Schoolchildren of Moranbong District in Pyongyang played sports and amusement games at Kim Il Sung Stadium on November 7.

Although the day marked the beginning of winter as one of the 24 seasonal divisions by lunar calendar, the temperature was 17℃ which is suitable for playing games.

The general education sector of the DPRK arranges schoolchildren's sports meeting in spring and autumn every year and not only schoolchildren but also parents take an avid interest in the event.

According to Ri In Ae, teacher at Kinmaul Primary School in the district, the sports meeting was a significant occasion for training schoolchildren to be admirable talents who are knowledgeable, morally sound and physically strong.

An official of the Moranbong district youth league committee said that under the loving care of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the government and amid the growing public interest in education, the day of schoolchildren’s sports and amusement games is as exciting as holiday.

That day, people thronged into Kim Il Sung Stadium to watch the event.

The contest started with the march in file of students of senior middle schools and was conspicuous for the demonstration of team pattern and self-defence routine of Taekwon-Do and smash and other special skills by junior middle and primary school children.

Students of Jinhung Senior Middle School in the district won the final of the volleyball tournament, in which players from all senior middle schools in the district competed from the preliminaries, by displaying high collectivist spirit and techniques.

Amusement games enlivened the event as rooting got more enthusiastic.

The games were played, divided into the categories of senior middle, junior middle and primary schools, and players of each category competed in 10-odd games such as tug of war, steeplechase, leg-tied race, balloon-bursting and finding a man or thing to run with them. The games were decided by adding the scores schools got by winning games and the school that earned the top score became the winner.

The players looked confident or strained as they would play for the honour of their schools. Some enjoyed the thrills of victory, while others felt the pain of defeat, but the rooters kept cheering enthusiastically for their teams irrespective of the scores of the games.

“Schoolchildren seem to have become healthier and stronger as they are growing eating the dairy products and other nutritious foods supplied by the country every day thanks to the Party’s childcare policy. Players, rooters and all show enormous enthusiasm in this year's sports meeting,” said Ri In Ae.

While fierce games were played, each school raised deafening cheers or staged distinctive art performances boasting its prowess. Everyone seemed to be boisterous in the stadium. Parents and other spectators cheerfully said that as schoolchildren played games well, sang songs well and cheered their teams well, they did not know which one they should see.

Through the event of that day, schoolchildren and their parents felt the delight of victory and pride in their demonstration of the power of their teams and hardened their resolve to redouble efforts.