The education system

In The Blackout Project, every company has specific requirements for its workforce.

These requirements are divided into four levels:

• Common (Levels 1–3): non-professional, general workers.

• Professional Levels (3 Pro, 4 Pro, and 5 Pro): specialized workers, trained in specific fields such as Energy, Farming, Bakery, and many more. (The list of fields is still evolving.)

You can also track your population by age group, seeing who is of working age or still studying, and how each level contributes to your nation’s labor pool. A worker’s level only reflects their education and potential, not whether they currently hold a job or a study place.

Schools, Students, and Slots

At the bottom of the education interface, you’ll find information about students — those who are seeking or holding a study slot for the current school year, which runs from September 1st to June 30th.

Education sites come in different sizes and education ranges, mostly based on age. For now, they are public institutions, but who knows how things might evolve later?

Each school’s size determines how many slots it can host. For every slot, you’ll choose:

• The education level to teach (within the site’s allowed range), and

• The field of study, if applicable.

  • Lower schools only teach Common subjects.

Of course, education sites also have their own staff requirements. Even a small primary school needs qualified teachers — represented in the screenshot below as a “Management/Law – Level 4 Pro” requirement, a simplified symbol for general knowledge staff.

• ProSchools (Levels 3 Pro–4 Pro): allow you to assign a field of specialization for each slot.

• MasterSchools (Levels 4 Pro–5 Pro): focus on advanced and highly specialized education.

Naturally, these higher-level institutions demand teachers from matching fields — not just from Management or Law!

Adjusting the Education System

You can open or close slots to rebalance your education network - and of course to build new sites or upgrade existing one.

However, for realism and respect toward the current school year:

• Closures only take effect on June 30th.

• Opening new slots requires at least six months of preparation — so you can’t decide in April and expect classes to start by September!

When a slot closes, its staff requirements disappear; when you prepare a new one, new teachers will be required based on the chosen field.

Students automatically pick their studies based on available places, distance, and economic factors — sometimes preferring a lower-level school if it’s cheaper or closer. (And yes, state grants and subsidies are planned for future updates!)

People will also be able to improve their mastery, if they start at least from level 3pro. It will take times but it will be an happy perspective for them.

Plan or Cut?

Balancing education costs and workforce demand is one of the hardest choices you’ll face.

Will you invest to build a skilled society — or save funds by closing schools and reducing training capacity?

The future of your nation depends on your decisions.