In January Juche 40 (1951), the President visited a factory in Songchon County, South Phyongan Province. Saying that the factory should train administrators and technicians by itself, he suggested setting up a factory college for workers to get higher education while on the job.

In February that year, he again came to the factory to advise that the factory college should be attached to Kim Chaek University of Technology as a branch and to give instructions on the selection and recruitment of students for the college and its teaching method.

He also took a step to dispatch teachers returning from the battlefields to the college first.

As a result, the first factory college, a study-while-working education system of new type, was founded on July 15, 1951. It was a courageous decision that could be made only by the President with firm confidence in the war victory.

Later, the number of factory colleges grew to over 30 in the 1960s and then to nearly 100 in the 1980s and more than one hundred and tens in the new century. And many engineers and technicians were produced at those colleges.

Today, the study-while-working higher education system is further displaying its vitality and superiority.