Pyongyang parents bear burden of schools’ modernization projects

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North Korean parents in Pyongyang are increasingly displeased with the state imposing non-tax burdens for school modernization projects, Daily NK has learned.

Speaking anonymously, a Daily NK source in Pyongyang said Monday that the education department of the party committee of Pyongyang’s Songyo district “tasked schools in the district with modernizing education in May, with one of the tasks being to lend a modern appearance to educational agencies.”

This modernization effort includes making the schools more visually appealing. One specific task is making their playgrounds visible from the outside by replacing their existing fences with iron fences.

“With the schools tasked with completing this on their own, the district party committee asked them to complete the task within the year, considering that it would take much time to complete,” he said. “Some places started the work from mid-June, while others haven’t even started yet.”

“Honey bee campaigns” and parental burdens

The leadership believes the school needs to mobilize only one or two rich or powerful parents to do the job. Still, with no parents stepping forward, the schools have conducted “honey bee campaigns.”

These campaigns involve individual students gathering small amounts of supplies, similar to how bees gather nectar. Once preparations are complete, schools begin work on the improvements. Thus, the source said, most schools are proceeding slowly with the order.

Schools have burdened students with obtaining the rebar, sand, cement, and other supplies needed to build the new fences.

The initial order called for iron fences, but because iron is so expensive, schools have decided to reshape their concrete fences to appear like iron fences, allotting students to obtain the necessary supplies.

Mounting frustrations and teacher complaints

However, parents have complained because these tasks assigned to students ultimately fall on them. While the current method is cheaper than erecting iron fences, the parents still feel a heavy burden since they must gather the supplies despite hardships.

According to the source, one parent with a child at a high school in Songyo district complained that the school told them to “provide five buckets of sand, two concrete blocks, 20 kilograms of cement, and two meters of rebar.” He said things are growing more challenging “because the school has dumped the entire burden on the parents.”

Moreover, the parents complained that the school burdened them with construction supplies and mobilized them to do the work. In fact, parents were mobilized to work on replacing the fences during the vacation.

“Our second child in middle school received a similar task to receive supplies, and with the two kids being asked to obtain supplies competitively, we simply feel hopeless,” the parent said. “My friends with just one child tease me as a moron, but I feel like they’re right.”