Schooling the State: North Korea’s Ideological Classroom

By: Eileen Lee + Sorin Park

Voice of America (2016, April 8). Children eat at a daycare center in Taedong County, South Pyong-an Province, North Korea. http://www.voakorea.com/a/3276923.html

Education in North Korea is deeply intertwined with state ideology, serving as both a social service and a political tool. From an early age, children are taught to respect the leadership and embody ideal values. Early Childhood Education (ECE), including nurseries and kindergartens, is central to this mission. It aims to establish a unification curriculum, caring for young children while instilling strong loyalty and discipline. This dual purpose distinguishes North Korea’s education system from those of most other nations.

The North Korean Education system provides two years of kindergarten for children aged four to six, with the second year being compulsory before primary school. Nurseries prepare children for these stages. All education, including early childhood programs, is free and state-provided under the Youth Education Guarantee Law enacted in 2021. Post Kim Jong-un’s rise, the curriculum has evolved to focus on life themes and play, transitioning from nine subjects to five unified textbooks. However, these goals are inseparable from political instruction, reflecting the state’s desire to shape children devoted to the regime’s ideals.

Looking more closely, North Korea’s early childhood education works as a system made to teach loyalty to the state from a very young age. In classrooms, portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il are displayed on the walls, and children start their day by bowing to the portraits and singing songs that praise the leaders. These visual and sound activities help children remember and respect the leaders even without realizing it. Learning materials in kindergartens often include pictures and stories that praise the government and criticize other countries. During playtime and art class, children are taught teamwork and obedience rather than creativity or free thinking. Some North Korean defectors have said that children even act out war scenes or revolutionary stories to learn about sacrifice and loyalty. Teachers not only take care of the children but also watch their behaviour to see how well they follow the Party’s rules. This kind of environment limits children’s creative and critical thinking skills, which can later slow down both personal and social development.

This type of early education limits children’s chances to explore different fields of knowledge, which slows down brain development and creative thinking. As a result, it not only affects individual learning and achievement but also reduces the country’s ability to raise talented people who can contribute to society. In particular, access to a wide range of educational resources is mostly limited to the upper class in North Korea. These privileged families are able to gain better knowledge, leading to high-paying jobs and the accumulation of wealth. This situation shows how the gap in knowledge becomes a cause of economic inequality. In the long term, an education system that focuses only on one ideology and a narrow range of subjects can lead to national isolation and social stagnation. In the end, such a restrictive and forceful approach to early education becomes a serious structural problem that harms both personal and social development.

Reference

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