Fireworks and firecrackers rang off for more than ten days in succession, and by the middle of March, the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year gradually dissipated, and citizens from various industries such as government agencies, schools, and the military also took up their jobs one after another to start the new year's work.

"In 1888, the government's financial fund revenue was 100 million Han Yuan (equivalent to 50 million taels of silver in the treasury), the fiscal expenditure was 87 million Han Yuan, and the surplus was 13 million Han Yuan."

At the first court meeting after the New Year, Zhao Yan, Minister of Finance, reported on the government's fiscal revenue and expenditure in the past year.

"How much money does the government invest in education?"

Li Mingyuan sat on the top and asked.

"The annual expenditure on education for primary and secondary schools is about 13 million won, and the expenditure on education for colleges and universities and overseas students is 7 million won, and the total expenditure of the two is about 20 million won, accounting for about 20 percent of the total revenue of the central government."

After Zhao Yan's report, Sun Bin, the chief of the Ministry of Education, who was standing beside him, added: "In 1888, the number of school-age children enrolled in primary and secondary schools increased by about 11.07 percentage points compared with 1887, and the overall enrollment rate of primary schools reached 93 percent for the first time. ”

"Are the education departments and local government agencies cooperating with schools in helping out-of-school children solve their family difficulties?"

"Last year, the Ministry of Education, in coordination with the Ministry of Households, the Ministry of Finance, and local state and county government agencies, carried out a total of 43 activities to help children from poor families go to school, but due to objective reasons such as parents' disabilities and limited family economic resources, even if many parents know that their children have the legal obligation and right to go to school under the explanation of local officials, they are not able to send their children to school."

The Minister of Education said helplessly: "The law does not care about human feelings, for those children who drop out of school due to poverty, the Ministry of Education and local governments mostly adopt a gentle way to persuade their parents to send their children to school, as for the case of family conditions are very difficult, parents do not have the financial ability to support their children to complete primary school education, the Ministry of Education and local governments have no better solution in the case of limited financial funds, and can only watch a child of seven or eight years old, eleven or twelve years old, Staying in a village in the countryside, they took on the responsibilities of the family early, drove cattle and sheep to graze on the meadows, and lived the same life as their parents. ”

"Families whose parents are disabled or chronically ill have low economic income, and the tuition fee for the junior school is 4 Han Yuan per person per year. It may not be a big deal for ordinary workers and peasant families, but it is a lot of money for parents from poor families. ”

Knowing that children from poor families in the local area are out of school, Li Mingyuan's mood can't help but be affected.

"Education is the hope of the country's rise, primary education is the foundation of national education, about 7 percent of school-age out-of-school children, expanding to the entire local area, means that nearly 200,000 children have lost the opportunity to receive education.

As the ruler of the country, I care about and love the children of all parts of the country as if they were my own children, and I feel uneasy to watch nearly 200,000 children lose the opportunity to go to school. ”

Thinking about the problem of children from poor families in the local area dropping out of school, and thinking of the case of comprehensive free compulsory education in later generations, Li Mingyuan thought for a moment and made a decisive decision: "The number of local primary school-age children is more than 1.5 million!" The tuition fee is 4 won per person per year, which adds up to 600 won per year.

At present, the government has a surplus of 1,300 won, and I plan to take out 4 million won from the state revenue, plus a part of the annual profits of several large military enterprises controlled by the royal family, as the education fund for the junior school, with an annual education allocation of 6 million won, to replace the tuition expenses of the families of the children of primary school age, and to implement a five-year compulsory education system for the junior high school, which will be extended from the Gyeonggi Province to the whole country from this June. ”

"Your Majesty is merciful. After the implementation of the Virtue Government, the children and citizens of the country will surely thank Your Majesty for your grace! ”

Sun Bin, the chief minister of the Ministry of Education, bowed his hand and said in an agitated tone, "The out-of-school children in various parts of the country are also the descendants and hopes of every adult citizen, so I sincerely ask Your Majesty to allow the Ministry of Education to start with the Ministry of Education and call on all government departments and people from all walks of life to launch donation activities to raise some funds for local primary school education!" to fill the gap left by the lack of financial funds! ”

"The ministers seconded the proposal." ……

The suggestion of Sun Bin, the head of the Ministry of Education, was unanimously approved by the ministers of the palace, and everyone unanimously surrendered their requests.

"You are all pillars of the country, and the monarchs and ministers are united, so why worry about the failure of national education! Why worry about the country's rejuvenation! ”

Regardless of whether the ministers below are really willing to pay money to subsidize the free education of the junior school, Li Mingyuan still has a satisfied look on his face.

"Financial allocations and national donations can alleviate some of the financial burden on local families, but relying only on the tuition waiver system for junior high schools still cannot solve the problem of children from poor families enrolling in schools.

If we want to solve the problem of out-of-school children at the root, we need to start with their families, imitate the German Empire, and establish a basic social security system.

In 1883, the German Empire enacted the first social insurance law in the West, the Sickness Insurance Act, which limited the scope of insured persons to miners, quarrymen, and low-income white families with an annual income of 2,000 marks.

