Juche

S. U. Zebyatikh
Chief,
Juche Pedagogy Association of Belarus

Guiding principle of socialist education in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is the Juche-oriented idea of education illuminated by President Kim Il Sung and developed in depth by Comrade Kim Jong Il and the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un.

The Juche-oriented idea of education is clarified in the President’s classic work Theses on Socialist Education.

The Juche-oriented idea of education is the most revolutionary and scientific educational doctrine that comprehensively integrates and systematizes the idea, theory and methods of training the people into independent and creative powerful beings, the genuine masters of the revolution and construction by applying the Juche idea in the education, the work of training the revolutionary talents.

The philosophical basis of the Juche-oriented idea of education is the Juche idea that gives scientific explanation that man is master of everything and decides everything. That man is master of everything means that man is the master of the world and his own destiny, and that man decides everything means that he plays a decisive role in transforming the world and carving out his own destiny.

The Juche-oriented idea of education clarifies essence of the socialist education on a scientific basis.

President Kim Il Sung said.

“Socialist education is an undertaking to teach people to be independent and creative social beings.”

Socialist education is, in essence, an undertaking to teach people to be independent and creative social beings, the powerful beings.

Man can be an independent and creative being, a powerful being only when he is conscious of his independence and has creative ability. Independent consciousness and creative ability are not inherent. Ideological consciousness of independence and creative ability to train the people into powerful beings are cultivated through education. Through education man cognizes the world and himself with awareness of his demand and interests and cultivates the creative ability to understand and change the world.

The process of making the people acquire the ideological consciousness of independence and creative ability is accompanied by the undertaking to transform their idea and ability. As there cannot be a vacancy in people’s thinking, so arming the people with the ideological consciousness of independence is the course of arming them with the revolutionary ideas and rooting out the outmoded ideology from them. Making the people acquire creative ability is the course of not resting content with the already acquired scientific and technical knowledge and the already achieved capability but improving them on a higher level to be more profound and useful ones.

However, it does not imply that education in all other societies becomes an undertaking to train the people into independent and creative beings.

In the exploiter society where the people are the object of exploitation and domination, education becomes a work making the people obedient to exploitation and oppression.

In particular, in capitalist society where the people are treated as slaves of capital and a manufacturing tool, their desire to develop constantly as the independent and creative beings cannot be realized and education is reduced to a means of paralyzing their consciousness of independence and deforming their creative ability. The people can be trained into independent and creative powerful beings only by the socialist education.

Accordingly, socialist education becomes an undertaking to teach people into independent and creative beings, the powerful beings.

Based on the explanation of the essence of socialist education, the Juche-oriented idea of education clarifies that socialist education assumes the revolutionary and popular character.

Socialist education is the revolutionary one as it trains and develops all members of society into independent and creative beings, the genuine masters of the state and society, thus serving the accomplishment of the people’s cause of independence.

Socialist education is the popular one as it brings the people’s desire for independence into reality and solves all problems arising in education by relying on their revolutionary awareness and creative wisdom.

Thanks to the Juche-oriented idea of education which clarifies essence and character of the socialist education, a scientific and revolutionary guide was provided to develop the genuine education of teaching the people.