Chapter 72 College Entrance Examination
"Yuanchao, what do you think of night school?" Principal Zhou suddenly asked Song Yuanchao this question.
Principal Zhou's question surprised Song Yuanchao a little. He didn't understand whether what Principal Zhou meant by night school was the night school he understood, and he didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"What? You don't know about night school, do you?" Principal Zhou joked.
"Of course I know. Principal, are you planning to run a night school?" Song Yuanchao asked tentatively.
"Haha, is that not possible?" Principal Zhou laughed when he saw Song Yuanchao was a little surprised. "It's not new to run a night school. We ran a workers' night school in the early days of our school. This night school existed for a long time, but it was cancelled for some reasons."
Speaking of this, Principal Zhou's expression was filled with reminiscence, as if thinking of the past events: "Yuan Chao, you were still young at that time, and your father worked as a night school teacher for a long time and taught quite a few students."
Song Yuanchao suddenly remembered from the depths of his memory that this seemed to have happened when he was a child. His father Song Guangzeng had been busy for a long time and came home very late at night. Even on weekends, he would not be seen at home.
At that time, the ignorant Song Yuanchao asked his mother why his father was always not at home. His mother smiled and told him that his father was busy with work and had to teach students day and night. At that time, Song Yuanchao secretly complained about the school, why did he always let his father go to class, so that he didn't even have time to go to the zoo to see the elephants as he promised to do.
"Principal, are you planning to use the resources of No. 2 Middle School to run a night school?"
"I have this idea. In fact, it's not just No. 2 Middle School, but other schools will also cooperate." Principal Zhou glanced at Song Yuanchao and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, this is also the inspiration you gave me this time. A few days ago, I went to the Education Bureau for a meeting and ran into many old friends. They all joked that our No. 2 Middle School has made a fortune this time. Taking advantage of the college entrance examination, we have produced a batch of college entrance examination review materials, which are selling like hot cakes outside. When these old guys saw it, their eyes were red, and they yelled for me to treat them to a drink."
As he spoke, Principal Zhou laughed heartily. Schools nowadays are different from those in the future. All schools, including universities, are funded by the government. Days on weekdays are very hard. Not to mention the salaries of the teachers, even if the school wants to buy some teaching equipment, it has to spend every penny carefully.
But it is different in later generations. Let’s not talk about the schools in backward and remote areas, let’s just talk about the various schools in first-tier cities. Whether it is elementary school, junior high school, high school or even university, which of them is not wealthy?
Even if it is not a key school, the school has many channels to generate income besides the fixed financial allocation, such as night school, cram school, etc. These are the major sources of income for the school, and even their income exceeds the normal amount of financial allocation.
This time, by printing college entrance examination review materials, No. 2 Middle School not only made its name famous throughout Shanghai, but also made a lot of profit for the school.
The income from this aspect alone exceeded 10,000 yuan, and the school and the factory each got half, which was a huge amount of 5,000 yuan.
In addition, No. 2 Middle School also received a full 1,000 copies of college entrance examination review materials for free. All of these materials were distributed free of charge to the graduating students of No. 2 Middle School. This made the students and parents who attended No. 2 Middle School so happy that they couldn't stop smiling.
As for the teachers who helped organize the materials, Song Yuanchao did not treat them unfairly and gave each of them a generous bonus. The amount of this bonus was equal to their monthly salary, which made these teachers very happy.
The success of No. 2 Middle School in this matter has made other schools see the same possibility. Principal Zhou has heard that some schools, especially key middle schools like No. 2 Middle School, have begun to consider using No. 2 Middle School's method to prepare next year's college entrance examination review materials.
Like No. 2 Middle School, these schools also have many question banks and excellent teaching staff. Even if they do not have printing equipment like the No. 2 Middle School’s factory, they can find printing factories to cooperate with.
This year's first soup was given to No. 2 Middle School, so we can't let No. 2 Middle School enjoy it all by itself next year, right? No. 2 Middle School is enjoying the meat now, and we can't just sit there and watch, right?
When Principal Zhou told Song Yuanchao everything, Song Yuanchao was not too surprised. This was actually market competition. Although this market was different from the ordinary market, its essence had not changed at all.
