The popular education system of the DPRK is a true free education one that provides broad sections of the working people including workers and farmers and their children with the right to and freedom of learning, and gives progressive and democratic education.
The DPRK’s universal free compulsory education system in which the state bears all burdens for the educational work and provides whatever is necessary is the most popular and completely free education system.
The universal free education struck its root during the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle.
The state has enforced popular educational policies: it abolished all kinds of school fees and introduced a uniform school fee for the good of the people when it started to build a new society.
Later, universal primary compulsory education was enforced free of charge from Juche 45 (1956), universal secondary compulsory education from Juche 47 (1958) and the system of universal free education was promulgated in April Juche 48 (1959) with a Cabinet decision.
Since then, the state has borne all expenses including those for lessons, experiments, practices, extracurricular activities, study tours, sightseeing travels and even those for camping: it has supplied textbooks, reference books and other school supplies at a very cheap price and also provided school uniforms and bags.
As all types of education such as school education, social education, study-while-you-work courses are given at the state's expenses, the DPRK’s universal free compulsory education system is all-inclusive and extensive in terms of object and scale.
As a result all working people and children learn to their heart’s content without any idea of school fee, becoming knowledgeable and creative.
The country is known as the land of education, the land of learning where everybody can learn to their heart’s content since the system of universal free education and the system of scholarship are in force, schools are found even in far-off solitary islands, solid material and technical foundations for education have been laid, and excellent teachers’ training bases are in operation.