Chapter 1131: Chapter 756 Miss Goth Hits a Bad Patch (Part 1)_1

Victor, Shiller, and Anna have always been concerned about Gotham's vocational education.

Victor is driven by his genuine love for teaching, Shiller aims to improve the overall education level of Gotham citizens, and Anna believes that students from vocational schools can provide a better student base for Gotham University, rather than admitting illiterate classes year after year.

Gotham University's unique geographical location makes it exceptionally hard to attract cream of the crop students from big cities. The top best students on the East Coast would either enter Ivy League schools or go to other universities in Metropolis; hardly anyone dares to study in Gotham.

The students who do come to Gotham typically have no other choices: they either can only attend this university, or they want to keep living in Gotham.

Both types lack high talents and quality. The former ones usually come from small coastal towns like Brude Haven, having no other choice but to risk coming to Gotham because they couldn't get into larger universities. Largely due to subpar local education levels, these students have meager foundations and are difficult to teach.

The latter ones, Gotham locals, don't even need mentioning. There are two types of Gotham students: the first are ones who study quite well but don't want to leave their hometown, so they didn't apply to outside universities.

These students are the truest natives of Gotham, possessing all the admirable qualities of Gotham citizens. Therefore, even though they might have talent, they're extremely hard to manage, their focus is not on their studies; it's a great relief if they don't use their intelligence for crime.

The other type of local students are descendants of mobs, quite similar to Evans. Mob bosses don't care about what their children learn from school, they just think having a college degree sounds better, so they send them for degree farming.

Among these students, there are indeed academic-hearted ones like Evans, but their numbers are minuscule. Most of them invest most of their energy into managing their family businesses, viewing university as a mere formality, impossible for serious study.

This composition of students makes it difficult for Gotham University to be a leading educational institution on the East Coast - to put it bluntly, it's near the bottom. It's only because of the decent overall education level on the East Coast that they manage to rank in the U.S.

To rectify this situation, Gotham University professors who aren't planning on jumping ship, led by Shiller, plan to start from the fundamental education.

However, implementing compulsory education in Gotham is impossible. There's no preparatory ground for compulsory and universal education. To let more people receive education, they can only be lured with benefits. In other words, people must learn a trade or something that pays off in short time to be willing to enter school.

Shiller and his colleagues have drafted the vocational education plan for a while.

However, the establishment of vocational schools encountered substantial resistance before. Since they persuade with profits, they would inevitably be trapped by profits. Too many people want to get involved in education, to use teachers and students for their own means, to make school teach what they want to teach.

But if these people succeed, everything will return to square one, failing to guide more people along the path of systematic education, which is the goal.

So, this vocational school must be independent of all influences, which is not easy to achieve, really.

However, Shiller has an immediately available leverage - Gotham University itself.

For some reasons, this place has become his territory. All Gotham gangs know that in case of any incidents, they must not enter this university or disturb the students' study.

If any student fails to complete their assignments because of them, terrible consequences would unfold.

Ever since Shiller became a professor at Gotham University, this has become an unwritten rule among Gotham gangs. Under most circumstances, Gotham University is an oasis in the metropolis, genuinely offering a conducive study environment.

So, why not expand the scope of Gotham University and integrate the vocational school into its education system as a preparatory school for Gotham University.

Thus, more talented children can be identified from the general population to start college, instead of relying solely on those rare geniuses and rich second generations seeking a veneer of prestige.

What's more, vocational students progressing to the university through exams would develop a habit of learning. This can help correct the careless thinking pattern of Gotham citizens, to make them think with more logic, and thus influence the next generation.

In addition, even if they don't advance to university, graduating from the preparatory school would still equip them with a trade to support themselves. This will boost the income of these people, enabling them to provide better conditions for their children, including education.

In this series of long-term education reform plans, the first generation is essentially a prototype or a "blood manufacturer." These pioneers will mostly filter out more rational learners, allowing their descendants to progressively make up Gotham's middle-class population. This way, top-down reforms will become increasingly feasible.

Once the plan for Gotham Vocational Technical College was completed, Victor took responsibility for paperwork. Thanks to Mayor Roy's collusion, and the State Council's inability to interfere with their affairs, the approval for the venue, funds, and other resources was a breeze.

Previously, when Lex Luther donated a new lab building to Gotham University, it didn't get completely built due to the short construction period, only one building in Phase One was completed. Therefore, the vocational school was put in this new building.

Gotham University is not short on funds, therefore, the hardware and software here are quite good, and there is also quite a large open space for practical operations. Ignoring the fact that the dormitories and classrooms are only separated by two floors, this place is simply a perfect vocational education school.

