President
"Education is a decisive factor in the revolution and in determining the fate of the nation. Without education there can be neither social progress nor national prosperity, at any time or in any nation."
He regarded educational work as the most important of state affairs and paid constant concern to developing it.
The following happened on September 13, 1948, some years after Korea's liberation, when he visited Mangyongdae Revolutionary School, an educational institution for the children of revolutionary martyrs.
This was the day after a mass rally of Pyongyang citizens took place to celebrate the founding of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In other words, the visit was his first field-guidance trip after the proclamation of the DPRK.
He was first guided into a room where the second-year students in the special course were taking maths lesson. He was very happy to see the sunny room. And at the room for the fourth-year students in the special course, he observed their lesson and inquired in detail about their learning.
He was then led into a laboratory, where he said that apparatuses for experiments in physics, chemical reagents and biological specimens were not plentiful, noting that the country abounded with birds and fishes. It is not appropriate to have experiments for several subjects conducted in the same room, he said, before advising that there should be specialized laboratories–one for experiments in physics and another for chemical experiments, as well as a display room for biological specimens and a music room with enough instruments. He added that these laboratories and rooms should be larger than the existing laboratory and they should be equipped in a better fashion.
The officials of the school said that they would set up such laboratories and rooms before the inauguration ceremony of the school.
President resumed that it is not advisable to let the children study at a desk and do nothing else. Arrangements should be made for them to make study tours around factories, rural villages and other places. It is also necessary for them to have rich knowledge of natural sciences, politics and military science. What is particularly important is to teach them how to shoot.
At the headmaster's room he stressed: The inauguration ceremony of the school is of great significance, so after the founding of our Republic, I have come here before any other place. You should make good preparations for the ceremony.
The officials of the school now realized why he set it as the destination of his first field-guidance trip after the proclamation of the DPRK.
