South Korea has created several special institutions, which aim to help people who fled North Korea in making up for any gaps in education. While North Korea boasts with a rigid educational system, many people who chose to leave the country and run for the South, find themselves unequipped in terms of knowledge. The problem – the North Korean school curriculum is mainly focused on pushing a political agenda, and praising the leadership of the country.
In turn, when people decide to leave the system and flee the country in search of better opportunities, they find themselves uneducated, despite successfully graduating in North Korea.
To provide some help, guidance, and education to people who fled North Korea, and are too old to enter the traditional educational system, South Korea has opened several specialized schools, where adults can catch up on their education.
South Korea’s special institutions
One of these schools is Wooridul School in Seoul, where defectors from North Korea get the chance to study, even if they are older, and cannot get into a regular school.
According to South Korea government representatives, the educational system of their northern neighbor is mainly aimed at producing:
unconditional loyalty to the party and the leader as the most important aspect of life.
Because of this extreme focus on leadership and the royal family in North Korea, many essential subjects are left out of curriculums, or tainted with a biased perspective.
To make up for this, schools like Wooridul are providing defectors with the opportunity to correct the knowledge they already have, and make up for any inconsistencies. Currently, there are seven special-purpose academies around South Korea, which provide free education to older people and students with special needs.
According to Wooridul’s director, Yun Dong-Ju, these schools aim to at least provide an accurate representation of culture, language, society, and history as these are essential elements of a wholesome, quality education.
