The newly established Ministry of Science and Technology Education is highly efficient. By the next morning, the teacher evaluation results for the New Primary School on Pais Street in Angers City were already out.
Langlois found his na and grades on the announcent outside the principal’s office and breathed a long sigh of relief: "B grade, so I don’t have to tend the flower beds."
He then saw the "shiny" A next to Lemair’s na and joyfully patted his old friend beside him: "That ans you’ll be receiving a salary of 80 francs every month!"
Previously, even the vice dean’s annual salary was only 1,000 francs, and Lemair was already catching up with that inco.
Lemair shrugged: "Who knows how much I’ll actually get."
According to Church School customs, the salary is subject to various deductions by the higher monastic orders, usually only about three-quarters actually received.
Langlois was about to ask Lemair to treat him when he saw the newly appointed principal, transferred from Reims, co out with a docunt, loudly saying: "Father Drom, please co in."
A fat priest with a harsh expression responded and went into the principal’s office with his head hanging.
Langlois had just seen on the bulletin board that Drom’s evaluation was a D .
A mont later, the fat priest ca out, angrily shouting, "I won’t manage the warehouse, I’m going back to Saint Locard Monastery!"
The principal then called in two other priests, one accepted the warehouse managent job, and the other "followed" Drom back to the monastery.
The principal shook his head, muttering to himself: "In my opinion, half of them are unqualified... how long will it take to retrain them?
"Oh, Father Lemair, please co in."
Lemair exchanged confused looks with Langlois, a bad feeling arising in his heart. Could it be that Archbishop Marechal had spoken to the principal to give him trouble?
He frowned and entered the principal’s office, where he saw the young principal gesture towards a chair: "Father Lemair, please have a seat. I heard you graduated from Poitou University?"
"Yes, Principal."
"Very good." The principal smiled at him, "Your evaluation is the best among everyone.
"I would like to ask you to serve as the dean of studies at our school. What do you think?"
Lemair was montarily stunned and instinctively asked, "What about Father Pacan?"
Previously, Pacan was responsible for a role similar to that of a dean of studies.
"His evaluation was only B-, and his Latin is a ss. At most, he can only be a mathematics teacher. So, what is your answer?"
"Of course, I am willing. Thank you, Principal."
When Lemair walked out of the principal’s office, he felt dizzy. He originally thought that after offending Archbishop Marechal, he would have to muddle through as an ordinary teacher in this run-down Church School until the end of his days.
Unexpectedly, the governnt’s education reform has given him a new opportunity!
Being the dean of studies puts him in a high-level position second only to the principal and vice principal.
Word is that the governnt will invest 7,000 francs in expansion funds into this Church School—now called a public primary school—so he will gain so fa in the west of Angers City.
Lemair took a deep breath and secretly decided to do his utmost to teach these students well!
A month later.
When Langlois and the other teachers received their salaries, they were all surprised and excited.
Not only did the salaries increase according to regulations, but they were also paid in full.
Langlois counted his salary three tis—exactly 38 francs, not a single penny was short!
He leaned over to look at the pile of bills in Lemair’s hand, which was thick. But this was no surprise, given that he was the dean of studies.
The latter didn’t hide it, smiling: "It’s actually a hundred francs. ’Match Day’ I’ll treat you to an opera at the Rhone Grand Theater."
"Are you serious? I rember a ticket costs 15 francs!"
"Of course."
As they were speaking, they saw their colleague, Father Betan, walking over excitedly, waving the Angers News Paper in his hand: "Did you hear? Starting this month, we can choose to beco civil servants."
Lemair quickly took the newspaper and saw where Betan was pointing—new regulations from the Ministry of Science and Technology Education, granting civil servant status to teachers at public schools.
Father Betan said: "However, if you beco a civil servant, you have to leave The Brotherhood of Catholic Schools."
In European Catholicism, Church Schools are managed by various monastic orders, such as the Oratory and the Catholic School Brotherhood to which Lemair and others belong.
Similar arrangents existed before, where clergy serving as governnt officials had to leave their original monastic systems.
Langlois said without hesitation: "Of course, I would choose to beco a civil servant."
Joking aside, the governnt is very punctual with salaries, and you can also enjoy all kinds of civil servant benefits, such as pensions.
Compared to that, leaving the monastic order just ans you can’t hold clerical positions anymore in the future.
People like them, who are at the bottom of the hierarchy, wouldn’t have these opportunities anyway.
Lemair also nodded: "Obviously, being a civil servant is better."
He was eager to escape the influence of the monastic order, making it difficult for Archbishop Marechal to harass him again. Moreover, as a high-level mber of the school, he would have no nostalgia for the monastic order.
In the following ten days, almost all the forr Church School monks across France chose to beco civil servants.
After leaving the monastic orders, although they still held the status of clergy, the Church no longer had significant influence over them.
In a short ti, a dozen monastic orders focusing on education declared dissolution due to a lack of mbers.
This way, Joseph severed any possibility for the French Church to reach into the education system again by "removing the firewood from under the pot."
While public schools were busy expanding, renovating, and recruiting students, governnt-led public kindergartens also began to appear across France.
Unlike the Church’s previous inefficiencies, the millions of francs in funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology Education were dispersed, and kindergartens sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
Indeed, most of this funding still ca from the Church—according to tax purposes, their tithe was supposed to go to educational use—although it was much less than the tens of millions of francs that Beaumont and other archbishops initially budgeted for a public childcare system.
Joseph saved expenses by allowing kindergartens in impoverished towns and villages to open directly in local churches.
The Ministry of Science and Technology Education would pay the church a small rent.
Although promoted as governnt-led public childcare construction, the Church didn’t lack in effort.
Of course, the Church’s high clergy dared not have any objections, especially as Mala was currently inspecting the accounts of monasteries one by one.
The Ministry of Science and Technology Education only dispatched one trained director to each village kindergarten, recruiting local housewives as the "nursery teachers."
They had to take care of their own children at ho, and now they just had to take care of a few more; besides, they could earn so salary—which attracted many applicants, and it only cost 10 francs a month.
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