Chapter 1310: Mathematics Competition and Public Childcare
Upon his return to Versailles, Joseph found Alexandra waiting for him in the reception hall.
Dressed in a fashionable, loose-fitting pale purple gown, the Crown Princess curtsied with a smile. "My dear, you've finally returned."
Joseph stepped forward and brushed his cheek against hers. "Is there anything urgent? Oh, your dress makes you look especially beautiful today."
"Thank you. I'm very fond of it too." Alexandra happily kissed his cheek, then pulled out a few pages of manuscript. "Well, this is the speech for the opening ceremony of the 'Paris Junior Mathematics Competition' next week. Could you help me look it over?
"Monsieur Guénot has been heartbroken lately, looking like a cat drenched in water every day. I'm worried he might make a mistake."
Guénot was her secretary.
"Of course," Joseph said, smiling as he opened the speech.
This competition had been personally organized by Alexandra two years ago at his suggestion. While called the "Paris Junior Mathematics Competition," children under thirteen from all over France could participate, giving it significant scale and influence. Hence, it was one of the matters she held most important.
"Hmm, the opening is quite grand, it truly captures France's traditional emphasis on mathematics," Joseph praised. "The section later, describing last year's champion Mossant's educational journey, is very touching."
A thought suddenly stirred in Joseph's mind. He asked, "Do you recall the highest rank achieved by a student from a church school in last year's competition?"
The Crown Princess shook her head. "I can only confirm that none of the top ten were from church schools."
"What about the year before last?"
"Definitely not in the top ten either," Alexandra stated, signaling a maid to fetch the records from the past two competitions.
About ten minutes later, she took the documents from the maid and found the data Joseph requested. "The highest rank the year before last was 29th, and last year it was 37th, Your Royal Highness."
Joseph, however, merely smiled.
Originally, the Paris Junior Mathematics Competition accepted registrations on a school basis for organizational convenience, and it had since become an important criterion for French people to evaluate school standards.
The champions and runners-up of the first two competitions were all students from the New Elementary Schools—currently, twelve New Elementary Schools had been established in Paris, with nearly thirty more in other provinces.
There was no comparing the advanced teaching concepts of later generations with the methods of church schools. Learning efficiency was more than ten times higher, and the curriculum was newer and more inspiring.
Students emerging from such an environment delivered a Dimensional Strike to church schools.
While a student from a private aristocratic school had once claimed third place, that child came from a family of mathematicians and had received rigorous foundational math training from a young age.
Even so, they were no match for the talented children from the New Elementary Schools.
When the New Elementary Schools were just starting, Joseph had worried they would be suppressed by the Church. But now, French people widely recognized the New Elementary Schools, with the institutions receiving nearly a million francs in donations annually.
Now was the perfect opportunity to use the mathematics competition to further undermine church schools.
Yet, this alone wasn't enough. Joseph frowned, pondering. If the Church shamelessly pretended nothing was wrong, at most, it would only lead to a further increase in the number of New Elementary Schools.
They needed to face financial losses to back down.
Should he mandate church schools to improve their teaching quality?
That would be too slow. They could reasonably claim they needed three to five years for reform.
What about including secondary schools and universities?
That would require first creating similar competitions to build momentum.
But these were the only options in the education sector...
Wait, he'd overlooked something. Joseph's brows unfurled. Pre-school education was also education.
France was vigorously developing industry, and more and more women were entering the workforce. Childcare needed to be implemented quickly.
And the task of establishing kindergartens across the nation would naturally fall to the Church.
This was no small undertaking, something that couldn't be resolved with just a bit of money and effort!
He kissed Alexandra's forehead. "You've been a great help today."
She blinked her wide eyes in surprise. "Huh? Weren't you helping me edit my speech...?"
Soon, Joseph finished editing the manuscript, handed it to Alexandra to familiarize herself with, and then instructed Eman, "Please ask Viscount Dubuisson and Baron Denico to come see me."
Indeed, the editor-in-chief of the Paris Business Journal had received a barony earlier that year.
An hour later, Joseph briefly explained the plan to establish a national kindergarten system to the two men, then turned to Denico. "You should start building momentum on this matter as quickly as possible. Make the impact significant."
The editor-in-chief pondered. "Are you suggesting we find a few working women who struggle to care for their children to cry before City Hall, recounting how their children scream for hours from hunger each day, or nearly fall into the Seine River due to lack of supervision?
"Then, have some people jump out and declare, 'Women shouldn't work; their duty is to care for children at home.'
"Finally, a respected lady would 'discover the truth'—that these women have critically ill family members or are heavily indebted, forcing them to work outside the home to support their families.
"She would then propose that it would be wonderful if the government could establish institutions to care for children while people work.
"I'll assign our best journalists to cover this continuously..."
Joseph's eyes widened as he stared at him.
This plan was even better than what he had envisioned. The editor-in-chief had truly grasped the essence of guiding public opinion.
"Your plan is excellent. Proceed with it."
Joseph then instructed Baron Denico, "First, have someone begin compiling a 'Childcare Guidance Manual,' focusing on standardized care for children aged three to five. It doesn't need to be too detailed yet, just covering diet, rest, and pickup/drop-off procedures.
"Then, recruit women with experience in childcare from various districts of Paris and provide them with simple training based on the manual. Oh, the necessary personnel and funds will be allocated to you by the Ministry of Household Registration."
Denico carefully jotted notes in his ledger, then bowed slightly. "As you command, Your Royal Highness."
...
In a grand hall on the second floor of the Palace of Versailles, the Crown Princess gracefully instructed servants to distribute refreshments and desserts to the guests.
This was her salon on the theme of "Education and Industry in France."
A highly respected scholar from the University of Paris was delivering a lecture, and the surrounding attendees nodded in approving agreement from time to time.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Boissy, the head of the Oratorian Order, wore a grim expression as he turned to the Crown Prince beside him. "Your Royal Highness, there's less than a month left until the mathematics competition. That's simply not enough..."
Joseph smiled, interrupting him. "You are too modest, Your Eminence. The Oratorian Order has tens of thousands of students across the nation. Just pick a few talented ones, give them some intensive training, and winning a top-three spot will be as easy as spearing fish in a barrel."
The Oratorian Order was a religious order in France deeply committed to primary and secondary education.
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