Pyongyang witnessed the sixth session of the 12th Supreme People’s Assembly in September Juche 101 (2012).
The meeting adopted the ordinance “On Introducing Universal 12-year Compulsory Education,” which reads in part: “We are faced with a weighty and honourable task to train our younger generations into pillars of the revolution who will be able to shoulder the cause of the Juche revolution, the cause of Songun-based revolution, by improving the quality of education as required by the time and the developing revolution to break through the cutting edge.
“The workers’ Party of Korea and the Government of the DPRK have decided to introduce a universal 12-year compulsory education by reflecting the realistic requirement to build a thriving socialist nation in an all-round way.”
The 12-year education consists of a one-year preschool course, a five-year primary school course, a three-year junior middle school course, and a three-year senior middle school course.
Through the systematic courses of education children learn general basic knowledge and basic technical updates so as to have complete, compulsory secondary education.