Eventually by a process not unlike playing poker without cards or a high regards for the rules a decision was reached that could be supported by the majority of those in attendance. The primary plan of the Japanese authorities to deal with the magical-girl-problem was going to be based on what was termed the "Scottish Model".
The schools in France and in the Baltic region had also been considered as models, but the latter was dismissed because of its virtual independence of any of the regions mundane governments. The former was rejected for being to French.
A number of stipulations and requirements were tagged on to the basic outline of a plan to satisfy various interest groups before the actual work of trying to implement it was delegated to a smaller subcommittee.
"I don't know how we are supposed to find a fitting piece of real estate," a member of said subcommittee bemoaned during its first meeting. "It is going to be hard to hide an entire boarding-school anywhere in Tokyo."
"I think we agreed that the boarding part should be optional," another member interrupted. "Local girls should be given the option of commuting to school."
"Which will require a location in proximity to a connection to the public transportation network; a factor which will further complicate matters," another replied.
"We should have gone with the original plan of splitting things up and having only this magical shopping district directly here in Tokyo while trying to find a magical castle to house the school somewhere more rural. It is a pity that certain factions insisted on making our work harder with such impossible requirements," a senior member lamented still sour about having lost that particular power struggle.
"Er, a magical castle? We won't have to imitate things that closely won't we?" a more junior member wondered fearfully but he was ignored by everyone else.
"Has anyone else made any progress?" the subcommittee leader wanted to know. "Have we had any luck assembling a suitable faculty?"
"We have communicated with the British government and asked them to loan us some of their people to help get things started. They have been playing a bit hard to get but I think we can expect at least a couple of qualified instructors to be send soon," a diplomat reported.
"Yes, but our original aim was to ensure that the students who would graduate from that school to be loyal to us and we will hardly achieve that aim by employing a faculty full of foreigners," was the reply he got. "How is our effort to recruit some native talent going?"
"We are still in the process of searching for and conducting background checks on people who might have what we are looking for. Unfortunately those with the necessary qualifications will by definition be hard to find. The once who lack talent for subtlety and secrecy are the ones who usually stand out."
"What about the school itself? Have we come any closer to formulating plans for its internal organizational structure and everyday operations?" the man in charge wanted to know.
"Nothing concrete has been decided yet. We are still awaiting more information from the groups responsible for the real-estate and staffing needs," the man responsible for lack of progress on that front defended himself. "We have been looking through the information about the Scottish Model and think that some changes should be made to the way things are organized."
"We will have to refocus the syllabus to something more in line with our needs. Clearly lessons in subjects like magical botany, magical zoology or alchemical studies are not what is required for magical girls," one committee member opinioned.
"We should not dismiss any one subject entirely out of hand," another man countered. "You never know what sort of information might be useful. Learning about dangerous magical creatures and plants should at least be part of the education of a magical girl."
"What about this house-system they have? Do we really want to copy something like that? It seems to have almost lead them to disaster in the past," somebody else asked.
"I see nothing wrong with grouping students according to their personality and affinity to certain magics. It will make teaching easier to have groups of similar students together," was said by someone who did not see the problem.
"Only that they will end up forming friendships in those groups and move out in the real world together. We will end up with magical girl teams who were in the same house," a committee member with a practical view on things answered him. "The first time a team of hot-tempered magical girls with an affinity for fire magic meets up with a monster like a ceramic golem we will be in trouble. We should create a learning environment that encourages balanced teams."
The unfortunate man in charge sadly shook his head as things degenerate from there to a heated argument with some subtle name-calling and general blame-shifting thrown in. It looked like this job would be harder than anticipated.
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(Posted Tue, 30 May 2006 23:08)
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