Kim Won Hui, a vice department director of the Ministry of General Education under the Education Commission, told KCNA that the dear respected Kim Jong Un took a measure to supply a host of educational and sports apparatuses to schools in Pyongyang to mark the beginning of the new school year.

"Preparations for the new school year were fully made amid public concern," she said.

Newcomers entered schools, enjoying welcome from teachers and seniors, as well as their parents.

Ri Kum Sun (38), mother of Kim Il Hun, an entrant to Moranbong Secondary School No. 1, said:

"Schoolchildren in the DPRK are studying to their heart's content under the fine socialist educational system, which was provided by President Kim Il Sung and developed by leader Kim Jong Il and is now being carried forward by the dear respected Kim Jong Un. I will bring up my children well under this generous system."

An entrant, O Yong Gwang (11), said;

"I am happy to be a secondary school pupil. I will become an able pupil equipped with good knowledge, noble virtues and strong physical body."

The first lesson in the new school year started all at once in the country.

The DPRK maintains the universal compulsory free education system.