I have always been curious what the school system and education quality are like in North Korea.  Given the air of secrecy around the country and its leaders, all I know is almost always negative news, either about the country’s obsession over nuclear, famine, oppression, and its Dear Leader’s attire – which I assume a bad news in fashion sense.

(When I was at NBC, my colleagues and I did a story on Kim Jong Ill’s look-alike. It’s not related to this blog post, but check it out if you are interested.)

And so I was a little surprised to read a news report yesterday that it is as hard to get into college there as in the South.

The competition rate for entrance into top-tier universities mostly in the capital, Pyongyang, such as Kim Il-sung University is known to be about 30 to 1, according to North Korean experts and defectors who talked to the Korea Herald. 

Students used to have to rely on recommendation from high-ranking officials for college admissions. But in 1991 the country has adopted entrance examination process to prevent cheating, nepotism and corruption, which is, according to the North Korean defectors, is quite rampant.

Students in North Korea, or the DPRK, spend this time of year to cram for college entrance exams. Subjects they have to study are Korean language and literature, math, English, chemistry and physics, and revolutionary history.

The education system in North Korea is quite different from that of the United States or even many Asian countries. Children spend four years in elementary school and six years in secondary or middle school before they have to make a decision whether or not they want to pursue a college degree.

Only around 10 percent of the students go to university, which is far from about 70 percent college enrollment rate in the US or more than 80 percent in South Korea, which has the highest college enrollment rate in the world.

Usually the 10% ones are students from wealthy and elite families. Some children from rich families receive expensive private education just like in the South, according to the report.

Kim Il-sung University, photo: Wikipedia

The most prestigious university in North Korea is Kim Il-sung University, Kim Chaek University, which is famous for its computer science, Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies, which is said to be a prep school for diplomats and trade officials.

North Korea’s first private university is The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. It is largely funded by South Korean and American Evangelical church groups.

Though being dubbed as the most isolated country in the world, North Korean education institutions do welcome educational cooperation and exchange. Choson Exchange, a non-profit organization founded by a Geoffrey See, a Singaporean graduate of Yale, provides training to North Koreans in international finance, economics and law.

Last year he brought in a group of 11 international volunteers from the US, UK, Malaysia, China and New Zealand to offer lectures on the US subprime crisis and the possibility that China’s currency, Renminbi, be accepted as currency for international trade settlements.

It also seems like American teachers are also welcome.

Last month, Karen Best, an American teacher who taught at The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology contributed a blog to The Washington Post to share her experience teaching English and learning about the country and the people there.

She made some observations such as the close relationships between teachers and students there, which I find quite interesting. You can read about her experience here.

And then let me know if you find it an incentive to go teach there. 

Note: This article os part of class assignment in business and economic reporting. 

NEW YORK – New York are feeling more lucky even if the economy has gone busted. 

 This year, New Yorkers spent a total of $7.86 billion on lottery tickets, a 4.2 percent growth since the recession in 2008, a sign that some say reflects the desperation brought on by economic woes.

New York ranked 4th last year in its annual lottery spending at $347 per capita, while Massachusetts spent the most at $669 per person, according to La Fleur’s Magazine, a trade magazine that compiled data for the lottery industry. 

“Sometimes you pay a couple of dollars more and you get a better chance to win,” said Jay Ramirez, 32, who came to buy Lotto, a popular instant scratch-off ticket, from a groceries shop in Crown Heights before heading home. 

Ramirez’s budget for lotteries varies from $20-30 dollars each month. He said he has become more careful with money in general since the recession. He spends less on Lotto but buys it more frequently. 

He has never won but said if he did, he would use the money to repay debt and fly his family to Florida for a vacation. 

“Someday it might be me. Who knows, right?” he said. 

The you-never-know attitude is what makes the New York Lottery remain the largest and most profitable state lottery in the US. 

The $3.05 billion profit of the New York Lottery almost matched the $4.42 billion in corporate taxes that New York State collected in 2009, according to the Census Bureau’ssurvey of State Government Finances. 

