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North Korea has just passed this bizarre order about Kim Jong-un

WION Web Team
Pyongyang, North KoreaUpdated: Sep 18, 2020, 07:59 AM IST
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File photo: North Korea leader Kim Jong-un Photograph:(Reuters)

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North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, recently ordered changes to the “greatness education” curriculum at the country’s preschools and the new curriculum was handed down to preschools nationwide.

North Korea has passed a law according to which pre-school children must spend 90 minutes a day to learn about the country leader Kim Jong-un as a part of their curriculum.

Local newspapers reported that the new diktat on ‘greatness education’ aims at “cultivating loyalty and trust toward North Korea's leadership”. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, recently ordered changes to the “greatness education” curriculum at the country’s preschools and the new curriculum was handed down to preschools nationwide.

“Greatness education” is aimed at cultivating loyalty and trust toward North Korea's leadership among the country’s children.

According to Seoul-based Daily NK, preschoolers aged five and six used to spend only 30 minutes a day learning about the childhoods of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

The updated curriculum, however, now has them spend a total of one and a half hours on “greatness education”: one hour is spent learning about the childhoods of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, while another 30 minutes is devoted to learning “revolutionary” music from the leaders’ childhoods.

“What is being taught in greatness education has changed somewhat,” the source said. “The amount of time spent on the supreme leader [Kim Jong-un]’s childhood is now twice that spent on the Suryong [Kim Il-sung] and the general [Kim Jong-il]’s childhoods.”

The updated curriculum tells preschoolers that when Kim Jong-un was just five years old, he was a bright child who “rode a yacht, did target practice, and liked to read.”

Preschoolers are typically in class for three hours from 9 am to 12 pm and have time set aside for physical education, play, and studying the Korean alphabet. Preschool teachers, however, are reportedly worried about how they will spend the extra time set aside for greatness education.

“The kids are almost at the point of becoming elementary school students, so parents tend to ask teachers to focus on studying the alphabet. The increase in time spent on the leaders, however, leaves less time for alphabet study, so parents will be unhappy,” the source said, based on comments made by some preschool teachers.