Kim Mo (a pseudonym), a teacher in his 40s at a lower secondary school (middle school) in Wonsan, Gangwon Province, recently shared his wish for 2024: “In the New Year, I hope the treatment of teachers will improve.”
According to him, North Korean teachers receive a monthly salary of USD 0.4. At less than a dollar a month, he says, it is not enough to feed his family.
“Because of the low standard of living, it is sometimes difficult for teachers to concentrate in class because they have to worry about their livelihood instead of teaching students how to learn,” Kim said. Teachers’ poor economic conditions also have a negative impact on students, he claims.
Kim also expressed the hope that teachers’ annual working hours, vacations, and leisure time would improve this year.
What do North Korean students hope for this year?
“When I asked the kids, they said they want less government-mandated work for young people,” said Park Mo (a pseudonym), a man in his 40s in Nampo. This is a clear reference to the pressure of government-imposed “tasks” – such as collecting firewood – that students must complete each year.
“They also don’t want to give the textbooks they bought to students in lower grades, and they want schools to stop collecting textbooks this year,” Park added.
According to Park, schools in North Korea collect textbooks from students as they move up to a new grade so they can be reused by younger students. However, the schools require the younger students to buy the recycled textbooks for a fee – all part of schools’ efforts to raise money.
Stay away from our money, parents say
For their part, students’ parents say the schools are making them pay for “too many things.” Many want to see an end to the absurdity of schools dipping into parents’ pockets to pay for classroom expenses.
“Last year, parents were burdened with too many expenses, including the general cost of classroom management, as well as the cost of running schools, decorating schools, and upgrading computers,” said Lee Mo (a pseudonym), a 50-year-old woman in Nampo.
“My hope for this year is that children won’t be used as much for agricultural support and repair work on railways and roads. In North Korea, families have to mobilize all their economic power to get recommendations for their children to go to college, so I hope families won’t have to pay so much money for that either.”
Translated by Robert Lauler.
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