Students across North Korea began taking their final exams for the winter semester on Feb. 1, Daily NK has learned.
A source in Yanggang Province told Daily NK on Monday that the country’s education authorities announced that the start of the semester’s final exam period would begin Feb. 1.
According to the source, North Korea’s education authorities delivered a detailed order relating to the commencement of the exam period to all universities, primary and secondary schools in the country. North Korea’s end-of-term test is similar to South Korea’s end-of-term examinations and all students are required to take it to move up to the next grade.
The order stated that all schools complete their coursework by Jan. 23, followed by a preparation period for the exam from Jan. 24 to Jan. 31. The order directed all schools to start their test period from Feb. 1.
“The second [winter] semester usually ends at the end of November or the first week of December, but the pandemic situation delayed this, forcing schools to continue coursework through various ways, including [teachers] visiting the homes [of students],” the source said. “The order [shows that] all schools in the country ended their second semester coursework on Jan. 23.”
The order also stated that the period for the final semester test should last from Feb. 1 – 13 for universities, and from Feb. 1 – 10 for primary and secondary schools. In the past, universities have typically held the exams over a period of 10 days, while primary and secondary schools have held the tests over a period of seven days. The source pointed out that disease control measures appear to have forced the authorities to extend the exam period for the schools.
“There was also a directive ordering [schools] to more thoroughly adhere to disease control measures than before to ensure the final exam period goes smoothly,” the source said. “Education departments in the provinces, cities and counties are working with schools and disease control officials to avoid having large groups of people gathering [during the tests], and have required all students, teachers and test coordinators to wear masks, no questions asked.”
Students are now studying hard for their exams at their homes, the source further reported.
Primary and secondary school students are placed into “top-of-the-class,” “excellent” and “average” categories depending on their exam scores. Even students who receive failing exam scores are placed in the “average” category, which allows them to move up a grade the next year. In short, these final semester exams fail to place students in any real categories, nor do they provide a yardstick for failure; instead, they simply create competition between the students.
The source told Daily NK that university students, who have completed North Korea’s required 12 years of education, do face the prospect of being “flunked” if their final exam scores are poor. The parents of university students who fail their tests bribe professors or use other means at their disposal to ensure their children continue their education after the exam, the source said.
North Korean students will begin their winter vacation right after the end of the exam period, but many students are complaining that the vacation is shorter than last year, according to the source.
“There is no word [from the authorities] about when the first semester for this year will begin,” the source said. “People are saying that provincial, municipal and county education departments may issue orders [relating to the start of school] before Feb. 16 [Kim Jong Il’s birthday].”
The source also told Daily NK that local education departments are writing up proposals to restart the school year without students actually going to school based on lists of students with fevers and those being quarantined at home and in state-run institutions.
“It appears students won’t go back to school even if school starts because the priority is on preventing the spread of disease,” he added.
