African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 54: Chapter 50 Education

December 9, 1866.

Today, another school was established in Heixinggen, the Heixinggen Cultural School. This school is actually an elementary school and differs from the Heixinggen Military Academy by enrolling local students in addition to Chinese students.

After all, attending the Heixinggen Military Academy means eventually heading to East Africa, and which German parents would rush to send their children to Africa.

Therefore, apart from Chinese students, most German cadets at Heixinggen Military Academy are orphans from various parts of Germany.

The Heixinggen Cultural School is different; it is a formal school, whereas the Heixinggen Military Academy is actually a diploma mill.

The Heixinggen Military Academy is not included in Prussia’s educational system, its students are entirely recruited through the academy’s own admission process, and their post-graduate destinations are clearly defined.

Whereas the Heixinggen Cultural School is registered with the Prussian government, and Chinese students here study as ”foreign students.”

Ernst can grant East African colonial residency to students of the Heixinggen Military Academy, while Chinese students at the Heixinggen Cultural School remain Chinese in the Prussian government’s records.

After all, these Chinese students will later study at other German schools. They do not have government-issued credentials, which theoretically makes them undocumented, so they conveniently use the status of foreign students as cover, with Ernst acting as their guarantor.

The Heixinggen Military Academy can only meet the needs for military talents, but Ernst requires professionals from various fields in the future.

To utilize limited educational resources, those with excellent academic performance can continue their studies at German high schools, and Ernst also plans to establish a high school.

Then, among them, the more outstanding ones will be recommended by Ernst to audit classes at various German universities for further studies.

As for those with poor academic performance, they can only end up working in Ernst’s factory after graduation, screwing bolts, or they can apply to the Heixinggen Military Academy, and eventually serve as soldiers in the East African colonies or become German language teachers.

German education has already begun a pilot program in the Marine District, with the first German primary school established in First Town, where the East African colony requires all Chinese immigrants in First Town to send their children to attend this German primary school.

And the teachers at the school are graduates from Heixinggen Military Academy, using the textbooks they once studied from.

Regarding the education of immigrants, it naturally starts with these children, as the older generation of immigrants cannot be expected to speak German; mastering some commonly used vocabulary is enough.

These adult Chinese have had their thoughts set long ago and are past the most suitable age for learning. If literacy were directly imposed, one can imagine the costs incurred, and the final result might be unsatisfactory.

It’s enough to make them realize that German is indeed the future of the colony, and the smart ones among them will take it upon themselves to learn German.

In reality, some quick-witted immigrants have already learned basic German through interactions with colonial officials, thus being appointed as managers.

For immigrants in the colonies, sending children to school is no psychological burden, after all, as the saying goes, all professions are inferior, only reading is superior.

Far East bureaucrats indeed monopolize knowledge and education to block upward paths, as folk operas often depict, once you become the top student, you’ll have everything you wish for. The common people may not have eaten pork, but they have seen pigs running.

The local scholars, top candidates, and officials, those who succeed through reading enjoy tangible benefits, even a mere scholar could escape manual labor through teaching, not to mention the economic privileges of partial tax exemption and elevated social status.

Education in East African colonies is not the kind seen in the Far East for screening officials, but simply aimed at reducing illiteracy among these ordinary immigrant children.

Of course, initially, the sooner you receive compulsory education, the greater the benefits, such as priority consideration for better colonial job allocations to immigrants who have received colonial education.

In the future, as compulsory education becomes widespread in the East African colonies, these benefits will diminish and eventually become the most basic threshold.

The education content of the first East African school is actually quite simple, aside from teaching German, there’s only basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, and ultimately, the notion of ”loyalty to the king and patriotism.”

Thus, these children only have half-day classes each day, studying in school during the morning and helping at home in the afternoon.

To improve their quality of life, immigrants carry out small-scale income generation such as planting vegetables near their houses or raising chickens and ducks, which the colony doesn’t intervene in.

