Chapter 31: That Time I Reformed Education in South America (2)

TL: Skye

One month after preparations for education reform began, Yu-jin delivered his first address to the nation from the Presidential Palace.

[Dear citizens. Today, I wish to speak about the next generation, which is the future of San Marcos.]

Yu-jin's voice traveled across the airwaves, spreading through televisions and radios in every corner of the country.

[Our children are unable to attend school. They cannot afford tuition, and because they are hungry right now, they have no choice but to work. Parents and children alike know that this cuts their education short and traps them in poverty, yet the wall of reality forces many of them to turn their backs on school.]

His voice carried a tone that was almost desperate.

[Too poor to learn, and too uneducated to escape poverty, a vicious cycle. I intend to break this cruel chain once and for all.]

He stared into the camera and declared firmly.

[Effective today, all public education in San Marcos is completely free. No money will be collected under any name whatsoever, including tuition and textbook fees.]

At Yu-jin's declaration, everyone stopped what they were doing and listened.

[Every student who comes to school will be provided with free lunch and dinner. No longer will our children be sent to farms instead of school because of hunger. No longer will they be out on the streets shining shoes.]

People murmured among themselves. Go to school and get fed? No matter how much food prices had plummeted, it was hard to believe.

[Night schools will be established to provide learning opportunities for old students who come knocking on the school doors, even if late.]

Those who had listened up to this point thought:

So what's the point of going to school?

Isn't it better to spend that time earning money?

But Yu-jin, as if he had anticipated this very thought, announced the reasons why they should attend school.

[Students with outstanding grades will be given the opportunity to study abroad in the United States, fully funded by the government. Furthermore, eligibility for government positions, which was previously restricted to Military Academy graduates, will be expanded to include anyone with a high school diploma or above. University graduates will also be offered temporary Grade 7 Special Recruitment opportunities.]

After pausing briefly to catch his breath, Yu-jin fixed his gaze on the camera and delivered his final words.

[I will build a nation where education means opportunity and a future. That is all.]

The moment the address ended, all of San Marcos was turned upside down.

"Honey! Did you hear? They'll feed you if you go to school!"

"That's not even the point! They'll send you to study in America! You can become a government official too!"

"José! Get ready for school!"

"Mom, I don't want to go to school..."

"Quiet! Even if you just go and eat, it's a net gain! Get going, now!"

Above all else.

"This was ordered by His Excellency... If we don't send the kids to school..."

"Don't even say that! Do you want to get dragged off to the mines?!"

Yu-jin's charisma had the parents who had never sent their children to school trembling in their boots.

And so the next morning, every school in San Marcos was absolutely packed with people.

Parents came holding their children's hands, older brothers carried younger siblings on their backs, and even fully grown young adults flocked to schools in search of the chance to learn.

Having received Yu-jin's strict orders, the schools accepted most of them, but taking in numbers that far exceeded capacity soon brought massive chaos.

And at the center of that chaos was Sergio, the Senior Secretary for Education.

"Sir! We have an emergency! There aren't enough lunch boxes!"

"Get Tortilla F&B on the line! Tell them to run all production lines at full capacity right now! Don't leave any stock behind, ship everything to the schools!"

"It's still not enough! Even at full capacity, they say they can't cover half the demand!"

"Then request cooperation from bakeries and restaurants! Tell them we'll settle up for everything, just make it and send it over!"

The food problem could somehow be thrown money at, but the bigger issues were space and people.

"Sir! The classrooms are bursting at the seams! Even the hallways are packed!"

"The field! Set up tents on the field! As long as they're out of the rain, that's a classroom!"

"Then what about staff? Nine teachers can't handle two thousand students."

As critical problems erupted one after another, Sergio made a decision.

He would follow Yu-jin's way of doing things.

"Summon every Ministry of Education official! Draft all the young ones, from junior clerks to senior clerks, and send them to the schools!"

"Excuse me? B-but they don't have teaching certificates..."

At his subordinate's objection, Sergio slammed his fist on the desk.

"His Excellency gave the order, and you're being picky about qualifications? Besides, what do you need a certificate for to teach the alphabet and multiplication tables?!"

"Y-yes, understood!"

The one saving grace was that the majority of San Marcos's population was concentrated in the capital, Libertad.

Thanks to that, transporting supplies and deploying personnel was manageable, and control was possible within the reach of the administrative apparatus. Had there been cities scattered across the entire country, it would have been impossible to handle.

"Come on, people! Move it! His Excellency is watching!"

Yu-jin's photograph, hanging in the center of the office, gleamed under the light.

