culture

The Ministry of Education and relevant units strove to make education of the country the most advanced and ideal one, thus further consolidating its educational foundation in a comprehensive way.

Successes were achieved in improving the educational structure rationally and efficiently so that more advanced and practical education can be given to students and in developing teaching contents and methods a level higher.

Kim Il Sung University and other universities introduced a full credit system and Pyongyang University of Education No. 1, Pyongyang Teachers Training College and others developed and introduced an integrated teaching management system in keeping with the enforcement of a new educational management system.

Kim Chaek University of Technology and others applied research-oriented teaching and study methods and new forms and methods of teaching to improve students’ study, research and practical abilities.

As general basic knowledge is taught to students until the stage of junior middle school, an elective system was introduced into the stage of senior middle school in a comprehensive way. In particular, the number of technical senior middle schools and technical classes drastically increased in provinces, making it possible for students there to acquire more than one technique and skill needed for the development of their regions.

Efforts were made to create and generalize heuristic, search- and debate-type teaching methods capable of developing the intelligence of students and cultivating their application ability.

Many educational workers and educators in the capital helped regional and rural schools with their education work in an effort to reduce the differences in the level of education between the capital city and provinces and between towns and countryside.

Educational institutions across the country worked hard to improve the teaching qualifications of teachers, thus producing top ten teachers, best scientists of the DPRK, winners of the February 16 Science and Technology Prize and others every year.

The number of academic degree and title holders and winners of the title of October 8 Model Teacher increased among teachers, and the proportion of teachers who can lead more than one extracurricular group grew unprecedentedly in the primary and secondary education sectors.

This year alone, more than 100 graduates from universities of education and teacher training colleges across the country volunteered to work at schools in island, remote mountain and rural villages to further strengthen the ranks of teachers there both in quality and quantity.

The work for consolidating the material and technical foundations of education, including the renovation of educational conditions and environment, was conducted throughout the country and society, with the result that many educational institutions have been built or renovated in a modern style.

And many schools turned into integrated schools, laying a foundation for improving the country’s educational level to a higher stage.

The construction and reconstruction of schools and kindergartens were pushed forward in Pyongyang Municipality, South Phyongan Province, North Hamgyong Province and Rason Municipality, giving a facelift to the educational institutions and dormitories were newly built at Hamhung College of Medical Sciences, Pyongyang University of Computer Technology and Nampho College of Marine Transport.

Most recently Pyongyang University of Education No. 2 was newly built and inaugurated.

The national educational information system was developed and established to open up a prospect for putting the education of the country on a digital and intelligent basis and education support program centres were built in Pyongyang and provinces to work as the bases for accelerating the modernization and informatization of education.