North Korea runs a number of technical, agricultural and fisheries colleges, affiliated with major factories, business establishments, cooperative farms and fisheries establishments. There are 110-plus such vocational colleges across the country, accounting for more than a third of the North's 280 colleges and universities. They are overwhelmingly technical, reaching 90-odd in number, while agricultural colleges number 12 and fisheries colleges 3. They turn out over 10,000 graduates a year, according to North Korean statistics.

Songchon Technical College in Songchon County, South Pyongan Province, inaugurated in July 1951 during the Korean War, was the first instance of a vocational technical college, more of which sprouted in the 1980s. They are set up at big factories and business establishments and major industrial estates. They are named mostly after locations like Songjin, Songrim and Kusong technical colleges. The Pohang district of Chongjin, North Hamgyong Province, has Pohang Technical College.

The chief executive officer of a relevant factory or business establishment, which administers the college, holds the deanship. Providing educational guidance is the "Technical College and Communications Education Bureau" of the Ministry of Education's Higher Education Department. The teaching faculty of full- and part-time staff is appointed from among outstanding engineers and experts at the relevant factory or business establishment.

To enter a technical college, an applicant has to be recommended by the chief of his or her job site and pass prescribed examinations. The recommendation, the acquiring of which is by no means easy, as it evaluates the applicant's personality, family background, human relations, on-the-job attitude and academic capability, is critical.

The courses offered last five or six years. Courses consist of one-year preliminary and four- or five-year full courses. Administrator courses are given separately. Basic subjects are taught in preliminary courses, while prospective administrators above the rank of guidance officer at factories and business establishments are trained in administrator courses.

Considering workers' three-shift working system covering 08:00-16:00, 16:00-24:00 and 24:00-08:00, the technical college runs in two shifts, a daytime one running from 08:00-16:00 and a nighttime one from 16:00-24:00. Unlike lecture-intensive ordinary colleges, emphasis is given to practical job training in vocational technical colleges.

Successful graduates passing prescribed state examinations are given the "engineer" license, as is the case with their counterparts from ordinary natural science colleges. An engineer license earner is assigned as guidance officer at a factory or business establishment with a monthly salary NKW20-25 above that of ordinary workers averaging at NKW100.

Chongsan Agricultural College, located in the Chongsan, Kangso District of Nampo City was established in November 1981 and is the first instance of a vocational farm college. Beginning late in the 1980s, it was succeeded by similar colleges in Unjon, North Pyongan, Jongpyong, South Hamgyong, Pyongsan, North Hwanghae, and Yongyon, South Hwanghae.

The management committee of pertinent farms administers them, with its chairman assuming the deans post. Freshmen are recruited from among young farmers at relevant or adjacent cooperative farms. Five-year courses are given at farm machinery, veterinary and livestock departments, and four-year-and-a-half courses by agricultural production departments.

In consideration of the farming seasons, lectures are given from December 1 to the end of February, the off farming season. During the busy farming season, the students engage in farming and self-study with instructors visiting them once a month. Successful graduates of vocational agricultural colleges are accorded the license of engineer in agriculture. Vocational fisheries colleges are located in Sinpo, Hongwon and Yanghwa in South Hamgyong Province.

(Kim Kwang In, kki@chosun.com )