The things that Song Yuanchao created are not uncommon in later generations, especially in the era of information explosion, these materials and exercises are easy to get through various channels. Even now, although some schools are not as good as No. 2 Middle School due to insufficient foundation and other reasons, looking at the whole of Shanghai, there are schools comparable to No. 2 Middle School, so if No. 2 Middle School can do it, they can do it too.
"I was worried about what we would do if these schools also started to prepare review materials for the college entrance examination tomorrow. Today, Lao Ma came to me and told me about your discussion, which really made my eyes light up. You have made a good plan. It should not be limited to the college entrance examination. The improvement of high school entrance examination and even daily academic performance can be promoted in this way. This is a good thing for the improvement of education level."
Principal Zhou said so, and then he continued: "But some schools can't do this because they were established not long ago and don't have such conditions. Several old friends discussed cooperation with me privately. I thought it would be unfair to the factory if I shared the tutoring materials with them, so I thought about whether I could run a joint night school and do some tutoring work directly with students. In this way, these schools and teachers who don't have the conditions can teach in the name of the school or individuals, and get some benefits while improving students' grades, thus achieving the same goal."
It turned out that this was what Principal Zhou was thinking, which made Song Yuanchao look at Principal Zhou with new eyes.
All along, Song Yuanchao only thought that Principal Zhou was an excellent educator and also a kind elder, but today Principal Zhou made Song Yuanchao see that he had a vision beyond ordinary people in this regard. This kind of thinking would not be uncommon in the future, even a dozen years later, but it is extremely forward-looking now.
Running a night school is a training institution, which is a huge market. If possible, Song Yuanchao really wants to enter this market. At least before 2021, the scale of this market has reached an unimaginable level.
However, Song Yuanchao has no such plan at all. After all, the education market was opened to private capital in the late 1980s. Before this period, the education market was in a closed state. Only the private institutions within the education system or the schools themselves could enter this industry.
Song Yuanchao knew that it was impossible for him to enter this industry, so he had never considered it from the beginning. But today, Principal Zhou's idea made Song Yuanchao feel that he could push it forward. Although he couldn't do it himself, he could help No. 2 Middle School do it. If No. 2 Middle School did a good job, it would be a good thing for No. 2 Middle School and also beneficial to society.
"Haha, I've gone a bit off topic. This matter hasn't been finalized yet. I will go to the bureau for a meeting later and then formally report to the director. If the bureau has no objection, this night school will probably be able to be established." Principal Zhou said this, but Song Yuanchao felt a little puzzled. Although Principal Zhou's idea was good, how much did it have to do with him?
Unexpectedly, Principal Zhou's next words stunned Song Yuanchao: "The factory's affairs should be handled according to your ideas. The school can support you. Another thing, I have registered for you. You should review well these days and take time to come to my place to read books and do exercises, and strive to get into university as soon as possible."
"Take the college entrance examination?" Song Yuanchao was dumbfounded. How did this suddenly get to the point of taking the college entrance examination again?
When Principal Zhou handed Song Yuanchao a registration receipt, Song Yuanchao clearly saw his and that the registration time was last month, he began to feel uneasy.
"Principal, this...you...?"
"Knowledge is power, knowledge is the future! Yuanchao, you are still young. The Chairman once said that young people are the sun at eight or nine o'clock. You have done a good job in the factory in the past few months and are very capable, but you should have a broader stage and a brighter future. Don't be complacent because of a little achievement and only focus on the immediate interests. Going to college is my expectation for you, and I think your parents hope so too. For me, for your parents, and also for yourself, Yuanchao, you should go to college!"
Patting Song Yuanchao's shoulder heavily, Principal Zhou said earnestly: "Son, go to college. With your level, you will definitely be admitted this time. Of course, if you really don't want to, I won't force you. But the factory..."
Having said this, Principal Zhou stopped talking.
This seemingly kind and peaceful old man was unexpectedly stubborn. He kept thinking about this matter and even signed up for himself on his own initiative.
The implication of Principal Zhou's words also showed his attitude, that is, if Song Yuanchao did not apply to this university, he would probably directly reject the factory's suggestion. This put Song Yuanchao in a difficult position.
Looking at the receipt in front of him, and thinking about what he said yesterday when he asked Gu Jie to sign up, Song Yuanchao couldn't help but smile bitterly. It was really retribution. He had just arranged for Gu Jie to take the college entrance examination, and now he was arranged by Principal Zhou. What was going on?
