Not many people know about education on North Korean campuses because of the lack of information that gets out there. The education system in the country under the leadership of Kim Jong-un has also attracted a number of researchers, one of which is from Times Higher Education (THE).
The Times Higher Education team managed to gather sources from students who managed to leave their country, namely, Park Ji-hyun and Sigley, the only western students pursuing a master's degree there.
The closure of information about North Korea in the eyes of outsiders raises assumptions about the education that prevails there. So, what was Ji-hyun and Sigley's experience like while studying in North Korea?
Kim Family-Centered Curriculum
Park Ji-hyun completed 4 years of education at an agricultural university in North Hamgyong in the mid-1980s. Currently, Ji-hyun chose to leave North Korea and live in England.
Not much different from education in other countries, during their education there, Ji-hyun and other students always got a lot of assignments. However, they also get compulsory courses on politics that focus on the Kim family or the leadership of the North Korean state.
"The assignments become difficult. Because it's not just one course, but (need to study) the history of Kim Il-sung (too)," said Ji-hyun.
To note, Kim Il-sung is the grandfather of the current leader of North Korea. He officially ruled the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1948 until his death in 1994. His son, Kim Jong-il, and father of Kim Jong-un, later continued the ruling dynasty.
Not only charged with the obligation to understand the history of the Kim family, Ji-hyun and 30 other classmates will receive a political 'lecture' session on campus with different teachers in one session. "Our time is devoted to studying what outside academics might consider political propaganda," he said.
There is a Knowledge Gap with Other Countries
It has become common information for North Korea to limit information from inside to outside and information from outside to inside. This was also felt by Park Ji-hyun during her college days who began to feel that there was a gap or distance in knowledge with friends her age in the world.
Previously, this knowledge gap had never been felt by Ji-hyun during college. It was only after moving to England in 1998 that he realized, as if there was still a lot of general knowledge that he had not known so far.
"I graduated (education) but it's like I didn't learn anything. (We) never received global knowledge because only (received information) from teachers," said Ji-hyun.
Guarded by Guards-No Borrowing of Books for Foreigners
Access for foreigners on North Korean campuses is still limited. Times Higher Education reported, this can be seen at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) or the only campus that is part of the minority by opening access for foreigners.
For foreign teachers at PUST who want to go to the capital city, they must be accompanied by special guards from North Korea. Meanwhile in the campus environment, although there are no special guards guarded, there are students who are 'on duty' to supervise foreign teachers.
"The campus also ensures that teachers do not introduce any concepts that might interfere with the regime," the Times Higher Education writes.
This is also felt by a student from Australia, Sigley. He told me that while studying there, he was not allowed to borrow his course books even though there was no sensitive material in it.
"The course book was written by the professor who taught me, but they wouldn't let me borrow or buy a copy of the book," he laughs.
Sigley also once asked one of his friends, a local student there, about the route to the campus library. However, they always change the subject.
"I don't know if any other foreigners have visited it (the campus library)," Sigley said.
No Q&A in Presentation
Question and answer sessions in presentations or conferences may be an integral part of other countries. Different for North Korea, according to Sigley, international conferences held by Pyongyang's Kim Il-sung University (KIS) are also tightly controlled.
After the presentation ends, conference participants will be seen straight out of the meeting hall. "There's no discussion at all. In North Korea, there's no loophole for them to allow an exchange of ideas (at) an intellectual level like that," Sigley said.
This is also what Sigley feels at the undergraduate level. Sigley said there was no exchange of opinion in their presentations.
"They (North Korean students) call it a conference, but it's more like a show. There is no exchange (of ideas), they have no input,"
he said.
Despite the many limitations that Sigley experienced while studying in North Korea, he admitted that he was happy to be there. Like, Sigley can still get closer to his friends and teachers there to complete his thesis.
"Yes, the government is very authoritarian, but there is a good side to Pyongyang and North Korea that you rarely hear about," he said.
Sigley also revealed that North Korean citizens are actually aware of their isolation from the outside world. They also belong to the group of people with high curiosity.
"(So) academic exchange on an international scale is something I think most of them (campus environment) crave," concluded Sigley.
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