Mick Hartley

There was much talk recently of the Supreme Leader's sister Kim Yo Jong being promoted as one of the key figures in the North Korean hierarchy. For a while she did appear to take on some extra responsibility. My view was that, being family and all, she was promoted for a brief spell while the Kim Jong-un underwent some kind of surgery, but – being a woman in a deeply chauvinistic culture – was quietly shuffled to the back when the Fat Man returned.

Now, according to the Daily NK, she's handling the traditionally woman-friendly education brief:

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, recently ordered changes to the “Greatness Education” curriculum at the country’s preschools and the new curriculum was handed down to preschools nationwide on Aug. 25, Daily NK has learned.

“Greatness Education” is aimed at cultivating loyalty and trust toward North Korea’s leadership among the country’s children. According to a source in North Hamgyong Province earlier today, preschoolers aged five and six used to spend only 30 minutes a day learning about the childhoods of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

Only 30 minutes a day?? Clearly room for improvement there.

The updated curriculum, however, now has them spend a total of one and a half hours on “Greatness Education”: One hour is spent learning about the childhoods of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, while another 30 minutes is devoted to learning “revolutionary” music from the leaders’ childhoods.

“What is being taught in Greatness Education has changed somewhat,” the source said. “The amount of time spent on the Supreme Leader [Kim Jong Un]’s childhood is now twice that spent on the Suryong [Kim Il Sung] and the General [Kim Jong Il]’s childhoods.”

According to the source, the updated curriculum tells preschoolers that when Kim Jong Un was just five years old, he was a bright child who “rode a yacht, did target practice, and liked to read.”

Rode a yacht? That'll resonate with North Korean kids.

In accordance with the new curriculum, brochures about the Supreme Leader required for the Greatness Education classes were sent from the central government to the preschools, but there are also new costs for “sprucing up” classrooms for Greatness Education, the source said.

“Many parents are consequently wondering to themselves whether it might be better just to teach their kids at home,” he added.