Policymakers have launched discussions to augment the unification-related lessons taught at elementary, middle and high schools to increase students’ interest in the subjects, officials said Wednesday.

The Unification Ministry recently conferred with the Education Ministry recommending at least eight hours of unification education in schools. It was in reaction to last year’s survey ― jointly conducted by both ministries ― in which only 53.5 percent of students said unification was necessary, according to a Unification Ministry official.

The survey also showed that 18 percent of teachers said their school does not have such lessons, the biggest reason being the lack of time. As of now, about 42 percent of schools that do manage to squeeze in the lessons only conduct less than two hours of the subject.

Most of the unification education ends up being just perfunctory lessons, dominated by video watching and lectures ― 78.2 percent and 66.5 percent, respectively.

The lack of expertise was another problem. According to the National Assembly Budget Office, only 55.2 percent of the unification lecturers have degrees related.

Inviting someone who actually has in-depth knowledge of the communist country ― such as North Korean defectors and researchers who studied the case of German unification ― will ensure that the cited lessons are effective, said an official from the Education Ministry’s school policy division.

“The duration of these classes is important, but even more crucial is the quality. We need to persuade students that unification is something that we really need,” he said.

The ministry has not announced any penalty for schools that fail to deliver such education, but it is reportedly mulling using unification-related lessons as one criteria for assessing local education offices.

If the officials reach an agreement on the new measure, it could be implemented as early as the first semester of 2015.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)