Education in the North Korea is universal and state funded schooling by the government. The national literacy rate for citizens 15 years of age and older is over 99 percent. Children go through one year of kindergarten, four years of primary education, six years of secondary education, and then on to universities.
Foreign tourists can visit in Pyongyang - primary school, Middle School #1, and June 9th Middle School (New Zealand friendship school)
Pyongyang’s June 9th Middle School was ordered to be built by Kim Il Sung himself on June 9th, hence the name. This school has a room of the history of the school, a room for biological studies (it displays taxidermy animals and eggs of more than a dozen birds), a class for science with two microscopes on each table.
Graduation from the compulsory education system occurred at aged sixteen. School curricula are balanced between academic and political subject matter. Subjects such as Korean language, mathematics, physical education, drawing, and music constitute the bulk of instruction in people's schools; more than 8 percent of instruction is devoted to the "Great Kim Il Sung" and "Communist Morality." In senior middle schools, politically oriented subjects, including the "Great Kim Il Sung" and "Communist Morality" as well as "Communist Party Policy," comprise only 5.8 percent of instruction
As part of the special education policy for the talented, the North Korea established Pyongyang No. 1 Senior-middle School in 1984, where education courses correspond with the national curriculum for high schools in South Korea. By 1985, the North Korea had established a No.1 Senior-middle School for each provincial government and started a full-scale special education program for the gifted. The No. 1 Senior-middle Schools are different from the ordinary schools in terms of teaching materials and the quality of their teachers. However, there is a huge difference even among No.1 Senior-middle Schools. The best one is Pyongyang No.1 Senior-middle School.