Chapter 1045 Education
The important reason why East Africa can thrive in front-end scientific research fields such as nuclear physics is the continued efforts of East African higher education. Although East Africa is relatively lacking in top leaders, it is not yet able to compare with Europe and the United States. , but East Africa has the largest number of college students and young scientists in the world. Take the East African Institute of Nuclear Physics, for example, 100% of them are young people, with the maximum age not exceeding 45 years old.
In 1905 alone, there were 370,000 university students in East Africa. At that time, the number of university students in the UK was only more than 7,000. Among European countries, the largest number of university students in Germany was only 40,000 or 50,000. There are also a relatively large number of college students in the United States, more than 150,000.
Although there are many universities in the United States, there are many business schools in American universities. This also reflects the pro-business social atmosphere in the United States. Most families hope to copy the entrepreneurial legends of those American tycoons.
At present, there are indeed many rich people rising from the grassroots in the United States, so the "insightful people" in American society naturally follow the public opinion and build business schools to collect tuition fees. At the same time, high-income groups such as lawyers and doctors are also in the United States. It is very popular, so in American university education, a large part of the group belongs to non-science and engineering fields.
East Africa's investment in education has naturally given East Africa a very high return. Especially during the First Five-Year Plan, local talents from East Africa took on the absolute majority. This was unimaginable in the 1970s and 1980s.
East Africa currently trains more mid-to-high-end talents every year than all European countries combined, so East Africa can achieve an explosion in the field of scientific research.
It can be predicted that when the Second Five-Year Plan is completed, with a more favorable industrial base, East African industry and society will accelerate development again.
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Through the expansion of colleges and universities in the 1990s, the scale of higher education in East Africa has increased significantly, and the weight of the Ministry of Education has also increased.
Minister of Education Muric reported to Ernst: "By the time the First Five-Year Plan is completed, the number of colleges and universities in our country will be 217. Although it is not as good as the more than 1,000 in the United States, our colleges and universities are large in scale and centralized. Development, so the number of college students is also large.”
East African universities are mainly public, so no matter how small the universities in East Africa are, they cannot be as perfunctory as those in the United States.
In the United States, education can be treated as a business, and the results of private investment will naturally lead some people to adopt opportunistic methods to build so-called "universities". Some universities may not even have dedicated venues in order to save costs. , it is not impossible to simply rent private houses to run schools, so there is a big difference between American-style universities and East African universities.
“Currently, our country’s universities adopt a strict-in, strict-out model. Middle school or social personnel pass the college entrance examination to obtain the qualifications to enter the university. These people are originally the elites of East Africa, and within the university these elites gather in At the same time, we will further screen, so that most of them will still be excellent after entering the society.”
“With the development of the Second Five-Year Plan, our country’s industry’s desire for talents has become higher and higher, and many jobs have been created. And more professional management talents and technical talents are needed.”
"Higher education is also the main force in my country's scientific research field, and scientific laboratories and research institutions across the country need to supplement talent."
"At the same time, in government departments, there is also a huge demand for high-quality talents, especially Under the planned economy, government staff are required to adapt their capabilities so that they can better implement industrial development plans and strengthen rural and urban management. "
To sum up, East African society has a strong demand for talents, of course. , East Africa does not need to be too eager to invest in education now.
It is no exaggeration to say that East Africa ranks first in the world in terms of investment in education. Take the population of East Africa as an example. The population of East Africa is larger than that of the United States, but the number is limited. However, the population of East Africa has higher education. It is indeed more than double that of the United States, and it is even more exaggerated when it comes to primary and secondary education groups. After all, East Africa is not as wealthy as the United States. This also intuitively reflects the importance that the East African government attaches to education. Ernst said: "We made a major upgrade in higher education in the 1990s. Now, although the training of high-end talents in our country cannot fully meet social needs, there is no need to expand enrollment on the scale of the 1990s. Educational resources are in Our country has already accounted for the majority of government spending, and now we are more focused on digesting the returns on education investment in the 1990s.”
"Of course, after the Second Five-Year Plan is completed, we will make adjustments based on the economic situation. After all, with the development of the times, countries with greater talent reserves will have greater advantages."
Ernst's assessment of the current scale of education in East Africa I am quite satisfied. Although the number of universities in East Africa is far from that of later countries, it also depends on the era. In East Africa, which has not yet completed industrialization, it cannot absorb more higher education talents. Therefore, appropriately slowing down the expansion of education will have a great impact on the current situation in East Africa. It's a good thing.
Moreover, the scale of higher education in East Africa is already the largest in the world, and there is no motivation to invest more resources in higher education.
East Africa’s investment in education is not only in universities, but also includes primary and secondary school systems. At its peak, East Africa’s investment in education even exceeded military spending. Even now, it is one of the main items in East Africa’s government expenditures.
Therefore, in terms of national strength and financial pressure, the current educational resources in East Africa can basically meet the overall needs of society. As for the demand for high-end talents in various departments and enterprises, it is bluntly said that it will not change in any era.
Ernst continued: "As for education, we should also change our attitude in due course. In the past, East African education focused on quantity rather than quality. Now the national economy has developed somewhat, and industrial progress has been particularly rapid. In this case, the original It is inevitable to optimize educational resources. ”
“Including upgrading campus hardware facilities, improving teacher quality, innovating textbook knowledge, etc. In the past, our industry was difficult, so many campuses had poor basic conditions. At this time, we should make efforts. Adjustment. ”
As a colonial country with a short history, East Africa has never been a poor country. It can only be said that its industry is not strong, and it is generally richer than many countries in Eurasia, including South American countries. , of course, the small population in East Africa in the early days was also the main reason.
The current population size of East Africa is actually relatively moderate. Although the population has experienced large-scale growth, surpassing most European and American countries, while the population of East Africa is growing, the industry is also growing. In this case , East Africa’s population increase has not had an impact on East African society, but has promoted East Africa’s industrialization.
If it is a traditional agricultural country, then the extremely rapid population growth in East Africa will naturally bring more negative effects. After all, land resources are limited. When the land is not enough to bear the excess population, social problems will occur.
However, the land carrying capacity is not static, and industrialization is the main way to increase the land carrying capacity. The industrialization of East Africa has absorbed the wealthy agricultural population of the country.
And as a colonial country, the East African government holds a lot of assets, so even if East Africa is really poor, the East African government is not poor either. This is also the main reason why East Africa can invest ahead of time in the field of education. It is mainly caused by the money in hand. Yes, although there is a lot of social wealth in traditional agricultural countries, it is completely concentrated in the hands of a few people. Even if the government has surplus revenue, it will eventually flow into the hands of the upper class of society through various forms.
Of course, according to the rules, East Africa will definitely be like this in the future, but this is not an issue that Ernst needs to consider. East Africa has a short history now, and various social problems are far from reaching the stage of outbreak. Even if East Africa is like the Soviet Union If you don't want to make progress in the middle and late stages, as long as you don't fight, it can last for many years.
All in all, under the unified coordination of various factors, the current financial situation of the East African government is very good, which also allows the East African government to concentrate on developing the economy and industry, and industrial development in turn promotes the development of East African society. progress.
(End of this chapter)