Education, Literacy, And The Imperial Exchange Programs.

The educational system provided by the empire is modest. It is in the best interest of the empire that everybody is able to read, but advanced study is usually beyond his or her purview. As such, beyond holding general classes to teach the basics of reading, writing, and simple arithmetic (which itself is usually an imperial sponsored program but actually accomplished through various churches and religions), the only other thing the empire helps with for the education of the general masses is the exchange program. That is, until the young adult reaches the age of 18, at which time a brief, 2 year compulsory stint in the military will further their education along totally different lines, the youngster may be part of the exchange program.

This exchange program works something like this. During the aptitude test which are primarily designed to find potential candidates for governmental work, a record is made of each 7 year old child within the system. The empire makes a determination at that time for all who do not qualify as potential candidates (and that is practically all of them, only a handful actually qualifying for candidate service each year) The government then compiles a list of the top five professions they both feel the child has an aptitude for and they also feel is a profession which currently needs more workers. This list of five options (six really, for the parents can always make their own decision as to what is best for their child) is given to the parents. Further arrangements are then made to exchange their child to the program. The program takes the child and places them in a near by home of a worker of the chosen profession. Also, when it comes up, if you have a child in the system (or if you volunteer for it) you may receive a child from the program for you to train in your profession. These exchanged children usually spend most of their time at their new homes with their foster parents, but they are usually close enough to home so they still spend their week ends with their natural families.

This will probably continue until such time as the master feels the student is ready to be judged, perhaps requiring them to make a project or some similar test of their talent. Several respected members of the chosen profession will judge the project, and if accepted, the student then becomes a full-fledged artisan with the title of "master" (or whatever). Failure will either result in more study or, eventually, one will be given a designation as "master's assistant." These assistants will never own their own shops but will be able to make a decent living in some master's shop working for them. Unfortunately, this isn't the path to greatness, but many end up on it all the same.

Since most of the work within this educational system is actually done by the master, the student, and their families, there is little the empire needs to do except make the initial determinations of aptitude (and they already had an ulterior motive for those tests to begin with).

Further refinements to one's education (at least as far as the government is concerned) come during the compulsory 2 years of PLEBES service. Here, education takes the form of exercise routines, minimal combat techniques, civil engineering, health and eating habits, and a few other remedial tasks that may have been lacking in certain individuals. If one finishes service they may opt to stay in the Imperial guard and their education will begin in earnest about military matters and combat techniques. Also, though not tied directly to the empire's efforts, a continual amount of spiritual education is provided over the course of one's lifetime by the clerics of one's religion.

Finally, any further education is provided to those who both wish it, request it, and can pay for it, though certain classes of information are more readily available and less expensive to come by. More esoteric knowledge, usually provided at great cost by a sage, can also be had, only limited by one's economic situation. If some one has a positively fantastic aptitude for a certain field of study the government has a vested interest to try to find this student a patron who will sponsor the student and pay for his or her further education. The empire does not typically pay for such education but they will actively try to find the patron, but there are some rare exceptions to this general principle. If the government decides they need this skill or knowledge they may pay for the student's education themselves.

Finally, some exceptional students may opt, for lack of a better term, to take adventurer training. Since such students are usually on the path to quickly becoming disqualified as a citizen, they may be excused from PLEBES service even if it takes them longer to complete it such that their age would usually demand such service. This may happen if a non-citizen trainer assures the empire the student will complete their training and thus obtains special dispensation to forego PLEBES service. Most PCs within the empire have taken this very path.