Chapter 458 - 458 University Spot
458 University Spot
Wang Yun slapped her thigh. “I almost forgot about the serious business! Yu Bing, this year, our commune fought for a university spot for each village. My father-in-law only found out about this yesterday and is preparing to announce this news to the various village chiefs at the monthly commune meeting in three days.”
“My father-in-law said that with your performance, you will definitely get a spot in your village. If the village chief has any objections, he’ll handle it. Your priority now is to study. Although you just finished high school last year, you’ve been in the countryside for more than a year after all, so you probably forgot about some knowledge. The list will be confirmed in a week, but you can start preparing early now.” ...
Song Li echoed, “That’s right! You don’t have to worry about the spot. With your performance, no one in the He Mountain Village has contributed more than you. The spot should be yours. If anyone dares to play any tricks, my father will keep an eye on them!”
Yu Bing was stunned for a moment. She recalled that in her previous life, she had also obtained a spot for a University of Labor and Agriculture. However, she was stupid and got deceived by Yao Nian. In order to please him, she gave up this spot without hesitation. Yao Nian used this spot to return to the city and attend university.
There was actually a huge difference between a University of Labor and Agriculture and a real university. The University of Labor and Agriculture appeared because of the cancellation of the college entrance examination. It was unique to this period and had only existed for a short ten years.
From the name, it could be seen that the students of this university were selected among workers, farmers, and soldiers. They would go to school to receive two to three years of education before returning to production.
Letting intellectuals go to the countryside to do construction was to transform students into workers, farmers, and soldiers. The University of Labor and Agriculture was the exact opposite.
These spots were confirmed by the school and reported to the admissions office. After they were collected, they were distributed to various factories, villages, and troops. Although these people still returned to their original places of work after graduation, their identities became public officials. This was an opportunity for them to change their fate.
The conditions for enrollment were very simple. As long as one was about 20 years old, had good morals, was healthy, and had a level of education above junior high, they would be qualified.
Then, the various grassroots agencies would recommend candidates and they would take the same exam. They could only go to university after they passed the political review. However, the passing rate was very high, above 90%.
The enrollment system was through recommendation, so there was a lot of room for manipulation. This was because the screening criteria wasn’t one’s learning score, but a supervisor’s subjective judgment of whether the other party was proactive or not. Therefore, there were many cases of getting in through the back door.
The most important thing was that “clean background” and “political overreach” mainly depended on your family’s background and whether you were related to people with correct political ideals.
The University of Labor and Agriculture was said to be a university, but the knowledge base of the students who went to school there was very different. To teachers, such differences made the difficulty of teaching them rise exponentially. Moreover, the content of the lessons was unrelated to the subject, such as politics, digging pits, clearing the river, rehearsing performances, watching movies, and so on.
Yu Bing, who knew the future, naturally didn’t care about this spot. She hoped to participate in the college entrance examination at the end of the year and enter a real university to learn cultural knowledge.
Jiang Chun was extremely excited when she heard this, even happier than if she herself obtained the spot. “This is a good thing! Don’t worry, Yu Bing has been studying. She will definitely pass!”
After Yu Bing glanced at the few people who were happy that she had obtained a spot, she thought for a moment and said, “Sister Yun, Song Li, tell Uncle Song not to worry. I don’t plan to take this spot.”
Wang Yun asked in confusion, “Why? A lot of people are dying to get this spot.”
To the people of this era, it was incomprehensible to take the initiative to give up such a rare opportunity to climb up the social ranks, so the three of them looked at Yu Bing in confusion.
Yu Bing couldn’t say the reason, so she could only find an excuse. “I think my current life is quite good. Moreover, if there’s really a chance to return to the city, I think I’m quite capable and often go to other agencies to do business, so I have a higher chance of being chosen by the agency supervisor than other people. It’s better to give the opportunity to people who need it more.”
Song Li said with admiration, “No wonder my father asks me to learn from you. I’m still far inferior to you!”