After the school was set up, the next step was student recruitment. Victor originally did not want people forcibly pushed in by the mob, but Shiller countered his point.

Shiller believed that this time, the mob would not push their own children into this vocational education school.

Majority of the mob bosses are short-sighted, they only think that they have earned enough money in their lifetime, why should their children need to work so hard? Isn't it good to eat, drink, and have fun on their own gold mountain?

The composition of the students' majors in Gotham University also proves this.

Most mob children opt for majors with nice-sounding names. Art is the most popular major; within the art sector, fine arts, art critique, and other disciplines that sound very sophisticated are even more popular.

Most of those sent by the mob to vocational education schools are middle-level personnel in the gang with flexible minds. They don't need to patrol the gang's territory every day like those at the bottom, they have enough free time, and at the same time, the technical requirements are the highest for them.

In a zone, the management of tap water, the arrangement of electricity, the operation method of cold storage, the sequence of cargo logistics, all need this group of people to arrange and manage. Exactly because they lack these abilities, the mob are more eager to send them to school to study diligently.

After reaching an agreement on this issue, Victor also agreed to the gang sending students, but the dispatch had conditions. Paying tuition was a must, and as long as the mob were sending students in, they must ensure the safety of the school buses and trucks, while providing basic material support for the vocational education school.

This process is actually the most time-consuming because it involves dealing with various kinds of mobs. When it involves their own territories and interests, nobody is willing to loosen their grip. After a prolonged negotiation, the admission list was finally set.

Upon seeing the list, Victor, Shiller, and Anna all noticed a special name - Theresa Goode.

"What's going on? Doesn't the Goth family own a shipyard? They are a prestigious family in Gotham, why would Lady Goth send her daughter to a vocational education school?" Anna, who seemed to know a lot about Gotham, frowned and said with her finger resting on her chin, "Such a delicate miss, either studying an instrument or art, why would Lady Goth let her learn car repairs?"

Victor also shook his head, appearing puzzled, and Shiller didn't know what Lady Goth was up to either.

He speculated for a moment, then said, "A while ago, I saw them mother and daughter at the theatre. At that time, Detective Gordon told me that the Goth family was discussing engagement matters with the Vitt family."

"If that's the case, then Miss Goth would not wait to graduate from the university before getting married, she would marry straight away after graduating from the church school."

"It seems that there might be some problems with the engagement, and the Goth family may not want to get engaged to the Vitt family. But calling off the engagement needs a reason. As long as they send their daughter to university, Little Vitt would not wait for Miss Goth to graduate from university before marrying her, right? So they can honorably escape the engagement."

"That makes sense." Anna and Victor nodded, she continued, "This also explains why Lady Gothic couldn't wait until September for the university to officially start, sending Miss Goth urgently now, because by September, the wedding would probably be over."

"And I guess, Miss Goth must be inseparably linked with that kid from the Vit family." Victor's imagination was richer, he said, "As a mother, it's not good to forcefully separate them, you can only send your daughter to school. As long as they are separated, maybe they will forget in a few months."

All three of them nodded in agreement, feeling that their predictions were reasonable.

But at this time, Victor was a bit hesitant, he said, "A young lady from a wealthy family goes to Class 3 that teaches car repair technology, not to mentioned whether she can learn the technology, just the truck tires, she probably can't even move them, right?"

Shiller snorted coldly and said, "She has to move them even if she can't. Learning is about overcoming difficulties. If you can't move the tires, you don't move them, if you can't unscrew the screws, you don't unscrew them, if you can't memorize the book, you don't memorize it, then what do we need teachers for?"

"Exactly, I know these young ladies too well, on the surface it seems that they can't carry things or lift heavy things, a gust of wind blowing past could knock them down. But let them go shopping, they can walk for tens of hours without stopping." Anna sneered and said.

"I don't care what her purpose is for coming here." Shiller knocked on the table, "Once you enter the school, you have to study seriously, you must achieve something in order to graduate. It applies to everyone, Wayne cannot be the exception. Does Gotha think that she is stronger than Wayne?"

Anna and Victor looked at each other and both showed a gloating smile. Obviously, they had both heard that Bruce Wayne was almost delayed in graduating due to lack of credits by Shiller.

Shiller picked up his cane and stood up, "Tomorrow, it's the first day of school at the vocational education school. I will attend the whole day of classes. If anyone dares not to study hard, I will personally go to talk to his boss."

Seeing Shiller's cold smile, both Victor and Anna shivered in unison.

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