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Encyclopedia > Education in North Korea

Education in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is strictly controlled by the government. Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of primary education, six years of secondary education, and then on to universities. Two notable universities in the DPRK are the Kim Il-sung University and Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, both in Pyongyang. A primary school in Český Těšín, Poland Primary education is the first stage of compulsory education. ... Secondary education - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ... Kim Il-sung University, founded in 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. ... Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) is North Koreas first institution of higher education founded, operated and partly funded by associations and people outside the country. ... Not to be confused with PyeongChang. ...

Contents

History

Formal education has played a central role in the social and cultural development of both traditional Korea and contemporary North Korea. During the Chosn Dynasty, the royal court established a system of schools that taught Confucian subjects in the provinces as well as in four central secondary schools in the capital. There was no state-supported system of primary education. During the fifteenth century, state-supported schools declined in quality and were supplanted in importance by private academies, the swn, centers of a Neo-Confucian revival in the sixteenth century. Higher education was provided by the Snggyungwan, the Confucian national university, in Seoul. Its enrollment was limited to 200 students who had passed the lower civil service examinations and were preparing for the highest examinations. This article is about institutionalized education. ... In the unilineal evolution model at left, all cultures progress through set stages, while in the multilineal evolution model at right, distinctive culture histories are emphasized. ... Royal court (as distinguished from a court of law) may refer to a number of institutions: A noble court - the household or entourage of a monarch or other ruler The Royal Court of Jersey - the main court of justice of Jersey The Royal Court of Guernsey - the main court of... Confucius (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kung-fu-tzu), lit. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Neo-Confucianism (Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a form of Confucianism that was primarily developed during the Song Dynasty, but which can be traced back to Han Yu and Li Ao in the Tang Dynasty. ... (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... A national university is a university created or run by a national government and might or might not be autonomous from government interference. ... The Roman civil service in action. ...


The late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed major educational changes. The swn were abolished by the central government. Christian missionaries established modern schools that taught Western curricula. Among them was the first school for women, Ehwa Woman's University, established by American Methodist missionaries as a primary school in Seoul in 1886. During the last years of the dynasty, as many as 3,000 private schools that taught modern subjects to both sexes were founded by missionaries and others. Most of these schools were concentrated in the northern part of the country. After Japan annexed Korea in 1910, the colonial regime established an educational system with two goals: to give Koreans a minimal education designed to train them for subordinate roles in a modern economy and make them loyal subjects of the emperor; and to provide a higher quality education for Japanese expatriates who had settled in large numbers on the Korean Peninsula. The Japanese invested more resources in the latter, and opportunities for Koreans were severely limited. In 1930 only 12.2 percent of Korean children aged seven to fourteen attended school. A state university modeled on Tokyo Imperial University was established in Seoul in 1923, but the number of Koreans allowed to study there never exceeded 40 percent of its enrollment; the rest of its students were Japanese. Private universities, including those established by missionaries such as Sungsil College in P'yongyang and Chosun Christian College in Seoul, provided other opportunities for Koreans desiring higher education. Central government or the national government (or, in federal states, the federal government) is the government at the level of the nation-state. ... For other uses, see Missionary (disambiguation). ... For the film of this title, see Private School (film). ... The Korean Peninsula is a peninsula in East Asia. ... quagmire:For alternate meanings see state university (disambiguation). ... “Todai” redirects here. ... A private university is a university that is run without the control of any government entity. ... Christian College, is a school established by the Anglican Church in 1822 in Kotte, Sri Lanka. ...


