Some junior and senior middle schools in Hyesan, a North Korean border city, began sorting students into ranked classes by grades in 2026. The shift has set off fierce academic competition at Hyesan schools across Ryanggang province. Parents now pay for private tutors and even slip cash to teachers to win their children a place in the top class.
The schools rank their classes by academic performance, a source in Ryanggang province told Daily NK on Nov. 3. They also place students with a talent for the arts or sports in a class of their own. Hyesan sits on the Yalu River across from China’s Jilin province and is a major hub for cross-border trade.
North Korea’s 12-year compulsory education system, which Kim Jong Un introduced in 2012, includes three years of junior middle school. Students then move on to three years of senior middle school, roughly equivalent to high school in South Korea.
“The schools put the best students in Class 1, the next best in Class 2 and the weaker ones in Class 3,” the source said. “Students with a talent for music, art or physical education go together into Class 4.”
According to the source, the arts and sports class aims to train performers and athletes for the state regardless of their grades.
Schools also shift students between classes as their grades rise or fall, the source added. A Class 1 student who slips behind can drop down to Class 2 the following term. Likewise, a Class 2 student who raises their grades can climb up into Class 1.
North Korea already runs a network of elite schools called No. 1 Middle Schools for its most gifted students. Their students are so sought after that one was expelled earlier this year for tutoring younger students for money. Students at ordinary schools who missed out on those places now face their own race for the top class.
Ranked classes at Hyesan schools push parents toward tutors and bribes
The new class rankings have also fueled the education fever of Hyesan parents. Many believe a place in the top class gives their children an edge in university admissions and future careers. As a result, more parents are throwing themselves into managing their children’s grades.
“Parents think getting into Class 1 helps a child get into university, so they even hire private tutors,” the source said. “Families who can afford it pay for tutoring, but families who can’t have no way to do the same.”
North Korea officially bans private tutoring as a capitalist practice, yet the market keeps growing. Some parents even go into debt to pay for lessons in core subjects and the arts.
Many worry that North Korea’s widening wealth gap is now deepening education inequality as well. Students from well-off families can buy private lessons that lift them into the top class. Children whose parents lack the means must rely entirely on public schools and fall behind in the academic race. Daily NK has previously reported on how private tutoring is widening North Korea’s educational divide as state schooling declines.
The stakes reach far beyond the classroom walls of Hyesan schools. Corruption has long shaped access to higher education, where bribery often decides who wins university slots. Many students from poor families simply abandon their university plans altogether.
Some parents have also reportedly handed teachers money to place their children in the top class.
“Some parents ask teachers to look after their child or press money into their hands,” the source said bitterly. “Parents care so much about their children’s studies that it’s no surprise this happens.”
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: dailynk.com
