Kindergarten teachers who are struggling to make a living in Chongjin have been cobbling together lunches with food taken from their students’ lunch boxes, Daily NK has learned.
“Kindergarten teachers in Chongjin who can’t afford to pack their own sack lunches have been filching food from their students, which is angering parents,” a reporting partner in North Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Given the economic hardship and food shortage since the pandemic, some kindergarten teachers have been swiping a third of the food from their students’ lunch boxes to make their own meals, the reporting partner explained.
Prior to the pandemic, kindergarten teachers supported themselves with 10-day food rations occasionally provided by the government, along with bribes from parents who wanted to ensure their children were getting plenty of attention. But since the pandemic began, rations have been suspended and parents have been facing financial pressures of their own, leaving teachers with little income.
Given that situation, it has recently become routine for kindergarten teachers to carve out their own lunch from their students’ lunch boxes, the reporting partner said. Some teachers have gone so far as to critique the lunch boxes and nag students to bring the teachers’ preferred side dishes.
ANGRY PARENTS
Parents were enraged when a kindergarten in the Sunam District of Chongjin held a monthly lunch box competition, the reporting partner said.
In general, parents are angry that kindergarten teachers are critiquing their children’s lunch boxes when packing lunch itself is hard enough, he said. The critiques have prompted some students to beg their parents for tastier side dishes, while others refuse to even attend kindergarten any more.
“Kindergartens are educational institutions that are responsible for the physical and mental development of preschool children, but at present, kindergartens are only impeding their development. Parents are deeply saddened that their kids have to learn how to humor and flatter their teachers at such a young age,” the reporting partner said.
“Since these teachers aren’t receiving rations from the government, parents are left with the responsibility for keeping the teachers fed. If children are to be truly treated like royalty and given a decent education, the authorities need to start by addressing the issue of the livelihoods of the teachers.”
Translated by David Carruth. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of reporting partners who live inside North Korea. Their identities remain anonymous due to security concerns. More information about Daily NK’s reporting partner network and information gathering activities can be found on our FAQ page here.
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