The North Korean parliament on Tuesday approved a 12-year compulsory education policy, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.

Choe Thae-bok, vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly (SPA), reported on the enforcement of a universal 12-year compulsory education policy at the sixth session of the 12th SPA.

He stressed the need to strengthen education in computer technology and foreign languages, saying all schools should set up an information network with the education committee and other educational institutions across the country.

The universal 12-year compulsory education system will be implemented free of charge for all children aged from 5 to 17. It will consist of one year of pre-school education, five years of primary schooling, three years of junior high schooling, and three years of senior high schooling, KCNA said.

The six-year high school plan shall be enforced from the 2013-14 school year. The work on converting four-year primary school curriculums to five years shall go through the preparatory phase in the 2014-2015 school year and be finished in two t0 three years, it added.

It said the extended schooling period reflected the "noble intention of the dear respected Kim Jong-un manifested in his ardent love for the younger generation and the future."

The assembly also appointed new deputies and replaced the chairman of the budget committee, but the KCNA report made no mention of whether any economic or agricultural reform measures were discussed or adopted.