But for some, a steady growth in state lottery is an indicator of desperation, that people rely more on luck and chance to get by in this dire economy.

A study by Cornell University in 2004 found a strong relationship between poverty and demand for lottery. Low-income and less educated people spend the most on lottery in a hope to get rich fast. They also spend more when the economy is bad. 

David Just, an economics associate professor at Cornell University who co-authored the study, said that it is concerns over long-term, not short-term, financial prospect that drives lottery sales. 

“People try the old ‘tried and true’ and then think about other strategies,” Just said. “A number of people get to the point where they throw commonsense and hard work out the window.”   

It is also a trend nationwide. 

In 2010, the US made $58.8 billion in total revenue and almost $18 billion in profit, a 1 percent increase from 2009, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. 

Lottery sales in 28 states went up. Four states, led by Arizona, had over 10 percent growth in  sales. Iowa saw its highest annual sales since the lottery’s start in 1985, while Maryland’s lottery has had 13 consecutive years of record sales. 

Keith Whyte, director of the Washington-based National Council on Problem Gambling, who advocates for programs to assist gamblers, said some turn to the lottery to escape from the harsh reality of uncertain job prospect and piling debt. 

“Gambling mimics the physical effects of drugs,” Whyte said. “People get almost physical high.” 

State lotteries vigorously defend the lottery, calling it an inexpensive entertainment that the poor can afford. 

However, the Cornell University study suggested otherwise. 

“We didn’t find strong evidence that supports that hypothesis,” said Garrick Blalock, economics associate professor at Cornell University who co-authored the study. 

“Poor people spend more dollars on the lottery but they don’t spend more on other forms of entertainment, such as movies, which is similarly inexpensive,” Blalock said. 

The number of states administering lotteries has gone up from 14 in 1980 to 44 at present. 

The transfer of lottery revenues to states in the past few years has ranged from 20 to 40 percent. Some state lotteries have sought to boost sales by increasing winning prizes and advertising campaign, and expanding lottery retailers.  

The Florida Lottery recently convinced Wal-Mart to start selling lottery tickets in its US stores despite its long-standing refusal.  

In Missouri, the state lottery increased its advertising budget sixfold, and for the first time it was able to break $1 billion in sales. 

Richard Lustig, seven-time winner of lottery grand prize and the author of “Learn How to Increase Your Chances of Winning the Lottery”, said his main advice is for people to budget wisely when they play lottery. 

“It’s easy for people to get lottery fever,” Lustig said. “This is a desperate time and people do desperate things.

There’s an interesting infographic on “Online Students vs. Traditional Students” that came out yesterday by Online PhD programs. The infographic shows why students choose online learning, what courses they take and how well they do – which is quite positive.

Some facts that the infographic pointed out are pretty much what we would have estimated. Here’s the highlights:

• Number of online students enrollment in 2009 is 5.6 million, which is more than a quarter of 19 million students enrolled in traditional classroom
• Business, social science, humanities and health science are the 4 leading degrees students enrolled from Fall 2010 – Fall 2011.
• A higher percentage, or 66%, of “academic leaders” have rated online courses the same or superior to traditional face-to-face courses, compared to 57% in 2003.
• While 62% of public institution has seen budget decrease, 47.7% of for-profit institutions have seen their budget increase.
• 79% of study participants said they had hired an applicant with online degree qualifications in the past 12 months

Via: Online PhD Programs Blog

Given the current economy that still feels like recession, high unemployment rate, and advanced educational innovations, there’s no doubt the number of people enrolling in online education is either up or remains at relatively high.

Dire economic situation makes people think more about their future and consequently they become a better planner. One thing that high unemployment rate tells us is that something structurally has changed. The labor market needs people with different, higher or multi skills. Students look for more affordable education, unemployed or recently laid-off people want to capitalize their down time and get ready to gear up for next job. Some people stuck in a job they hate but are too afraid to leave their job choose to take online courses to prepare for a career change.

