Pyongyang Kindergarten

In the early 1990s, the compulsory primary and secondary education system was divided into one year of kindergarten, four years of primary school (people's school) for ages six to nine, and six years of senior middle school (secondary school) for ages ten to fifteen. There are two years of kindergarten, for children aged four to six, only the second year (upper level kindergarten) is compulsory.

There are day time kindergartens and internat kindergartens where children stay from Monday to Friday. In a kindergarten usually there are several educational activities for children - music, performing, drawing etc. Political education also starts in a kindergarten.

Like children everywhere, the littlest North Koreans show fascination when they encounter foreigners, wave and call out 'Hello!' in English. Little presents for children are always welcome - pens, notebooks, candys etc. Korean children are very polite and shy, often they get confused when face presents from foreigners. Children wave their hands and shout "bye" long after the last foreigner has disappeared from the site.