After the establishment of North Korea, an education system modeled largely on that of the Soviet Union was established. The system faces serious obstacles. According to North Korean sources, at the time of North Korea's establishment, two-thirds of school-age children did not attend primary school, and most adults, numbering 2.3 million, were illiterate. In 1950 primary education became compulsory. The outbreak of the Korean War, however, delayed attainment of this goal; universal primary education was not achieved until 1956. By 1958 North Korean sources claimed that seven-year compulsory primary and secondary education had been implemented. In 1959 "state-financed universal education" was introduced in all schools; not only instruction and educational facilities, but also textbooks, uniforms, and room and board are provided to students without charge. By 1967 nine years of education became compulsory. In 1975 the compulsory eleven-year education system, which includes one year of preschool education and ten years of primary and secondary education, was implemented; that system remains in effect as of 1993. According to a 1983 speech given by Kim Il Sung to education ministers of nonaligned countries in P'yongyang, universal, compulsory higher education was to be introduced "in the near future." At that time, students had no school expenses; the state paid for the education of almost half of North Korea's population of 18.9 million. Combatants United Nations:  Republic of Korea,  Australia,  Belgium,  Luxembourg,  Canada,  Colombia,  Ethiopia,  France,  Greece,  Luxembourg,  Netherlands,  New Zealand,  Philippines,  South Africa,  Thailand,  Turkey,  United Kingdom,  United States Medical staff:  Denmark,  Australia,  Italy,  Norway,  Sweden Communist states:  Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,  Peoples Republic of China,  Soviet Union Commanders... Room and board describes a situation where, in exchange for money, labor or other considerations, a person is provided with a place to live as well as meals (board) on a comprehensive basis. ... Preschool education is the provision of education for children between the ages of 2 and 4, dependent on the jurisdiction. ... Year 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1993 Gregorian calendar). ...


Educational themes and methods

As in other communist countries, politics come first in the education system. In his 1977 "Theses on Socialist Education," Kim Il Sung wrote that "political and ideological education is the most important part of socialist education. Only through a proper political and ideological education is it possible to rear students as revolutionaries, equipped with a revolutionary world outlook and the ideological and moral qualities of a communist. And only on the basis of sound political and ideological education will the people's scientific and technological education and physical culture be successful." Education is a "total monkey are cool experience" encompassing not only formal school education but also extracurricular "social education" and work-study adult education. According to the "Theses on Socialist Education," the socialist state should not only organize and conduct comprehensive educational programs, eliminating the need for private educational institutions, but should also "run education on the principle of educating all members of society continuously--the continued education of all members of society is indispensable for building socialism and communism." This article is about a form of government in which the state operates under the control of a Communist Party. ... Physical Culture Physical Culture, (or Physie - pronounced fizzy) is a sport for girls and women from 4 years up which aims to build confidence, good posture, strength, grace, and flexibility through exercise. ... Libraries are useful resources for adult learners. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community[1] for the purposes of increasing social and economic equality and cooperation. ...


Chuch'e is a central theme in educational policy. According to Kim Il Sung, "in order to establish chuch'e in education, the main emphasis should be laid on things of one's own country in instruction and people should be taught to know their own things well." In his 1983 speech to education ministers of nonaligned countries, Kim also emphasized that chuch'e in education was relevant to all Third World countries. Kim asserted that although flunkeyism should be avoided, it might be necessary to adopt some techniques from developed countries. For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ... Flunkeyism (Korean hangŭl: 사대주의 (事大主義), romanisation: Sadae juŭi) is a term indicating toadyism, servile attitude, or worship of the powerful. ... World map indicating Human Development Index (as of 2004). ...


Closely tied to the central theme of chuch'e in education is the "method of heuristic teaching"--a means of developing the independence and creativity of students and a reaction against the traditional Confucian emphasis on rote memorization. "Heuristics give students an understanding of the content of what they are taught through their own positive thinking, and so greatly help to build up independence and creativeness." Coercion and "cramming" should be avoided in favor of "persuasion and explanation," particularly in ideological education. It has been suggested that Rote memory be merged into this article or section. ... Attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individuals like or dislike for an item. ...