***

This was a crisis. The policy's impact had been far more explosive than expected.

The schools were on the verge of collapse. No, it was more accurate to say they had already collapsed.

In hindsight, it made perfect sense.

Just graduating high school practically guaranteed a government job.

Of course, San Marcos did have businesses. A surprisingly decent number of them, in fact.

There were trading companies handling grain imports and exports, a port authority running the harbor, and retail companies operating supermarkets all around Libertad.

The problem was:

'The salaries are absolutely pitiful.'

The pay was far too low.

The average monthly wage for an urban worker in San Marcos was around 200 to 300 dollars. And those wages had been frozen for decades.

Considering that working at construction sites or coffee plantations earned 300 to 350 dollars, the only advantage of a company job was less physical strain; there was no real incentive in the job market.

But government officials who worked in government ministries were different.

Starting pay was 350 dollars, with wages increasing by seniority and rank.

It had only been restricted to Military Academy graduates until now, but in impoverished San Marcos, it was the best job one could have.

Just getting in might not guarantee a rags-to-riches story, but it did guarantee a middle-class life. In Korean terms, it was roughly comparable to landing a job at a major conglomerate like Hyundai Motors, Samsung Electronics, or LG.

Perhaps that was why the parents had completely lost their minds.

When all the children who had never attended school came pouring out at once, hidden errors in the statistics were exposed.

The actual number of children far exceeded the school-age population that had been accounted for.

That also meant an equally large number of children had been exploited for labor on farms and streets without even appearing in any official records.

'Seriously, why don't people register their children's births?'

Now that the problem was identified, it was time to find solutions. The meal situation was resolved by expanding Tortilla F&B's production lines. The classroom shortage would be endured with outdoor tents while new facilities were built.

But there was one problem that simply could not be solved: the absurd shortage of teachers.

In San Marcos, anyone with at least a high school education could take an exam to earn a teaching certificate.

Korean teachers, most of whom were university graduates from prestigious institutions, would have been horrified by such a system, but San Marcos didn't even have enough teachers under this low bar.

The reason was simple: the high school enrollment rate was under 10 percent.

"Your Excellency, the student-to-teacher ratio has exceeded 150 to 1. We've mobilized retired teachers and even Ministry of Education staff, but it's not enough."

The internal pool of personnel had already been exhausted.

That left only one answer. Bringing in foreign workers.

"Let's import teachers from Venezuela."

Isabella's eyes went wide.

"From Venezuela... you say?"

"Yes, the languages are mutually intelligible, aren't they? Just bring them over and they'll do fine."

I said it with full confidence. Portuguese and Spanish were practically the same language anyway, so what's the difference?

Moreover, San Marcos had been a Spanish colony before falling under Portuguese colonial rule, making it essentially a Portuñol zone. The language barrier was as good as nonexistent.

"That may be true, but... would they actually want to come?"

"Of course it won't be easy. We're asking them to uproot their lives and leave their homeland. But in Korea, there's a saying."

"What saying...?"

"If someone won't accept your offer, consider whether you're not offering enough money."

Isabella blinked.

"Let's give them what they need. Give them a house and a car. Give them furniture and everything they need to settle in."

As Isabella had noted, Venezuela's current situation could be described as a full-blown depression without exaggeration.

A mass exodus to Colombia had already occurred in 2018 and 2019, but most of those who fled were treated as refugees and were not living proper lives.

We would be throwing a lifeline to the elites trapped in that hell.

"A monthly salary of 400 dollars. Housing, meals, and a vehicle provided. Permanent residency after one year of service. How does that sound?"

"That would certainly be... like rain after a long drought. Since they're highly skilled, we could also redirect them to other roles beyond teaching later on."

Four hundred dollars was just under 600,000 won in Korean currency. In Korea, that wouldn't even cover a week's wages from a convenience store part-time job, but in San Marcos, it was enough to cover all living expenses and still put money into savings.

And the same was true for Venezuela.

Their per capita GDP was only about 2,880 dollars, roughly on par with ours.

"Contact Director Lucio. Tell him to dispatch SIA agents to Venezuela immediately and begin recruiting."

"What should the qualifications be?"

"Accept anyone with a bachelor's degree or higher."

"Would it be alright if I made a slight modification to Your Excellency's plan?"

"What is it?"

"Instead of sending field agents to Venezuela, what if we sent them to Colombia?"

"Colombia?"

"Yes. In Venezuela, they'd have to go searching for talent, but Colombia already has refugee camps, so that won't be necessary."

"Wow."

That was Isabella for you. She caught the detail I had missed in an instant.

