Seoul Sees 18,000 Fewer Students This Year... Only Middle School Students Increase

2021 School Year Seoul Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle, and High School Students Down 2%
Middle School Students Increase Due to Golden Pig Year Effect
Average Students per Class 23.8, Same as Last Year

As the school density standard was raised from one-third to two-thirds, middle school students in the metropolitan area have increased attendance, and vocational high school students can now attend school every day. On the 14th, students were attending school at Jangpyeong Middle School in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. 2021.06.14 Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The number of students in kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul decreased by 2% compared to the previous year.

On the 12th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced that based on the 2021 academic year, the number of students in kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school classes decreased by 2.0% (18,683 students) compared to the previous year and by 12.6% (135,120 students) compared to 2017.

Although the total number of students decreased, the number of middle school students increased by 1.5%, which is analyzed to be due to the increase of the golden pig year born in 2007. The number of students by school level is ▲Elementary school 400,808 ▲Middle school 210,229 ▲High school 216,497. Elementary school decreased by 2.1% and high school by 3.6% compared to last year. Kindergarten had 69,676 students, a 6.7% decrease from last year, and special schools had 4,451 students, a 0.5% increase. Various schools had 3,044 students, a 3.1% decrease.

The total number of kindergartens, elementary, middle, high schools, special, and various schools in Seoul is 2,160, an increase of 4 schools from last year. Among them, elementary, middle, and high schools total 1,316, with middle schools increasing by 2 schools compared to last year. There are 607 elementary schools, 389 middle schools, 320 high schools, 32 special schools, and 16 various schools. Kindergartens number 796, an increase of 2 from last year but a decrease of 86 compared to 2017. Public kindergartens increased by 19 from last year and by 68 compared to 2017. Private kindergartens decreased by 17 from last year and by as many as 154 compared to 2017.

The total number of classes in Seoul's kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools is 40,928, a decrease of 1.1% (456 classes) from last year. Compared to 2017, it decreased by 3.5% (1,466 classes). Elementary schools decreased by 0.9% (165 classes), middle schools by 1.1% (99 classes), and high schools by 1.4% (130 classes). Kindergartens decreased by 1.6% (62 classes). Only special schools increased by 4 classes, while various schools decreased by 4 classes.

The number of students per class is 23.8, the same as last year and 2.1 fewer than in 2017. Elementary schools have 22.8 students per class, down 0.2 (0.9%) from last year, and high schools have 24.2 students, down 0.6 (2.4%), but middle schools increased by 2.8% to 25.5 students per class. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education explained, "Despite difficulties in class formation due to teacher quota reductions during class organization, we formed the maximum number of classes possible considering social distancing within schools due to COVID-19."

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education stated that to resolve overcrowded classes, they will prevent overcrowding in nearby schools by establishing new schools or relocating schools in areas requiring school establishment. They plan to respond flexibly according to conditions, such as securing additional classrooms by reallocating space within existing schools, utilizing modular classes, expanding classrooms, adjusting elementary school attendance zones, and balancing assignments between middle and high schools.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education said, "As the decline in the school-age population is expected to continue, we will continuously strive to improve educational conditions by comprehensively considering trends in student number changes, regional and school conditions, operating an appropriate number of classes, reducing the number of students per class, and promoting the development of appropriately sized schools."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.