Primary and secondary education

In the early 1990s, the compulsory primary and secondary education system was divided into one year of kindergarten, four years of primary school (people's school) for ages six to nine, and six years of senior middle school (secondary school) for ages ten to fifteen) (see fig. 5). There are two years of kindergarten, for children aged four to six; only the second year (upper level kindergarten) is compulsory. For the band, see 1990s (band). ...


In the mid-1980s, there were 9,530 primary and secondary schools. After graduating from people's school, students enter either a regular secondary school or a special secondary school that concentrates on music, art, or foreign languages. These schools teach both their specialties and general subjects. The Mangyngdae Revolutionary Institute is an important special school. A foreign language is a language not spoken by the indigenous people of a certain place: for example, English is a foreign language in Japan. ... A special school is a school catering to students who have special educational needs (SEN), for example, because of learning difficulties or physical disabilities. ...


In the early 1990s, graduation from the compulsory education system occurred at age sixteen. Eberstadt and Banister report that according to North Korean statistics released in the late 1980s, primary schools enrolled 1.49 million children in 1987; senior middle schools enrolled 2.66 million that same year. A comparison with the total number of children and youths in these age brackets shows that 96 percent of the age cohort is enrolled in the primary and secondary educational system. Compulsory education is education which children are required by law to receive and governments to provide. ...


School curricula in the early 1990s are balanced between academic and political subject matter. According to South Korean scholar Park Youngsoon, subjects such as Korean language, mathematics, physical education, drawing, and music constitute the bulk of instruction in people's schools; more than 8 percent of instruction is devoted to the "Great Kim Il Sung" and "Communist Morality." In senior middle schools, politically oriented subjects, including the "Great Kim Il Sung" and "Communist Morality" as well as "Communist Party Policy," comprise only 5.8 percent of instruction. However, such statistics understate the political nature of primary and secondary education. Textbooks in the Korean language, for example, include titles such as We Pray for "Our Master," Following Mrs. Kim, Our Father, Love of Our Father, and Kim Jong Il Looking at Photos. Kindergarten children receive instruction in "Marshal Kim's Childhood" and "Communist Morality." Park noted that when students read Kim Il Sung's writings in the classroom, they are expected to do so "loudly, and slowly and with a feeling of respect." They also are taught a special way of speaking toward Kim, in terms of pronunciation, speed, and a special deference system and attitude." For the history of Korea, see Korea. ... This article is mainly about the spoken Korean language. ...


Social education

Outside the formal structure of schools and classrooms is the extremely important "social education." This education includes not only extracurricular activities but also family life and the broadest range of human relationships within society. There is great sensitivity to the influence of the social environment on the growing child and its role in the development of his or her character. The ideal of social education is to provide a carefully controlled environment in which children are insulated from bad or unplanned influences. According to a North Korean official interviewed in 1990, "School education is not enough to turn the rising generation into men of knowledge, virtue, and physical fitness. After school, our children have many spare hours. So it's important to efficiently organize their afterschool education." Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education. ... Italic text This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The social environment is the direct influence of a group of individuals and their contributions to this environment, as both groups and individuals who are in frequent communication with each other within their cultural or socio-economical strata, which create role identity(-ies) and guide the individuals self (sociology... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...


In his 1977 "Theses on Socialist Education," Kim Il Sung described the components of social education. In the Pioneer Corps and the Socialist Working Youth League (SWYL), young people learn the nature of collective and organizational life; some prepare for membership in the Korean Workers' Party. In students' and schoolchildren's halls and palaces, managed by the SWYL Central Committee, young people participate in many extracurricular activities after school. There also are cultural facilities such as libraries and museums, monuments and historical sites of the Korean revolution, and the mass media dedicated to serving the goals of social education. Huge, lavishly appointed "schoolchildren's palaces" with gymnasiums and theaters have been built in P'yongyang, Mangyngdae, and other sites. These palaces provide political lectures and seminars, debating contests, poetry recitals, and scientific forums. The Students' and Children's Palace in P'yongyang attracted some 10,000 children daily in the early 1990s. Central Committee most commonly refers to the central executive unit of a communist party, whether ruling or non-ruling. ...


