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North Korea Adult Education
Because of the emphasis on the continued education of all
members of society, adult or work-study education is actively
supported. Practically everyone in the country participates in
some educational activity, usually in the form of "small study
groups." In the 1980s, the adult literacy rate was estimated at
99 percent.
In the early 1990s, people in rural areas were organized into
"five-family teams." These teams have educational and
surveillance functions; the teams are the responsibility of a
schoolteacher or other intellectual, each one being in charge of
several such teams. Office and factory workers have two-hour
"study sessions" after work each day on both political and
technical subjects.
Adult education institutions in the early 1990s include
"factory colleges," which teach workers new skills and techniques
without forcing them to quit their jobs. Students work part-time,
study in the evening, or take short intensive courses, leaving
their workplaces for only a month or so. There also are "farm
colleges," where rural workers can study to become engineers and
assistant engineers, and a system of correspondence courses. For
workers and peasants who are unable to receive regular school
education, there are "laborers' schools" and "laborers' senior
middle schools," although in the early 1990s these had become
less important with the introduction of compulsory eleven-year
education.
Data as of June 1993
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