Should the Japanese government subsidize North Korean schools?

The main problem is that the Chosen Gakko have always refused to publicly comply with MoE curriculum standards. The Chosen Soren position is that the MoE standards are designed to “assimilate” them and make them “Japanese” while crushing their “Korean-ness”.

Now, granted, in actual practice perhaps once you get past the praise of the Dear Leader and the classes on Juche, one would find that in math, science and language the Chosen Gakko do indeed meet MoE curriculum standards, however the onus should still be on the schools to show they meet them and therefore qualify for government funds.

The Chosen Gakko issue is not strictly analogous to home schooling or church schools in the US. The US system has traditionally always been far more open to such things provided that the children are able to acquire enough basic knowledge to get a GED or pass entrance exams for colleges and universities – however even in those cases (home schooling excepted) most schools do meet state eduation board standards and are accredited. They have to be in order to operate. And for the most part, the differences with public schools come down to things like opposition to evolution or dancing – religious or philosophical differences, not so much political ones. I don’t think very many private schools in the US openly teach that the US government is run by war criminals or similar.

Also, in my experience in the States such private schools did not receive any public funds. All public monies for education went to public schools, unless (as was the case with my high school), the only school in town was a private one, and then the private school was fully expected to act as a public one. They had to accept all students from the town, regardless of ability, and had to meet State standards to the letter.

The kids being put through the Chosen Gakko are, in every real and tangible sense of the word save the legal definition, “Japanese”, being raised by “Japanese” parents in “Japanese” society. The sole purpose of the schools however is to teach the kids that they are not Japanese, and that to become Japanese is an anathema.

We aren’t talking about schools for US military kids who are here with their parents on accompanied tours of 2-3 years, nor international schools for expat’s kids also just passing through Japan for a couple of years, and for whom sudden immersion in Japanese public schools would be impractical and possibly detrimental due to language barriers etc. We are talking about schools set up strictly to prevent children from integrating into their (and their parents’, and their grandparents’, etc.) country of birth, and the country they will likely live in until the day they die.

If that is the kind of school their parents want to send them to, then fine. That is their choice, and if the government wants to say “fine, send them to the school of your choice – but it isn’t accredited” then great. But that is a private choice and does not deserve to be subsidized with public funds.

Because that is what differentiates us from the Norks, basic moral philosophy, as seen from the Voltaire quote and also in Kants categorical imperative and a slew of other philosophers that we base our ideals on. Disregarding this is the slippery slope I mentioned above.