Although North Korean children would not seem to have much time to spend at home, the family's status as the "basic unit" of society also makes it a focus of social education. According to a North Korean publication, when "homes are made revolutionary," parents are "frugal . . . courteous, exemplary in social and political life," and children have proper role models.


Higher education

Institutions of higher education include colleges and universities; teachers' training colleges, with a four-year course for preparing kindergarten, primary, and secondary instructors; colleges of advanced technology with two or three-year courses; medical schools with six-year courses; special colleges for science and engineering, art, music, and foreign languages; and military colleges and academies. Kim Il Sung's report to the Sixth Party Congress of the KWP in October 1980 revealed that there were 170 "higher learning institutions" and 480 "higher specialized schools" that year. In 1987 there were 220,000 students attending two- or three-year higher specialized schools and 301,000 students attending four- to sixyear colleges and university courses. According to Eberstadt and Banister, 13.7 percent of the population sixteen years of age or older was attending, or had graduated from, institutions of higher education in 1987-88. In 1988 the regime surpassed its target of producing "an army of 1.3 million intellectuals," graduates of higher education, a major step in the direction of achieving the often-stated goal of "intellectualization of the whole society." Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas, USA. A medical school or faculty of medicine is a tertiary educational institution or part of such an institution that teaches medicine. ... A Party Congress is a general conference of a political party. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ...


Kim Il Sung University, founded in October 1946, is the country's only comprehensive institution of higher education offering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is an elite institution whose enrollment of 16,000 full- and part-time students in the early 1990s occupies, in the words of one observer, the "pinnacle of the North Korean educational and social system." Competition for admission to its faculties is intense. According to a Korean-American scholar who visited the university in the early 1980s, only one student is admitted out of every five or six applicants. An important criterion for admission is senior middle school grades, although political criteria are also major factors in selection. A person wishing to gain acceptance to any institution of higher education has to be nominated by the local "college recommendation committee" before approval by county- and provincial-level committees. Part time refers to the amount of time and effort spent by someone in employment (or another activity, such as volunteering) compared to a normal full-time job. ... See Social structure of the United States for an explanation of concepts exsistance within US society. ... A Korean American is a person of Korean ancestry who was either born in or is an immigrant to the United States. ...


Kim Il-Sung University's colleges and faculties include economics, history, philosophy, law, foreign languages and literature, geography, physics, mathematics, chemistry, atomic energy, biology, and computer science. There are about 3,000 faculty members, including teaching and research staff. All facilities are located on a modern, high-rise campus in the northern part of P'yongyang. Kim Il-sung University, founded in 1946, is the first university built in North Korea. ... Atomic energy is an outdated phrase which can mean a number of things related to energy produced by atoms: In the late- 19th century through the early- 20th century, it was often used to describe the particles ejected by radioactive elements (especially radium). ... Computer science, or computing science, is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their implementation and application in computer systems. ... High-rise is a 1975 novel by J. G. Ballard. ...


Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), officially opened in 2007, is the country's only joint venture institute of higher learning, founded, funded and operated by groups and people from both North and South Korea, as well as China and the USA. It will accept around 200 Master and PhD level students annually, from both Koreas, and with faculty hired from top universities and research institutes abroad. At this university, courses will be taught in Korean and English. Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) is North Koreas first institution of higher education founded, operated and partly funded by associations and people outside the country. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. ...


Adult education

Because of the emphasis on the continued education of all members of society, adult or work-study education is actively supported. Practically everyone in the country participates in some educational activity, usually in the form of "small study groups." In the 1980s, the adult literacy rate was estimated at 99 percent. This article is about the ability to read and write. ...


In the early 1990s, people in rural areas were organized into "five-family teams." These teams have educational and surveillance functions; the teams are the responsibility of a schoolteacher or other intellectual, each one being in charge of several such teams. Office and factory workers have two-hour "study sessions" after work each day on both political and technical subjects.


