Private tutors are illegal in North Korea, but thriving
Dec 12th 2019SEOULSOUTH KOREA’S overworked children are well-known for finishing the school day and heading straight to hagwon (cram-school) classes to become musical virtuosos or to gain an edge over their peers in mathematics or English. In North Korea, by contrast, school is typically followed by compulsory labour in the fields.In recent years, however, school days in the North have come to resemble those in the South—at least for a select few. Of 116 recent North Korean defectors interviewed by researchers at Seoul National University this year, a third said they had received some form of private education while in the North. Some had worked as private tutors themselves. Cho Jeong-ah of South Korea’s Institute of National Unification thinks the survey shows that views about education are changing among North Korean parents: it is increasingly seen as an investment they can make in their children’s future, rather than something to be accepted from their all-wise rulers.Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address