Chapter 446: with translation of chapter title

At ten in the morning, Deputy Bureau Chief Hu Yuyu came to Lu Fan's office and reported: "Bureau Chief, according to the staffing situation, the bureau's affiliated public institutions are publicly recruiting 165 staff members; please review, this needs to be reported to the Organization Department and Human Resources Department."

Lu Fan looked for a moment, then said: "This is something you decided earlier; I have no objection, just report it normally. However, I have one request: when organizing the interview, you must ensure fairness, justice, and transparency! Hu Yuyu, I have a task I want to assign to you."

Hu Yuyu immediately replied: "Please instruct, Bureau Chief!"

Lu Fan said: "You are in charge of the Education and Training Supervision Division. This year the bureau will conduct regular inspections, vigorously advance the 'double reduction' policy, and carry out special governance of covertly varying training. You take the lead on this. Crack down on illegal classes and schools, severely punish those who change names, covertly vary, substitute, or use mobile guerrilla tactics, using the guise of after-school care, supervision, self-study rooms, consultations, domestic services, or resident teachers to conduct academic training. Strike hard, publish reporting methods in the news media, encourage public participation in supervision, help provide leads on illegal classes and schools, and set up high rewards, using fines as rewards! Find one, investigate one, expose one, resolutely rectify and eradicate."

Strictly investigate teachers' after-school classes, maintaining a "Zero Tolerance" attitude toward violations by in-service teachers. For those who do not restrain themselves, persist, or defy the wind, we must ensure that every report is investigated, every verified case is punished, and every punishment is strict, imposing penalties such as demotion in professional title and revocation of honors. For serious cases, we will dismiss and revoke teaching qualifications, and enter the teachers involved in verified typical cases into the national teacher management information system. At the same time, implement "one case, double investigation": for schools where in-service teachers violate tutoring rules, we will strictly investigate the responsibility of relevant leaders.

Hu Yuyu felt the bureau chief's determination and replied: "Okay, Bureau Chief, I will immediately draft the relevant documents, organize personnel, and launch the special operation. However, I have a concern: families with good conditions will still find ways to give their children extra tutoring."

Lu Fan thought for a moment and said: "If the measures are in place, this phenomenon will greatly decrease—someone needs to dare to tutor them! However, work cannot be perfect; we can only do our best to create a fair and just learning environment for the children. From the provincial perspective, university enrollment quotas are fixed and will not increase or decrease with students' scores, so we should try to let the children engage in less 'involution'. My opinion is to cancel all cultural subject tutoring classes across the province, gradually and subtly changing parents' notions."

Deputy Bureau Chief Wu Daobo oversees the Policy and Regulations Division, Education Enforcement Division, Development Planning Division, Higher Education Division, Finance Division, Textbook Division, and the Educational Publications Ltd., etc.; he is a genuine "real power" figure, and also a legacy of the previous bureau chief.

At this moment, Wu Daobo was restless in his office, because the work under his jurisdiction had been assigned by the bureau chief to Ma Yajun to handle—this is not a good omen!

After thinking it over, Wu Daobo organized his current work and went to the bureau chief's office to report.

After entering, Wu Daobo respectfully said: "Bureau Chief, I'm here to report work!"

Lu Fan, without changing expression, said: "Daobo, sit down and speak."

"Bureau Chief, based on my area of responsibility, we have planned the following work this year: first, guide cities and counties to issue the 'county-managed school employment' implementation measures, firmly correcting the 'no hiring despite approved positions' issue, …"

He spoke at length for over ten minutes; Lu Fan listened attentively, felt enlightened, and occasionally noted down key points, because Wu Daobo is a veteran educator, his professional ability is unquestionable, and he has unique insights in many areas. Precisely for this reason, he can find loopholes in policies and engage in corruption.

After hearing the report, Lu Fan smiled and said: "No wonder you're a veteran educator and expert; I agree and support all the work you mentioned. Please quickly formulate it as an agenda item and submit it to the Party Group meeting for approval. Daobo, I've just come to the Education Bureau; in my work I need everyone's help, so you must not hide your talents—if you have good ideas and suggestions, you must communicate them to me promptly. One person's strength is limited, but when many gather firewood, the flame rises high; only through unity, solidarity, pragmatic action, and joint development can we elevate Qinchuan's education cause to a higher level."

After talking for half an hour about work, the two exchanged pleasantly; Wu Daobo did not notice any abnormality in the bureau chief, and felt somewhat reassured.

At three in the afternoon, Lu Fan presided over a special meeting to study the reopening plans for schools at all levels and types, and to arrange preparatory work before the opening; members of the leadership team and relevant departments attended the meeting.

The meeting decided: first, the senior year of high school across the province will have a unified opening date set by the Education Bureau; the ninth grade of junior high and graduating classes of vocational schools will open three days after the senior high school opening; the opening times for other grades in primary and middle schools and kindergartens will be guided by principles set by the Education Bureau, with specific dates coordinated by each city (district).

After the meeting ended, Lu Fan then convened the first Bureau Party Group meeting, arranging the recent key work.

Deputy Secretary Wang Hanzhi reported the personnel adjustment plan, proposing to transfer Comrade Duan Yongjiao to be the office director, and Comrade Mu Lankai to be the deputy head of the Secretariat Division.