Still, I couldn’t help feeling a bit skeptic about the findings on points such as “79% of study participants said they had hired an applicant with online degree qualifications in the past 12 months.”

Online PHD Programs collected information from various sources in order to produce this user-friendly infographic, which I tried to check as much as I can. Many of them are various web sites and sources advocating online higher education such as Online Education Database, onlinecollegedegrees.net, elearners.com, guidetoonlineschools.com. What these sources have in common is the lack of physical address, phone number or email address to contact. Is it because they want to keep the spirit of virtual learning alive and well? Some web sites also partner with private for-profit giants such as University of Phoenix, Kaplan University, Walden University, Capella University, and etc.

However, one source that I find more useful than others is an online education survey “Class Differences: Online Education in the United States, 2010”, by Sloan Consortium of online education.

I don’t mean to discredit their findings. I think the information provided here and the surveys they have done are useful for education policy makers, students and entrepreneurs alike. But since many sources are advocates of online education and have strong relationships with for-profit online colleges, I think a healthy dose of skepticism doesn’t hurt.

I fully support online/distant/virtual learning because I think people have different needs, limitations, and preferences. Just because I am skeptic about the findings doesn’t mean I don’t feel for someone who commutes 4 hours to take one course at the nearest community college, a single mom who wants to reeducate herself and prepares for job market, or students from low-income families.

Education should be tailored to serve the diverse group of learners as much as possible. We live in an era when a gap in education equality is so wide. The flourish of online education, by both for-profit colleges and traditional colleges, is a testament to the benefits of e-learning.

My point here is that I’d rather be cautious so I won’t jump into buying whatever available out there. After all, education is one of the most lucrative businesses. Weed out advertising and marketing campaigns.

There’s been an increasing presence and participation of teachers at Zuccotti Park as the Occupy Wall Street movement has been spreading nationwide from New York, Philadelphia,Chicago to Los Angeles and counting.  

Today, Diane Ravitch, a prominent education policy analyst and an outspoken critic of the Department of Education, will speak to Occupy Wall Street protesters in Zuccotti Park about the relationship between economic inequality and school reform, according to Gothamschool.

Other teachers and education activists are also mulling the next occupying: Department of Education. According to Gothamschool, New York City education activists said they are planning to bring hundreds of protesters to protest school board meeting next week.

Photo captured from New York Collective of Radical Educators

Teachers’ support of the movement shouldn’t come as a surprise. Teachers across the nation are one of the 99 percent  – the victims of unprecedented cutbacks and layoffs. Classroom size is stretched to accommodate more students while many teachers and education positions remain unfilled because hiring freeze.

One of the frustration teachers and schools have faced seems to be the shared feeling that they have been shut out from decision making process that affects school administration, quality of education, teaching and learning process.

At next week’s Occupy DOE, organizers of the protest said they want to protest the Panel for Educational Policy who is holding a meeting about new academic standards next week. They said the panel, whose majority members were appointed by Mayor Bloomber, has been ignoring the public testimony before approving DOE’s decisions.

“The main concern people have, and why the PEP is being targeted, is we feel that it is an unelected and unrepresentative body making decisions on behalf of us. Teachers and students don’t have a voice in the DOE,” — Leia Petty, an organizer of Occupy Department of Education 

It’s “a clash between classroom and boardroom”, as Huffington Post’s Christopher Emdin nicelysummed it.

Emdin highlighted 5 reasons why teachers are occupying Wall Street. He said teachers’ Occupy Wall Street also represents their opposition to irresponsible investments. I agree that marketing, investments and public opinion can affect how schools are run and sometimes can distract policy maker from providing what’s best for students, and not the investors. 

Among other things, I think Occupy Wall Street is a great platform for teachers to take advantage of to bring education issues to the public attention. The movement reflects unfair reward to the wealthy at the expense of everyone else – including schools, the most essential entity to develop human resources. And it’s the human resources who will either weaken or strengthen the social and economic foundations.