North Korean high schools are scrambling to build labs and secure equipment as the country prepares to launch an elective course system. But parents are furious—schools are dumping the entire cost onto them.
According to a source in North Hamgyong province, North Korea has ordered schools to prepare facilities for elective subjects like physics, chemistry, and information technology before the new system rolls out. Schools have responded by demanding parents pay for new equipment, including lab supplies and computers.
While the state will cover textbooks, schools must provide labs, practice rooms, and learning tools on their own.
“One high school in Chongam District collected 10,000 North Korean won per student because they didn’t have enough computers,” the source said. “Schools were ordered to have at least 10 computers, so they had no choice but to make parents pay.”
Schools find themselves footing the bill because the state provides no funding or support, even when implementing new educational policies.
Every school has a designated “support group” meant to sponsor educational activities, but these groups can barely cover basic costs.
“Even when support groups exist, they have almost no money,” the source said. “At best, they might provide a few used computers or some old lab equipment. Some can’t even afford firewood to heat schools in winter.”
Many schools don’t even realize they have support groups.
As a result, whenever the state rolls out a new educational system, schools pass the entire burden to parents.
Widening educational inequality
With schools financing education themselves, learning environments vary dramatically by region.
Wealthy Pyongyang schools receive labs and equipment relatively quickly, while provincial schools cannot implement electives without financial contributions from parents. Even when provincial schools do launch elective programs, most can only do so in name only.
North Korea has promoted the elective system since the Eighth Party Congress, aiming to let students choose subjects based on their academic interests and aptitudes—a departure from the standardized education of the past.
Authorities want to replicate the success universities have achieved with elective systems, but high schools lack the funding to prepare properly.
“The goal is fine, but if schools or parents have to pay for preparation, they won’t get proper facilities or equipment in the end,” the source said. “The state wants to boost educational quality, but on the ground, it’s just creating more financial pressure.”
Guidelines and teacher training plans for the elective system have already been distributed to schools in cities and counties nationwide.
Through the elective system, Pyongyang aims to identify and cultivate science and technology talent early. But without adequate preparation, the policy is unlikely to produce meaningful results anytime soon.
January 06, 2026 at 05:29PM
by DailyNK(North Korean Media)