Deputy Bureau Chief Ma Yajun was the first to express support, followed by Deputy Secretary Wang Hanzhi, Deputy Bureau Chief Hu Yuyu, and Discipline Inspection Group Leader Huang Yan, who all voiced their support; finally, the meeting unanimously approved the appointments of Duan Yongjiao and Mu Lankai.

Lu Fan instructed that Deputy Secretary Wang Hanzhi should be responsible for completing the relevant procedures, formalities, and filing with the Organization Department for the two transfers.

After the meeting, Wang Hanzhi followed Lu Fan to the office to seek instructions on the candidates for the heads of the Recruitment Office, Stability Office, and Finance Division.

Lu Fan thought for a moment and said: "Hanzhi, for now don't rush; let me first get a better understanding of the comrades' situations."

"Okay, please feel free to give any instructions, Bureau Chief, at any time."

Lu Fan asked: "The head of the Finance Division is not yet of retirement age, yet he proactively requested better treatment and to vacate his position—is this a display of style, or is there some hidden motive?"

Some things are hard to say outright; Wang Hanzhi thought and then implied: "Perhaps the work pressure is too great, causing him to lose sleep at night, after all, financial work is prone to mistakes."

Lu Fan then asked: "The Development Division seems very busy these past two days, as crowded as a bustling market!"

Wang Hanzhi replied: "Some work requires early coordination with the schools below, because in a few months we will need to draft enrollment plans for various educational undertakings. Moreover, we must formulate the overall construction plan, annual plan, and investment allocation plan for universities and directly affiliated units; the workload of the Development Division is indeed substantial!"

Lu Fan said: "When power is overly concentrated and lacks effective checks and supervision, corruption easily arises. Therefore, any department with approval authority must ensure publicity and transparency, not only having internal oversight but also public social oversight and oversight by service recipients, in order to restrain power."

Wang Hanzhi replied: "The bureau chief's words are thought-provoking; indeed, there are certain problems in the bureau's system, and some units below harbor great resentment. I think each department should conduct appropriate job rotations, which also serves to protect the cadres."

Just as they were speaking, Discipline Inspection Group Leader Huang Yan pushed the door open for the two, saying: "Secretary Wang is here, you go on talking; I'll come back later."

Wang Hanzhi said: "The task assigned by the bureau chief needs to be sped up; I'll go prepare first, you all continue chatting." Having said that, he rose and took his leave.

After Gao Yan sat down, she said: "Bureau Chief, I intend to find a breakthrough in the Finance Division and Development Division, as the problems in these two departments are strongly reflected."

Lu Fan thought for a moment and said: "Handling a case must be based on solid evidence; do we have any concrete leads now?"

Huang Yan replied: "Not yet, for the most part, bribery and accepting bribes form an offensive-defensive alliance, unless the spoils are unevenly split."

Lu Fan said: "The sole link maintaining the offensive-defensive alliance is interest; the involved leaders fear that their political futures will be affected or even ruined, so they resist to the end. The briber worries that the illegal gains from bribery will be lost—'chicken flying, eggs broken'—and both parties, knowing they are like a clay figurine crossing the river, establish the offensive-defensive alliance."

They associate for profit; when profit is gone, they scatter! As long as one point is breached, the whole chain breaks; to reduce their own guilt, they are unwilling to 'sell out' their allies!

Group Leader Huang, I suggest you selectively target one or two schools as objectives for point-blank blasting—first eliminate the 'flies,' then strike the 'tiger'!

"Bureau Chief, your insight is high; I will quickly determine the 'blasting' targets—should I submit them to the Bureau Party Group meeting for study?"

"For matters within your authority, you can decide on your own; just report the targets to me once they are set."

After Gao Yan left, Lu Fan had Secretary Mu Lankai call Education Work Committee member Yin Linwei to the office; he is also a member of the bureau leadership team, overseeing the Propaganda Department, Physical Arts Education Division, Education Informatization Division, and the Provincial Education Informatization Management Center and Provincial Language and Text Proficiency Testing Center, serving as the bureau's spokesperson.

Lu Fan knew he was a cadre promoted by Governor Niu Qianhua, but that did not affect assigning him work. As a mere transient in the Education Bureau, there is no need to fully control the situation; to achieve some results, he can only rely on everyone.

The top leader is the pinnacle of the food chain; if one 'catches big and small fish in one net,' even 'shrimp' are not let go. As the ancients said well: 'When water is too clear, there are no fish; when a person is too scrutinizing, there are no followers.' In such a situation, how much motivation do deputy leaders still have?

Management is about leveraging resources; the top leader must learn to sit on a seesaw—mobilize the enthusiasm of deputy leaders, know how to grasp the big and let go of the small, dare to burden deputy leaders, be willing to grant them authority, and be happy to lift them up.

In fact, over the past few days, members of the leadership team and mid-level leaders have been carefully observing the bureau chief's every move, and through various channels have been inquiring about his past experiences, hobbies, personality traits, work style, and political background, in order to adapt to the new leader's style and gravitate toward him.

Compared to municipal and county Party committees and governments, the top leader of a provincial department has even greater authority within the unit!