“Silence!”
The main examiner shouted, instantly causing the voices in the classroom to quieten down. After that, he looked at the examinee who had just spoken. “If someone wants to ask a question, raise your hand. I will forget about this offense this time. But if someone does so again, your qualifications to participate in this examination will be stripped!”
“Also, stop talking among yourself!”
Gurgle~
The poor examinee immediately felt his legs going somewhat soft.
“The great teacher examination is set according to the Saint Gate’s standard. Would you believe if someone says they are a great teacher just because they possess 1 great teacher halo?”
The main examiner’s tone exuded an intense pressure. It was like a storm that swept through the entire classroom.
The examinees fell silent. Despair appeared on the faces of several people.
It was very rare for intern teachers to participate in the 1-star great teacher examination because comprehending three halos and being an expert in a secondary occupation were hard conditions one must fulfill.
Even if they met the hard conditions, their comprehension and expertise might not be deep enough. Hence, teachers who had just graduated would wait two to three years and only participate after they grew more confident in themselves. After all, everyone only had five chances.
However, there would always be some examinees who were opportunistic or too self-confident. They felt that they had a chance to pass. Hence, once they met the hard conditions, they would immediately come and participate.
They felt that they might be stuck when the expertise in their secondary occupations or combat strength was tested. But never in their wildest dreams would they expect that they would be eliminated in the first round.
“The examinees whose names are called out are to immediately head up the rostrum. You have 20 seconds to display your halos. If you fail to do so, you will be eliminated immediately. Those who passed can leave the classroom and prepare yourself for the written examination in the afternoon.”
The main examiner announced.
Si~
Upon hearing the short duration of 20 seconds, most of the examinees had looks of shock on their faces. All of them inhaled breaths of cold air.
“Is there something wrong, what can we do in 20 seconds?”
An examinee involuntarily grumbled. Many teachers needed some time to prepare themselves before they could cast their great teacher halos. They had to find the correct feeling before they could succeed!
This time around, even the examinees, whose range of halo could span the entire classroom, began to feel nervous. 20 seconds was too short.
“You, the examinee who just spoke, are now eliminated!”
The main examiner pointed to the grumbling examinee who was sitting in the third row from the back.
Swish~
That examinee’s expression immediately changed.
“That person wearing blue, it’s useless even if you lower your head. Your participation qualifications have been stripped. Leave the classroom immediately!”
The main examiner called out again.
(Luckily, I’m not the one!)
The examinees at the side sighed a heave of relief.
“But I didn’t make a scene!”
The person wearing blue was a guy. Right now, he was angry and annoyed, and also very nervous. There were even tears in his eyes.
“Leave immediately or your participation qualifications next year will be stripped as well!”
The main examiner berated.
After saying this, the examinee in blue was badly brightened. His lips twitched, but he didn’t dare to say anything anymore. He stood up and hurried out of the classroom.
“I will give all of you a chance now. If you feel you have no hope of passing this round, you can leave the classroom now and come back next year. Naturally, we will treat this attempt from you guys as voided. It means that if you participate next year, that would be considered as your first attempt.”
The main examiner spoke again.
After he spoke, a clamor instantly rang out in the classroom, but everyone soon fell silent. With that unlucky person in blue as a prior example, no one else dared to test the main examiner’s authority.
However, at this moment, joy appeared on the faces of several people. After that, looks of hesitation also surfaced.
“Alright, I will give you guys 30 seconds. If you don’t leave the classroom by then, it means that you have agreed to continue with the examination!”
The main examiner spoke. He then took out a pocket watch and started to count down the time.
A few examinees immediately scuttled forth like rabbits who were being shot and rushed out. There still were some who were restless. They glanced at their surroundings, wanting to know what the others would do.
“You guys are not allowed to whisper or glance to your left and right!”
The main examiner berated and continued with the countdown.
20!
19!
18!
After listening to the countdown, a minority of the examinees felt like they were being cooked by the pressure. They suddenly stood up and walked out of the classroom.
Maybe it was because they knew that their actions might be embarrassing, all of them lowered their heads and increased their speed.
A female examiner stood at the classroom’s entrance and was holding onto the door. Evidently, she was preparing to close it once the countdown ended.
This scene caused over ten more examinees to hesitate. They then stood up and rushed out with flying speed.
“30 seconds have concluded. Let me ask again, is there anyone who still wishes to leave? If yes, get out right now. If no, just sit there quietly and prepare for the exam.”
The main examiner asked in a loud voice.
Upon hearing this, Sun Mo frowned, feeling that something was wrong. Those examinees who had left might have been swindled. Because, from the attitude of the main examiner, he didn’t seem to be a kind and understanding individual that would think for the sake of the examinees.
Two more teachers hesitated. They stood up but sat back down after a while.
“Do you guys want to leave or not?”
The main examiner roared, “If you don’t have confidence, just leave. You only have five attempts in your life, don’t waste one attempt so easily.”
Eventually, decisiveness appeared on an examinee’s face. He stayed behind. The other one rose and ran out of the classroom.
Bang!
The door was closed.
That examinee who left stood at the door and couldn’t help but turn his head back. He revealed an expression of relief like he had a weight off his mind. He consoled himself, “I’m still young. It isn’t too late if I try again next year!”
“That main examiner is so terrifying!”
