North Korean schools have begun distributing textbooks before the new semester, but with new books in short supply, they’re requiring older students to return their used copies. Schools are also demanding that students who lose or damage textbooks provide scrap paper as compensation, much to parents’ frustration.
According to a source in South Pyongan province recently, most schools in local cities and counties, including Anju, ordered students to turn in all their old textbooks by March 20, ahead of the April semester start.
Schools are now inspecting the returned textbooks and penalizing students who have lost or damaged their books.
“Schools in Anju are demanding 6 kilograms of scrap paper for a lost textbook or 3 kilograms for a severely damaged one,” the source said. “Parents are complaining that it’s absurd to demand scrap paper for worn-out books when they already paid for them at the beginning of the semester.”
Most North Korean students must learn from hand-me-down textbooks because the authorities cannot provide enough new ones.
Younger students often receive newer textbooks, but despite adults’ warnings not to scribble in, tear, or lose their books, children rarely keep them in good condition, and many go missing.
The distribution of new textbooks is entirely up to teachers, with some showing favoritism by giving them to students whose parents pay bribes or to high-performing students. Even with used textbooks, teachers give better-condition books to their favorite students.
Many students resent this system, but those from poorer families often prefer used textbooks over new ones since used books are free while new ones must be purchased.
Despite the North Korean regime’s propaganda about “socialist free education,” students must pay for even basic textbooks.
Because even struggling parents must pay for new books, many quietly welcome it when their children receive plenty of used textbooks, according to the source.
Some textbooks currently being distributed date back to 2013, and even the more recently published ones are mostly worn and in poor condition.
“Students don’t treat their textbooks well,” the source said. “But they have no choice but to learn from these old books because the state can’t properly provide new ones.”
April 01, 2025 at 07:32AM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)