Private education, which was once
considered a privilege among the affluent only in North Korea, is becoming a
more popular option for average households as well with subjects ranging from
English to Chinese and even other recreational fields such as dance and
calligraphy, according to local sources.
“The private education boom is not just for
the rich. Even those who get by on day-to-day basis by working at the market
are not shying away from spending when it comes to their children’s education,”
a source from South Pyongan Province told Daily NK in a telephone conversation.
“Because of this, more teachers who specialize in private tutoring are emerging
in Pyongyang and other provincial cities and drawing quite a bit of attention.”
An additional source in North Pyongan
Province corroborated this trend.
In order to take classes from these tutors,
parents are putting their children on leave from school. Most parents use
excuses such as ‘treatment’ or ‘long-term hospital care’ when paying bribes to
home room teachers and the academic affairs office. “Children from rich
families that have paid bribes to the school are able to take leave for one or
two years, but average families are only able to get them off for three to six
months,” the source explained.
“Well-known tutors even rent out rooms in
their homes or get a place nearby to teach them in a more professional
capacity.”
The subjects taught range from music and
arts such as accordion, violin, western and traditional dance classes to
foreign languages like English and Chinese, according to the source, who added
that students typically receive private classes for about seven hours a day
from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The teachers with specialties are usually
those who used to be famous in the field but have now jumped into tutoring
because of the cut-off in rations and monthly wages,” she said, “ but they’re
now making a lot of money.” She went on to outline the costs, saying teachers
receive 100 RMB a month from each household and take on four to five students
or sometimes even up to ten.
“The tuition differs depending on how good
the teacher is, but those who have made a reputation for themselves go for up
to 150 to 200 RMB, so only rich kids can afford them. Regular families usually
go for the average teacher who charges about 100 RMB,” the source said, adding that for
parents, tutors offer progress reports each month by inviting them in to show
how much their children have learned in class.
On the ground, she said, residents feel the
pervasiveness of private education does signal a change in times, as in the
past the practice was reserved only for children of Party cadres. Now, average
families are able to provide private classes for their children to help them
get ahead as well. Nevertheless, people also criticize the state education
system saying it extended its curriculum for mandatory education without adding
quality content, creating the need to go beyond state-offered courses.
