After lunch at the Jangsusan Hotel it was off to school, the Kim Jong Suk Middle High School, one of the classier schools in the county, for gifted children. Gifted children in North Korea will always be from families with higher ‘songbun’ or status within the country – academic ability on its own being insufficient to meet the criteria.
Continue reading “The Kim Jong Suk Middle High School – Pyongsong”
Songdowon International Children’s Camp, Wonsan
With all the current restrictions in place, around the world, I imagine many parents being at a loss as to how to amuse ‘their unruly kids’, or ‘their little darlings’, depending on the parent’s perspective. Well here is something that may not have immediately sprung to mind. How about packing them off for a couple of weeks at the Songdowon International Children’s Camp in Wonsan, North Korea?
Continue reading “Songdowon International Children’s Camp, Wonsan”
Cooma’s Boom Time Churches
If you are following the “Lambie Walk’, which I referred to my first Cooma review, the next and last section of the walk covers three churches. If churches are not your thing you can head down Sharp Street to the town centre having visited the Southern Cloud Memorial. Continue reading “Cooma’s Boom Time Churches”
Hoeryong’s Children’s Palace
I suspect it will come as a surprise to many that North Korea has a 100% literacy rate. In North Korea everyone receives twelve years (extended from eleven in 2012) of full time, state funded, education – from kindergarten to high school. After this there is the option to go to university and other institutes of higher learning. Education in North Korea focuses on preparing students for the workforce (including the military) and aims at not only advancing the prospects of each student but also those of the country, consistent with its Juche, or self-reliance, ideology. There is a significant focus on foreign languages, science and technology but this is not at the expense of the arts, culture and sports. Continue reading “Hoeryong’s Children’s Palace”
Kim Ki-song Hoeryong First Middle School – Children of the Revolution
On arriving into Hoeryong from Chongjin our first stop was the Kim Ki-song Hoeryong First Middle School, one of the country’s more prestigious secondary schools catering to the offspring of the city’s Nouveau riche. It is named after the revolutionary brother of anti-Japanese war heroine Kim Jong-suk, wife of Kim Il-sung and mother to Kim Jong-il. Continue reading “Kim Ki-song Hoeryong First Middle School – Children of the Revolution”
School On The Hill
How old this school is is a matter of conjecture. Transcripts found by the University of Vienna suggest that around 100 students from the School on the Hill, Sighisoara followed University courses between 1402 and 1520. Official records date from 1522. Continue reading “School On The Hill”
St John’s Schoolhouse – Canberra’s First School
This is the Canberra region’s first school and school master’s residence. It was built in 1845 (70 years before Canberra was named) by Robert Campbell of Duntroon estate, to provide an elementary education for children from his estate and surrounding farms. Continue reading “St John’s Schoolhouse – Canberra’s First School”
Tin Dish – Bobeyan Subsidised School
The isolated Bobeyan Valley, in the southern part of the Namadgi National Park, in the southern border area of the Australian Capital Territory, was first settled by Europeans in the 1830s. Even today the area is fairly isolated, being bypassed by the main highway and some 50kms from Tharwa village and 90kms from central Canberra to the North and 30 kilometres from the small township of Adaminaby to the south. Continue reading “Tin Dish – Bobeyan Subsidised School”
Glebe Superior Public School War Memorial
I am aware that many old schools have Rolls of Honour remembering those who you took part and died in World War I. Indeed my own former school Portora Royal School in Northern Ireland had one. Continue reading “Glebe Superior Public School War Memorial”
Ponbu Kindergarten Show – Totally Amazing
Our final activity in Sinuiju, and indeed in North Korea before leaving the country, was a visit to Ponbu Kindergarten where we were shown around the facility by the headmistress (Chief) and then enjoyed a wonderful show put on by the children. Continue reading “Ponbu Kindergarten Show – Totally Amazing”
The Rambling Wombat 