According to the actual situation of the people in the local area, the Great Han State can expand the scope of application of the "Sickness Insurance Law", and all agricultural workers, servants, elementary school and domestic teachers, theater employees, seafarers, and those engaged in cottage industries with a monthly salary of less than 6 Han Yuan must be compulsorily insured.

The insurance funds are borne by the employer and the employee, such as the insurance cost of enterprise workers, which is generally borne by the employer

Workers bear two-thirds of the total insurance costs and workers bear one-third, and the amount of insurance paid by workers each year is limited to 1 to 3 percent of their annual income, and must not exceed this range. ”

"Should the Sickness Insurance Act, which is paid by employers and workers, be included in the State administrative supervision system?"

"Yes, the insurance premiums paid by employers and workers are deposited in the central bank, and at the same time, the board of directors for the supervision of insurance funds is formed by representatives of employers and workers, and the board of directors has the right to jointly supervise and manage the reserves and use of insurance funds with the local branches of the central bank."

After Li Mingyuan shared with the public some of the social security systems he knew, hundreds of officials reached a preliminary consensus on the issue of establishing a basic social security system after a little discussion and revision in light of the local government's financial situation and the background of the times.

The central government is preparing to establish a social security system based on three insurance bills: the Sickness Insurance Act, the Accident Insurance Act, and the Orphans and Disability Insurance Act, for all citizens in the local area.

The Sickness Insurance Act covers free medical treatment, medical care, death and funeral expenses, and sickness expenses. The sickness allowance is about half of the insured's usual salary, which is paid from the third day of illness, and if the illness lasts for half a year, the subsequent sickness expenses are transferred to the accident insurance fund.

The Accident Insurance Act was intended to apply only to a small number of particularly dangerous occupations in the first ten years of its enactment, i.e. during the period of its promulgation.

Ten years later, the Accident Insurance Act was extended to cover all citizens, including postal and telegraph industries, whose monthly wages were less than 30 per cent of the local average wage

Workers in the industry, such as the Ministry of Railways, Navy and Army Workshops, and government employees, are entitled to the social security provided by the Accident Insurance Act.

The cost of maintaining accident insurance is borne solely by the employer. Employers carrying on similar businesses form an insurance club for the purpose of administering the fund.

Any person who establishes or acquires a business within the scope of the Act also becomes a member of an insurance company formed by a local employer of the same trade, and pays to the club a premium according to the wages and bills paid by him and the degree of danger to his employees. These clubs are managed by an elected representative of the employer, and the association is fully responsible for the compensation paid. The amount of compensation is determined by local law.

Compensation shall be paid to any person who, in the course of his employment, suffers accidental injury, loses his ability to work for more than three days or dies as a result of negligence or deviance. Compensation includes free medical care and cash benefits. The cash bereavement benefit shall be paid as follows: (1) 50% of the monthly wages paid to the same local worker from the sickness insurance fund from the 4th day of injury to the end of the 4th week, but not more than 10 Han Yuan per month.

(2) From the 5th week to the end of the 13th week, the employer's insurance company shall pay 1/6 of the daily wage in addition to the cash in the preceding paragraph.

(3) After the 13th week, the employer insurance company shall pay the total amount calculated at the rate of 2/3 of the average annual income of the injured person. The amount of the pension for a permanently disabled person is 2/3 of his average annual earnings,

Funeral expenses for death are 1/15 of the deceased's annual income, plus alimony not exceeding 60% of the deceased's annual income.

The Orphans and Disability Insurance Act, as a direct solution to the problem of out-of-school children, will be promulgated and implemented one month in advance.

The main contents of the Orphans and Disability Insurance Law are:

Anyone over the age of 16 who has a wife and children in a family is required to be insured against the risk of disability and loss of workforce.

Those who pay insurance premiums and live on wages are entitled to the following benefits: those who become permanently disabled and lose more than two-thirds of their ability to work will be given an annual disability allowance;

If there are children under the age of 18 in the family who are in the primary and intermediate school age, a minimum education subsidy of 2 Han Yuan per month will be given in the five-year primary school stage, and 50 to 100 percent of the tuition fee reduction and exemption assistance will be given in the three-year intermediate school education stage, depending on the degree of family difficulty.

If a student from a poor family is admitted to a public institution of higher learning, the government will take the form of interest-free loans and a full tuition fee subsidy to subsidize the student to complete two years of preparatory course and four years of higher education, a total of six years of higher education, and the government will also give financial assistance for living as appropriate during the study period.

In addition to families impoverished by illness and disability, some young widows and their children whose husbands have died due to other unexpected causes,

During the period of non-remarriage, the widow's maintenance is 3/10 of the husband's salary during his lifetime, plus 20 Han Yuan per year by the government. A subsistence allowance for widows and their children.

The three social security bills basically cover the issue of living security for people with special difficulties, among them, for widows who are in the appropriate age and have not yet lost their labor force, in addition to paying their minimum child support expenses, the government's main attitude is to encourage them to remarry and remarry, after all, the number of local men of working age has always been higher than that of women, as long as the local immigration policy is not abolished, the imbalance between men and women will become a stubborn problem that has always accompanied the development of the country.

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