In accordance with Kim Jong Eun’s 2012 declaration “to make North Korea into a strong country
based on a knowledge economy,” a compulsory 12-year education system was
initiated the same year, a measure that has recently seen the most talented
teachers in a number of regions leave their positions. The implementation of
the new education system has not improved treatment of teachers, who remain a
financial underclass, leading them to quit teaching and head to foreign
currency earning-enterprises dealing in the exportation of coal, to hone skills invaluable to a business mindset.
A source in South Pyongan Province reported
to Daily NK on September 2nd, “A Level 1 professor who graduated from Kim Il
Sung University in Pyongyang is working in a coal mine as a jato [manager].
They [the authorities] changed the education system without implementing any
solutions for the problems teacher face, so they’re leaving to find new
prospects in the market.”
“Jato,” a North Korean term used
exclusively in the context of coal mining, is the person who orders production
and oversees system management at the mine. The enterprise chiefs tend to favor
Level 1 teachers in particular, not only for their capabilities and comprehensive
views, but for their elite background. Educational
institutions in North Korea administer rigorous annual exams categorizing instructors into 6 rankings– Level 1 comprised of teachers earning top scores.
On September 25, 2012, at the 6th meeting
of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly of North Korea, a nationwide policy was
implemented, raising the years of compulsory education from 11 to 12. The
ordinance called for improvement in a number of areas: [a]the fundamental
sciences and maths; [b]foreign language programs; [c]information and
communications networks for schools and; [d]computerization of education
administrative processes.
“Parents focused on foreign language and
computer skills for their children hire private tutors but criticize teachers
at school for trying to improve the same subjects in school,” the source
explained, noting the disapproval to be mostly monetary in nature. “They are
particularly bothered by the costs of field trips and materials required for
science lab experiments.”
After the enactment of the new education
measure, teachers at top middle schools began incorporating student performance
in science experiments into overall grading. The budget for necessary equipment
such as microscopes, pincettes, magnifying glasses, and chemical reagents
needed for the tests fell on the students’ families.
The source went on to report that while North Korea boasts free education for its population, supply and budget shortages
force the parents of students to shoulder much of the fees that keep the
schools in operation. Conditions for teachers are even more dismal, he said; unlike the past, teachers normally receive
100% of their salaries and food rations, but still fall into the lowest class
of resident in North Korea.
Teachers at high ranking secondary schools
in South Pyongan Province receive a monthly 15kg supply of corn, with average salaries,
dependent on rank [1-6], ranging from
2,500-5000 KPW. Factoring in loyalty funds, Party dues, and
various other taxes, this amount is closer to 1000-1500 KPW, enough to buy a
single egg in the Jangmadang [markets], which at current prices ranges from
800-1200 KPW.
Surging marketization has seen overall
improvement in residents’ lives and increased consumerism, but the most
competent teachers, who remain dependent on the broken state food distribution
system and have tumbled to society’s lowest ranks, are leaving to join
businesses to catch up with the changing times.
“The 12-year Education Policy may have
improved some parts of the school system but measures to improve teacher
treatment have made no progress at all; until that happens, teachers vacating
the schools to pursue business opportunities is going to spread,” he asserted,
going on to say that South Pyongan Province alone is replete with opportunity.
100 foreign currency earning enterprises, affiliated with the Ministry of the
People’s Armed Forces focusing on coal exports are located there, welcome the
fresh talent these teachers are providing.
These organizations oversee every stage of
the process from the production, sale, and distribution of coal, making the skills
Level 1 teachers posses easy to mold to business management positions there.
The source described the phenomenon as a side effect of the 2012 Education
Policy, yielding unexpected benefits, albeit not for most, “The combined
talents of Level 1 instructors puts the business heads at ease when entrusting them with all aspects
of business management.”
Company directors are not the only ones impressed by their shrewd business sense , “Residents have begun referring to this former teacher contingent as the ‘clever far-sighted intellectuals,’” he
concluded.
