Shortly ago, Kim Jong Un, President of the State Affairs of the DPRK, made a speech at the 15th National Conference of Teachers held in the country’s capital city of Pyongyang. His speech was permeated entirely with respect for and gratitude to the educators.
He said in the speech that if there is anything in the world that can be put alongside the sacred and noble appellation of mother, it is probably that of teacher, adding that where mothers give children life, our teachers are just the benefactors who nurture and train them.
It is noteworthy that educators are called career revolutionaries in the DPRK. They are to impart knowledge to students and help them cultivate their spirit as they are different from one another in aspiration, personality, hobby, family background and everything, and also to take meticulous care of their studies and life. They regard it as their mission to devote everything, even the love that should be shown to their beloved children, families, parents and siblings, to their students.
For example, a teacher taught a girl with walking impairment by carrying her on her back to and from school for years while helping cure her disease so that she could walk by herself. Another teacher taught a dumb girl how to speak even by letting the girl put her fingers in her mouth to feel the position of the tongue when speaking. With the help of her, the girl finally could utter words and even sing songs. There is a teacher who volunteered to teach a few students at a branch school on a remote island away from home and has devoted herself to them for decades.
Nothing better illustrates the devotion of Korean educators to their duty than the reports of local media outlets that dozens of teachers have received the titles of People’s Teacher and Merited Teacher and over 1 100 graduates of universities of education and teachers training colleges volunteered to work at schools on islands and mountain villages over the past seven years since the 14th National Conference of Teachers in 2019. Like this, Korean educators are faithfully dedicating their all to bringing up the younger generation to be pillars of the future.
That is why Kim Jong Un said in his speech that teachers are the benefactors all other people in this country owe heartfelt thanks, and the best of the patriots who deserve to be put on the high platform of honour, which we build with such a deep emotion, before anyone else. His remark is probably the utmost tribute to the devoted educators.