As long as they complete the work assigned by the colony on time, they are free to use the rest of their time as they wish, given that land is abundant and there are many vacant lands in the East African colonies.

For instance, houses for immigrants in the colony are not as crowded as in the Far East, they are more scattered, and when planning these houses, two empty spaces were allocated in the front and rear, one for gardens and one for drainage ditches.

Gardens are unheard of among Chinese immigrants, these lands would be better used for vegetable planting, the drainage ditch is behind the house and really doesn’t need so much space, after turning over the land beside the ditch, it is still planted with crops.

The additional income from utilizing vacant lands is entirely for immigrants themselves, with no need to hand it over.

Only the residences of Germans truly have gardens and lawns in the front, while the land passing over the drainage ditch at the back is left barren.

This merely represents two different attitudes towards life between these two people, and indeed German wages are relatively higher, and their jobs are more leisurely.

Germans also find it intriguing when Chinese immigrants plant vegetables in gardens, sometimes proactively asking these immigrants about what vegetable it is and what purpose the tool serves.

Chinese didn’t come entirely empty-handed when traveling to East Africa, the colony didn’t confiscate their belongings but anything too large couldn’t be boarded on the ship.

Some Chinese brought along plant seeds in their bosoms, and thus various Far Eastern vegetables began appearing on African soil.

The African land is most suitable for vegetable growth, as vegetables essentially belong to the grass family, and Africa is conducive to grass growth, thus having the world’s largest savanna.

There is no winter here, as long as water supply is guaranteed, plants can continue growing.

Between Germans and Chinese immigrants, there are also some ideological distinctions, for instance, Germans value territory, with no one allowed to step into one’s yard without consent, while Chinese immigrants visit each other freely without a sense of territoriality.

Chinese don’t actively enter a German’s yard, after all, Chinese immigrants inherently feel a bit inferior, yet in reality, these Germans don’t harbor arrogance, and after interacting with Chinese, they have a favorable impression, considering everyone is of a farming background, sharing agricultural experiences left a good impression.

Chinese immigrants without their plait are reasonably diligent and sanitary, a result of colonial mandates, but Chinese are highly compliant which conceals some shortcomings.

And the Germans in the East African colony are also uncultured folks from Prussia, not concerned with trivial details.

The only difference between the two is that Germans have received compulsory education, thus possessing a relatively high cultural level, but since they only received elementary education, their quality is limited.

While in the eyes of these farmer-origin Germans, Chinese immigrants are relatively easy to interact with, the thinking of ordinary farmers is simple and straightforward, no complexities involved.

Unlike in modern times, where some people abroad casually pick flowers from others’ yards and act all aggrieved when criticized, reasonably arguing. You say they’re uneducated? They even went abroad, usually with a not too low educational background, so education and quality are not closely related.

This was the situation for Chinese in developed countries at that time, Ernst while in Africa could say that the Chinese were indeed as annoying as disliked dogs, there were many workers from his homeland at Ernst’s construction site.

Their education level wasn’t high, at least several Ernst knew were of high school or junior high school level, yet in Africa, they directly toyed with the local natives as though they were monkeys.

Daily carrying a demeanor of being clueless, handing local kids small snacks, then teaching them some ”nonsense,” capturing it on their phones to post on a certain platform, flooding themselves with a sense of superiority.

In reality, aren’t those natives watching them as a joke? Some even treat certain ones as easy marks.

Even though Ernst also looks down on the natives, yet the homeland’s education keeps Ernst from behaving rudely; it’s too degrading.

But in this era, due to the nation’s weakness, people’s impoverishment, coupled with enslaving education, where would Chinese immigrants dare to conduct themselves overseas like they do later with an air of defiance?

Being hailed with respect and showing humility is the real portrayal, so Chinese immigrants who take a voluntary step back find the broad expanse of the sea and sky, living in harmony with Germans.