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.