Severe Overcrowded Classes Due to Population Influx in Incheon New Towns... 45% in Geomdan New Town

Incheon Overall Overcrowded Class Rate 21.4%... 4th Nationwide
Cheongna 36.5%, Songdo 35.9%

As the population continues to flow into new towns within Incheon, 36.5% of elementary, middle, and high school classes have become overcrowded. Overcrowded classes refer to classes with 28 or more students per class.

According to Incheon City on the 4th, as of April last year, the overcrowded class rate in Incheon’s elementary, middle, and high schools was 21.4% (2,828 out of a total of 13,232 students), ranking 4th nationwide. In particular, in Incheon’s new towns, as the population influx continues to increase, 27 schools and 881 classes, accounting for 36.5% of 67 schools and 2,413 classes, are overcrowded.

The overcrowded class rates by new town area are highest in Geomdan New Town at 45.1%, followed by Cheongna International City (36.5%), Songdo International City (35.9%), and Yeongjong International City (26.7%). The cause is attributed to the failure to timely establish and expand schools in line with the influx of population due to new town development.

Incheon City is struggling to find solutions as complaints demanding improvements in the educational environment due to overcrowded classes increase. On the 30th of last month, a forum titled “Causes and Solutions for the Occurrence of Oversized and Overcrowded Classes in Incheon New Towns” was co-hosted with Assemblyman Bae Jun-young (Incheon Jung-gu, Ganghwa-gun, Ongjin-gun) at the National Assembly Members’ Office Building.

On the 30th of last month, participants including Lee Haeng-sook, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Welfare Policy of Incheon (fifth from the right in the front row), and Bae Jun-young, member of the People Power Party (sixth from the right in the front row), are taking a commemorative photo at the debate held at the National Assembly Members' Office Building titled "Discussion on the Causes and Solutions for Overlarge and Overcrowded Classes in Incheon New Town." June 30, 2023. Photo by Incheon City.

At this event, Lee Haeng-sook, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Welfare of Incheon City, stated, “We plan to actively review the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education’s opinions regarding new school establishments during various urban development consultations, support the purchase of land for new schools, and implement various policies to resolve oversized and overcrowded classes, including transportation improvement measures for students commuting from distant areas.”

Incheon City mandates prior consultation with the Superintendent of Education to secure school sites during the development of new towns and housing sites, and reflects school sites in urban planning facilities. Additionally, the city bears 50% of the cost of purchasing land for new schools within development project districts according to the education office’s school establishment plans each year. Over the past five years, it has supported the education office with 77 billion KRW for land purchase costs for 21 schools.

Furthermore, Incheon City plans to continuously monitor passenger trends on bus routes passing through middle and high schools in new towns to consider route adjustments to alleviate commuting inconveniences for students living far away.

At the forum, Shin Chung-sik, Chair of the Education Committee of the Incheon City Council, proposed a solution to resolve oversized and overcrowded classes by relocating private schools, and Chae Hong-jun, Director of Local Education Finance at the Ministry of Education, explained institutional support measures such as easing central investment review standards for school establishment to resolve overcrowded classes in new towns.

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