Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 494 Talent and Education

Alexander Fleming and his mentor Wright are just one example; Spain absorbed far more talent from across Europe after the outbreak of World War I.

Since European countries were bound to lose a large number of talents during the World War, Spain naturally could not let such a good opportunity pass by.

After all, if Spain hadn't retained these talents, most of the scientists and technical experts who left Europe would have eventually chosen to immigrate to the United States.

Rather than letting the Americans reap the benefits for nothing, it's better to let Spain, also a European country, benefit. After all, Spain is part of Europe, and Spanish prosperity is more acceptable to Europeans than American prosperity.

In order to increase Spain's attractiveness to these European talents, in addition to attracting scientists from various European countries in the name of the Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences, Carlo also instructed Spanish universities to do their best to recruit scientists and experts from various European countries.

At that time, the term "expert" did not carry the derogatory connotation it later acquired. Those who could be hailed as experts were generally people who had made significant contributions and demonstrated considerable ability in their respective fields.

By inviting them to take positions at Spanish universities, we can not only help them escape the ongoing war in Europe, but also give more frustrated scientists more opportunities to showcase their talents.

The educational environment in Spain at this time is vastly different from that when Carlos first became president. Thanks to the efforts of the Spanish government, the number of universities in Spain has now exceeded 100, reaching as many as 127.

Of these 127 universities, 86 have relatively limited subjects, 39 are comprehensive universities, and 2 are church-affiliated universities.

Catholic universities are universities established with investment from the Spanish Catholic Church, primarily training students in religious studies. A significant portion of graduates from these two Catholic universities hold positions in churches throughout Spain, making it an important method for the Spanish Church to cultivate religious personnel.

The remaining 125 universities either specialize in one or two disciplines or cover multiple disciplines, serving as cradles for talent across all sectors of Spanish society.

Unlike the university environment in Spain before, all universities in Spain now place a greater emphasis on subjects such as physics and chemistry, biomedicine, architecture and engineering, and mathematics than on humanities subjects.

Of the 86 universities specializing in a single subject, 50 focus on science and technology, cultivating a large number of science and technology talents for Spain.

Of the remaining 36 universities, four are Spanish military academies: the Royal Military Academy of Madrid, the Royal Military Academy of Zaragoza, the Naval Military Academy of Valencia, and the Air Force Military Academy of Madrid.

The remaining 32 universities cover all categories of humanities, including languages, philosophy, law, history, and economics and management.

Spain's emphasis on science over humanities is an inevitable consequence of the times.

Compared to talents trained in the humanities, Spain currently has a greater shortage of talents trained in the sciences. After all, Spain's domestic size is only so big, and it doesn't need too many humanities talents.

On the contrary, the sciences, which are not only related to industrial development but also to various technologies and constructions, are currently the most important and most needed category for development in Spain.

In addition to these more than one hundred universities, Spain also has hundreds of technical schools of all sizes.

After such a long period of development, technical schools have also been roughly classified and are now operating in line with the mainstream education system.

Originally, students graduating from technical schools did not receive graduation certificates. Consequently, they did not have corresponding academic qualifications, and their educational level remained at the highest level permitted by the traditional education system.

Simply put, even if a primary school graduate goes through a complete technical school training program, he will still only have a primary school diploma after graduation, and his academic qualifications will not change at all.

Over the years, Spain has placed increasing emphasis on technical schools. Gradually, graduates from these technical schools have also acquired the corresponding academic qualifications.

Of course, there are definitely some differences between the degrees awarded by technical schools and those from regular universities.

Technical schools can be divided into two types: basic technical training schools and advanced technical training schools.

The graduates from these two types of technical schools possess academic qualifications corresponding to junior and senior professional qualifications, respectively.

A basic professional qualification is equivalent to a junior high school diploma, while an advanced professional qualification is equivalent to a high school diploma. This also means that technical students graduating from technical schools are eligible to apply to regular high schools and universities.

Spain's educational environment is currently quite good. From primary school to university, the educational environment can be divided into three stages: primary education, secondary education, and university education.

Primary school education lasts for five years. In addition to teaching basic knowledge in various subjects, it also focuses on cultivating students' interests and hobbies and developing their thinking skills.

After graduating from primary school, students will take a unified entrance examination for secondary school. If they pass, they can enroll in a six-year secondary school program.

It's not that difficult for elementary school students to go to middle school. As long as they get a passing grade in the standardized middle school entrance exam, all they need to worry about is tuition fees.

After completing six years of secondary school, students are required to take a university entrance exam.

University registration is different from high school registration. Even if you achieve a passing score on the university entrance exam, it only means you are eligible to apply to university.

In Spain, you still need to apply to universities and meet their admission requirements to gain admission.

Take the Royal Academy of Sciences, currently the most prestigious in Spain, as an example. As a comprehensive university founded by the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Royal Academy of Sciences has attracted widespread attention both domestically and internationally since its inception.

The latest admission requirements for the Royal Academy of Sciences in Spain require excellent scores in the national university entrance examination, as well as assessments of intellectual ability and the cultivation of interests.

Only those who meet all the above conditions will be admitted to the Royal Academy of Sciences. Furthermore, the Royal Academy of Sciences has an annual admission limit; once the admission requirement is met, those who meet the requirements will have to wait for university admissions the following year.

Although most high school graduates decide on their major during high school, some students are still unable to identify their preferred field of study.

For this reason, comprehensive universities in Spain offer the option to change majors. If you find in your first year that your chosen major is not suitable, you can apply to change to another major at the same university.

Changing your major is very easy once you pass the exam.

