fallen far behind those in Jiangbei Province and Hexi Province.
The gap among the most outstanding young geniuses is not yet that large.
But starting from the mid-tier prospects, the gap has steadily widened.
The Provincial Bureau's research concluded that overall teaching quality in the Southeast Region has declined.
This decline is fully evident among students with mid-tier results!"
What Zeng Chang was saying was, in fact, the reason the Provincial Bureau had come down to inspect them.
Why were they making such a big deal of this matter this year? That was the root of it.
A widespread decline in the strength of young martial artists was an extremely serious matter.
"The rating given by the Provincial Bureau this time will serve as the most important reference standard at the end of the term.
If a school is rated C Grade, personal bonuses will be suspended.
And this time, there will absolutely be no exceptions.
If the Provincial Bureau gives a low rating, then the end-of-term rating can only be low as well."
The fact that Deputy Director Zeng Chang had personally come to issue such a warning showed just how serious this matter was.
The teachers in the conference room all seemed rather worried.
This Open Class assessment was far, far more serious than any before.
"What if we get unlucky and draw a course we're not good at..."
Chen Yong, seated beside Li Yuan, was also growing anxious.
Students were not the only ones worried about exams. Teachers were much the same.
"Relax. I'll help you reinforce things in advance when the time comes. Getting a B Grade definitely won't be a problem."
Only after hearing Li Yuan say this did Chen Yong feel at ease.
In the previous Open Class, Li Yuan had received an A Minus rating.
Since Li Yuan spoke with such confidence, there naturally would not be much of a problem.
Chen Yong's family was fairly well-off. Even if he simply coasted along, he could still live an easy life.
But Chen Yong still had his pride. Many of his parents' friends' children had achieved something.
If he could not even manage to be a steady middle school teacher, it would be far too embarrassing for his parents.
Noisy discussions continued in the conference room for several minutes.
Principal Yin took over again and began emphasizing once more the seriousness of the Provincial Bureau's inspection.
In this matter, Principal Yin, Deputy Director Zeng Chang, and all the teachers shared the same interests.
Everyone hoped the teachers would perform well. It would be even better if everyone received an A Minus.
But if several teachers were rated C Grade by the Provincial Bureau and had their bonuses deducted, then the school leaders would not have an easy time either.
After discussing this matter, Principal Yin began talking about various trivial affairs.
Perhaps once people took on leadership positions, they all became long-winded.
In any case, the Weekly Meeting rarely ended in under forty minutes.
Principal Yin alone could easily talk for half an hour.
After finishing with the school's miscellaneous affairs, Principal Yin's gaze fell on Li Yuan again.
After last Saturday's match, Principal Yin had not spoken with Li Yuan again, nor had he mentioned the Youth Martial Tournament.
It was as though he had completely ignored both Li Yuan and the Youth Martial Tournament.
But today, it seemed he intended to bring it up again.
"Teacher Li Yuan, registration for the Youth Martial Tournament closes this weekend.
The Youth Martial Tournament rankings are closely tied to Lingshan City's development.
Teacher Jin Fan bears the hopes of the city's residents and will fight for a higher ranking for Lingshan City.
I'll ask again: are you certain you want to occupy this competition slot?"
Principal Yin's expression was calm, as though he stood in a neutral position when he asked the question.
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