More and more parents are turning to private tutoring for their children as the quality of education in North Korean schools declines, Daily NK has learned.
Speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons, a source in South Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Thursday that “more and more parents in Hamhung are hiring private tutors for their children as the quality of school education is going downhill these days.”
He added that while parents used to hire tutors for foreign languages such as English or Chinese, or for singing, dancing, and musical instruments, they are now even hiring tutors for learning the Korean alphabet, Hangul.
According to the source, schools in Hamhung have become so bad that elementary school students cannot read or write Hangul correctly.
The situation is similar in Hyesan, Yanggang Province. A source in the province told Daily NK:” “The level of education in schools is so low that children can’t read or write Hangul. Parents now have to hire tutors for their children.”
Multiple sources confirmed that the quality of education is declining because teachers are treated so poorly.
The source in South Hamgyong Province said that teachers now receive “only one gram of rice even if they’re at school from morning to night,” adding that in the face of hardship, teachers “show up briefly at school in the morning and leave to earn money. Can teachers focus on education under these circumstances? In the end, students spend more time in school playing than learning.”
When she realized that her children knew neither math nor the Korean alphabet, a parent in Hamhung with children in elementary school asked, “What the heck are students learning in school?” The answer she received was that teachers “often leave the school after telling the students to study quietly on their own.”
“She knew what the teachers were up against, so she didn’t know who to blame,” the source said. “She said she would hire a tutor because she felt she had to take responsibility for her children’s education.”
The problem is that as parents rely on private tutoring while public education collapses, an educational divide is emerging. Educational inequality is growing between children who receive private education with the support of wealthy parents and those who do not.
The source in Yanggang Province said that while disparities between children from rich and poor families have existed before, he feels bitter that the “sad reality” of parents’ economic power determining their children’s educational level “is not only repeating itself but seems to be getting worse with time.”
He added: “This being the case, parents who can’t even feed their children properly are becoming increasingly frustrated. Parents say they wish the state would pay a little attention to feeding teachers, which is the root cause of the problem.”
Translated by David Black. Edited by Robert Lauler.
Daily NK works with a network of sources living in North Korea, China, and elsewhere. Their identities remain anonymous for security reasons. For more information about Daily NK’s network of reporting partners and information-gathering activities, please visit our FAQ page here.
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