"And... while dispatching agents to the field is fine, I'd also suggest using social media. It would be faster and simpler to persuade people through messages rather than going around in person."

"Sounds good. Let's proceed that way."

Watching Isabella leave the office with a faint smile, I thought to myself.

'Thank God Venezuela's economy collapsed.'

I'd heard their president was on the verge of being ousted. The will of the people truly is the will of heaven, and if you want to keep the people's support, nothing beats a strong economy.

'I'd better make sure that never happens to me.'

***

A few days later, all of Venezuela was abuzz over an offer that had arrived through social media.

Mysterious DMs had been blasted indiscriminately across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

[Dream Job! Official Recruitment Notice from the Government of San Marcos]

Salary: Starting at USD $400~ (Raises based on performance!)

Benefits: Free housing and vehicle provided!

Perk: 100% guaranteed permanent residency after 1 year of service!

Eligibility: 4-year university degree or above (All majors welcome, diploma verification required)

Position: Assigned based on your major.

Airfare covered! Just bring yourself!

The terms were so generous that reactions split into two extremes.

"Dude, this is obviously a scam."

"A job, a house, AND a car?"

"Don't fall for it. This has 'wake up in a bathtub missing a kidney' written all over it."

"You'll probably end up running drugs for some gang."

"I heard San Marcos doesn't have gangs. Apparently their dictator wiped them all out."

"Are you an idiot? You actually believe that?"

Most people scoffed and deleted the message.

But those who had been pushed to the edge thought differently.

Roberto, who had once graduated from Venezuela's finest engineering university and worked as an engineer, only to find himself unemployed for two years after his company went under, was clutching his smartphone with trembling hands.

"I'm going."

He didn't even have enough money to cover tomorrow's meals.

His electricity had been cut off long ago, and his rent was three months overdue; he could be thrown out any day.

Leaving in search of hope was the smart choice, a hundred times over.

"Are you insane? You don't even know where that place is! What if it's a scam?!"

"Whether I starve to death here or die there, it's all the same. They're even sending plane tickets. I've got nothing to lose."

"......"

Roberto brushed off his friends' attempts to stop him and sent a photo of his diploma. A reply came back in less than a minute.

[Congratulations, you've been accepted! Your e-ticket has been sent. We'll see you tomorrow at 10 AM at Bogotá Airport. ^^]

The speed of the process made him suspicious, but he shut his eyes tight and boarded the plane.

The next day, when Roberto arrived at Libertad International Airport, a group of large, broad-shouldered men in black suits and sunglasses approached him.

"Mr. Roberto?"

"Y-yes!"

"Follow us."

The men snatched his luggage without a word and loaded him into a black van.

The van cut through the city and drove for quite some time before finally.

"Get out."

They had arrived in front of a mansion that wasn't flashy but was clean and well-kept.

"...Excuse me?"

To the bewildered Roberto, the man in sunglasses handed over two keys and an envelope.

"You'll be living in unit 404 here, and your car is in the parking lot. It's a bit old, but it's been fully serviced so it should run fine. Use this money for your first month's living expenses. Starting next month, your salary will come in, so you can live off that."

"......"

"Your major was mechanical engineering, correct?"

"Y-yes!"

"Then starting tomorrow, you'll be the science teacher at Libertad 7th Middle School. Since it's your first day, we'll send someone to show you around."

"What? A teacher? I'm not working at a company? I'm a precision machinery engineer..."

When Roberto asked, the man grinned and answered.

"Isn't that even better? What could be more rewarding than teaching the nation's future? On top of that, you get civil servant status and a paycheck that comes like clockwork every month. Where else are you going to find a deal like that?"

"But I've never taught anyone before..."

"Just go look at the textbook and teach from it. Our kids are well-behaved, they'll listen."

"S-still, this is a bit..."

When Roberto hesitated, the man's expression turned ice cold in an instant.

"If you don't want to, you're free to go back right now."

"What? After receiving an airline ticket and everything, that's allowed?"

"Of course. Though the moment you decline our offer, you become an illegal immigrant and won't be able to board a return flight."

The man pointed toward the harbor and added.

"If you jump into that ocean over there and swim hard across the Caribbean, you might arrive home by next month or so."

"......"

"Your choice. Stay here, collect a steady paycheck, and be called 'Teacher' for a living, or play tag with the sharks on your way back home."

"I-I'll report for duty."

"Wise decision."

And so, Roberto was hired, whether he liked it or not, as a teacher of the great nation of San Marcos.

*****

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊

To receive the latest update notifications or report mistakes, join our Discord server linked below.