“Yeah, maybe many people would be eliminated today!”
“I hope that I won’t encounter such a strict examiner when I come again next year!”
“Ai, I better not stay here anymore. If not, the examiner might even chase me away.”
The leaving examinees mumbled. Very soon, they no longer felt self-inferior because other examinees were leaving from their classrooms as well.
In the 500-pax classroom, there were now over 70 empty seats!
“Congratulations on you guys for passing the first round! Those examinees who went out earlier have failed the examination this year!”
The voice of the examiner was still solemn, without a hint of a congratulatory note in it. In fact, his words scared the examinees in the classroom.
“Damn, what the hell?”
“Could this be the real content of the examination?”
“It’s over. It’s absolutely over for those examinees who left!”
The examinees all sat upright and still, not a single one of them dared to speak. However, their emotions were churning wildly. This was especially so for the examinee who had wanted to leave but hesitated in the end. He felt joy like he had just escaped from a calamity.
“So this is the case!”
Sun Mo revealed an enlightened expression. No wonder he had felt strange. So, that was the content of the first round of the examination. The great teacher examination of the Nine Provinces was something indeed!
“Do you all feel that the examiners of Saint Gate are liars?”
“Who told you that the examination of the Saint Gate would only test your teaching capabilities? Will and self-confidence are also aspects we are testing!”
“If you guys don’t even have self-confidence, how can you educate your students well?”
The main examiner unleashed a verbal barrage, lecturing the examinees.
The 1-star great teacher examination was also an experience for teachers to learn about education.
The examinees in the classroom hurriedly stood up and bowed. “We have benefitted from your teachings!”
Those examinees at the corridor, who were originally preparing to leave, were stunned after hearing this. They froze on the spot and felt their hearts turning cold. Their bodies were drenched in cold sweat.
(Were we swindled?)
(Was that also a segment of the exam?)
Some people felt like rushing in immediately to question the examiner. But after hearing the latter part of the examiner’s words, they felt awkward and embarrassed to enter the classroom.
Any teacher with normal intelligence would be able to discover this problem by thinking about it carefully. The bell signaling the start of the examination had already rung. So, how would the examiners let you leave?
Wouldn’t that be unfair to others?
The main examiner had purposely spoken in a strict tone to make them nervous. They had all been thinking of the ‘countdown’ and neglected this.
In any case, leaving meant giving up. This also meant that they had failed!
There was also another reason why these examinees didn’t dare to enter the classroom to question the examiner. If they caused chaos and broke the order of the examination, disturbing the peace of the other examinees, they could be banned from participating next year.
The Saint Gate would definitely not allow them to do such a thing.
“You guys have one minute to leave. Don’t disturb the others sitting for their examinations!”
An examiner appeared in the corridor and shooed everyone outside the classrooms away.
In the 500-pax classroom, from the start to the end, Gu Qingyan didn’t move from his seat.
As a top student that had been heavily doted on and nurtured by the Headmaster of the Skyraise Academy, Gu Qingyan could gain a lot of information and news about the Saint Gate.
For example, two factions in the Saint Gate were in dispute with regard to the great teacher examination.
The radical faction felt that the title of great teacher was something glorious. Hence, the difficulty of the exam should be increased so more people were eliminated. Only elites were permitted to become great teachers.
The conservative faction felt that great teachers should provide education for everyone irrespective of background. They felt that the difficulty should be lowered to allow the vast majority of intern teachers to become great teachers. This would encourage them to work even harder to climb a higher peak.
One must know that if the difficulty of the examination was increased, through the coming years, there might be many teachers giving up because they couldn’t even qualify to be a 1-star great teacher.
Before this year, the conservative faction had always been the one with the advantage. Hence, the previous few years were considered more relaxed and joyful to intern teachers. It was very easy for them to get the title of a 1-star great teacher.
The consequence of doing this was that there would be an increase in the quantity of low-star teachers, leading to the lower teaching quality.
Also, there was another point. If the examination was easy and there was a high passing rate, a lot of fresh graduates would want to come and attempt it.
The more participants there were, the heavier the burden on the Saint Gate’s resources would be. After all, they would need more examiners and larger venues to hold the examination in.
However, the radical faction possessed the advantage this year, and they immediately modified the content of the examination to increase its difficulty.
“There would be many people eliminated this year. Moreover, for the next few years, it would no longer be easy if one wanted to become a 1-star great teacher!”
Gu Qingyan contemplated this question from the viewpoint of an administrator. For this examination, even if the difficulty had increased, he still didn’t need to take it seriously with his aptitude.
(In any case, no matter how impressive you guys are, you guys won’t be more impressive than me. I came here to obtain the #1 ranking!)
The other examiners split up and patrolled the classroom, monitoring the expressions of the examinees. After that, they recorded the points they awarded to the examinees in their name list.
As great teachers, their memory was naturally outstanding. Hence, after seeing the registration forms once, even if they didn’t ask the examinees for their names, they were already familiar with their numbers.
“Now, the second round of the examination will begin. Those whose names are called out are to get up the rostrum. Zhou Qing!”
The main examiner called out.
“Eh?”
Zhou Qing stood up with a stunned look on his face. “My number is #120!”
“Did I say that we will start from #1?”
The main examiner questioned, “If you don’t want to take the exam, just leave!”