Adult education institutions in the early 1990s include "factory colleges," which teach workers new skills and techniques without forcing them to quit their jobs. Students work part-time, study in the evening, or take short intensive courses, leaving their workplaces for only a month or so. There also are "farm colleges," where rural workers can study to become engineers and assistant engineers, and a system of correspondence courses. For workers and peasants who are unable to receive regular school education, there are "laborers' schools" and "laborers' senior middle schools," although in the early 1990s these had become less important with the introduction of compulsory eleven-year education. // Distance Education is a field of expertise exploring situations in which the learner and the teacher are separated in time, space or both. ...


Falling attendence rates

Creche and school attendance rates have reportedly fallen since 1995, owing to famine. Despite this, recent emphasis on computers, at least for some, has produced serviceable software in fields such as language translation, as well as programmers good enough to be hired by South Korea’s leading electronics company, Samsung.


See also

This is a list of Wikipedia articles on Korea-related people, places, things, and concepts. ... In South Korea, education is highly regarded and very competitive. ... Some Thoughts Concerning Education is a 1693 treatise on education written by the English philosopher John Locke. ...

Education

A primary school in Český Těšín, Poland Primary education is the first stage of compulsory education. ... Secondary education - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... ... Primary or elementary education is the first years of formal, structured education that occurs during childhood. ... Middle school (also known as intermediate school or junior high school) covers a period of education that straddles primary/elementary education and secondary education, serving as a bridge between the two. ... For other uses, see High school (disambiguation). ... For the community in Florida, see University, Florida. ...

North Korea

Communism is an ideology that seeks to establish a classless, stateless social organization based on common ownership of the means of production. ... Marxism is both the theory and the political practice (that is, the praxis) derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Vladimir Lenin in 1920 Leninism refers to various related political and economic theories elaborated by Bolshevik revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin, and by other theorists who claim to be carrying on Lenins work. ... The politics of North Korea take place within a nominally democratic framework; in practice, North Korea functions as a single-party state. ... Kim Il-sung (15 April 1912 – 8 July 1994) was a North Korean Communist leader from its founding in early 1948 until his death, when he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il. ... Kim Jong-il (also written as Kim Jong Il) (born February 16, 1942) is the leader of North Korea. ...

References

This article contains material from the Library of Congress Country Studies, which are United States government publications in the public domain. The Country Studies are works published by the Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress ( USA), freely available for use by researchers. ... The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...


External links

  • Article on the everyday life of North Korean college students in 2001

  Results from FactBites:
 
North Korea - EDUCATION (1946 words)
According to a 1983 speech given by Kim Il Sung to education ministers of nonaligned countries in P'yongyang, universal, compulsory higher education was to be introduced "in the near future." At that time, students had no school expenses; the state paid for the education of almost half of North Korea's population of 18.9 million.
In the early 1990s, the compulsory primary and secondary education system was divided into one year of kindergarten, four years of primary school (people's school) for ages six to nine, and six years of senior middle school (secondary school) for ages ten to fifteen).
Institutions of higher education in the early 1990s included colleges and universities; teachers' training colleges, with a four-year course for preparing kindergarten, primary, and secondary instructors; colleges of advanced technology with twoor three-year courses; medical schools with six-year courses; special colleges for science and engineering, art, music, and foreign languages; and military colleges and academies.
North Korea: Map, History and Much More from Answers.com (5290 words)
Republic on northern Korean Peninsula on east coast of Asia, bounded on the north by China, on the northeast by Russian Siberia, on the east by the Sea of Japan, on the south by South Korea, and on the west by the Yellow Sea and Korea Bay.
North Korea is often referred to by global media sources as a Stalinist, isolationist, and authoritarian country; it uses repressive central planning to implement its economic and social policies.
North Korea is on the northern portion of the Korean Peninsula.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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