Of course, to prevent frequent changes in major, such an opportunity to change majors will only occur once during the transition from freshman to sophomore year. After sophomore year, changing majors will not be allowed unless one can demonstrate exceptional potential and talent in another major.

Above a regular university degree, there exists an even higher level of education: the master's degree. The term "master" first appeared in medieval Europe, but at that time it was simply a professional qualification, meaning a master craftsman or expert.

In the 19th century, with the continuous development of the education sector in various European countries, the master's degree, a higher academic qualification above university graduates, finally evolved.

Spain certainly does offer master's degrees, and has already produced a considerable number of master's graduates.

However, similar to other European countries, it is extremely difficult for ordinary university students in Spain to apply for master's programs.

Unlike regular undergraduate students, the biggest characteristic of master's students is that they have a dedicated advisor. Generally, an advisor can only take on two or three master's students; it's difficult to train more than that.

Supervisors qualified to take on master's students are generally those who possess a master's degree themselves, or scientists who have achieved great success and prestige in their respective fields.

This has resulted in a limited number of experts in Spain who can admit master's students, indirectly limiting the growth of master's students in Spain.

Besides having a dedicated tutor, the biggest difference between master's students and regular undergraduates is that master's students focus on research in only one subject.

Although ordinary university students may focus on a few specific subjects, they cannot completely abandon the study of other subjects.

However, master's students are different. Master's students are generally only responsible for researching a specific topic within their supervisor's area of ​​expertise, rather than the entire field.

Like Alexander Fleming and his mentor Wright. Before following his mentor, Alexander Fleming studied medicine, biology, pathology, and bacteriology.

After becoming his mentor's assistant, Alexander Fleming devoted himself almost entirely to bacteriological research, which is why he was eventually able to discover penicillin.

Master's students typically become their supervisor's assistants, helping their supervisors with research on a specific topic.

Because they need to conduct more in-depth research, master's students simply don't have time to explore other topics. It's already quite good if they can complete their studies steadily; they simply don't have time to be greedy and have their cake and eat it too.

These master's students who are able to graduate smoothly are generally given important positions once they graduate.

They either gained their mentor's approval and stayed in the mentor's lab as more important assistants, or they were hired by other companies and enterprises, shining in different places in their respective industries and fields of expertise.

Currently, more than ten master's students trained by the Royal Academy of Sciences have successfully entered the Royal Academy of Sciences after graduation. This not only proves the success of the Royal Academy of Sciences in cultivating talents, but also demonstrates the progress of the Spanish education sector.

It's important to know that in the early days of the Royal Academy of Sciences, most of its members were recruited by Spain from various European countries.

Today, Spain has the ability to train its own academicians, which is the greatest achievement and honor for the Spanish education sector.

While recruiting talent from other European countries could solve Spain's shortage of highly skilled personnel, this approach would ultimately be a short-sighted solution.

Only by establishing a comprehensive education and training system in Spain, capable of cultivating a large number of highly skilled local talents each year, can the shortage of highly skilled personnel in Spain be gradually resolved.

Spain has already completed most of the steps in its talent development system. As long as it continues to proceed step by step, Spain will continue to succeed in its education system.

Thanks to the development of the Spanish education system, many Spanish universities are quite renowned in Europe.

In addition to Spanish students applying to these universities, Spanish universities also attract a large number of students from Europe and even the world.

Currently, there are hundreds of international students in Spain's hundreds of universities, which is a very large number.

Spanish universities have trained thousands of international students. Some of these students return to their home countries after graduation, but a significant number choose to settle in Spain after graduation. After all, Spain's infrastructure and economic environment are now quite excellent, and it is no longer the impoverished European outskirts it once was.

Although much of mainland Spain remains barren, the development of some major cities has fully demonstrated how much Spain has changed in the last thirty years.

Barcelona is currently the largest city in Spain. According to the Barcelona city government's population statistics, as of 1913, Barcelona had a population of approximately 241 million, making it the only city in Spain with a population exceeding 200 million.

This is not the future; there are only a handful of cities in the world with a population of over 200 million.

Barcelona, ​​with a population of 241 million, ranks fifth in the world, second only to Berlin, Germany, with 242 million.

The populations of Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Tokyo, the capital of Japan, Chicago, Philadelphia, an important industrial city in the United States, and other famous cities are all far smaller than those of Barcelona, ​​which alone shows how rapidly Barcelona has developed.

Madrid, the capital of Spain, has a much smaller population than Barcelona. However, Madrid still has 191 million inhabitants and is expected to surpass 2 million in the next few years, becoming the second city in Spain to reach this milestone.

Madrid's population ranks seventh in the world, and Spain has two cities in the top ten, which is quite an achievement.

Of course, this is not good news for Spain.

The reason for Spain's overpopulation can actually be attributed to the large plateau and mountainous regions within the country.

Despite Spain having consolidated over a million square kilometers of land, most of it is actually uninhabited mountainous and plateau regions. Only a small portion, including the coastal plains and the central plains, are truly populated and prosperous areas.

It's worth noting that Madrid was once the largest city in Spain. If it weren't for geographical limitations that forced the Madrid city government to reject some immigrant applications, Madrid today, even if not the largest city in Spain, would likely have a population comparable to Barcelona.

The population difference between Madrid and Barcelona now exceeds 50, which not only proves that Madrid's geographical environment has certain limitations, but also demonstrates how serious the geographical problems in Spain are.

Fortunately, Spain's population was not too large at that time. Barcelona could easily support more than 200 million people, and nearly 200 million people were not too much of a burden for Madrid.

With future technological advancements, Spain's geographical environment will improve to some extent, meaning Madrid still has the potential to accommodate a larger population, and the city's development has yet to reach its full potential.

(End of this chapter)