Jeonnam Office of Education: "Difference Between School-Age Population and Students Is 25... 1,391 Discrepancy Is an Error"

Clarification in Response to Assemblyman Kim Jaecheol's Claims
"Discrepancies Due to Address Mismatches and Other Factors"

The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education clarified on the 15th that the actual difference in the number of students versus the population statistics for ages 7 to 12 in Jeonnam, as raised by Jeonnam Provincial Assemblyman Kim Jaecheol, is only 25.

Previously, Assemblyman Kim claimed during a "five-minute free speech" session that "1,391 children in Jeonnam cannot be accounted for in the province's elementary schools."

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education building.

The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education released a statement on the same day, explaining, "The figures announced by Assemblyman Kim resulted from errors in the data submission process," and added, "When including students subject to deferred or exempted enrollment, the difference between the population statistics and the number of students is 25."

According to the office, the population of children aged 7 to 12 in Jeonnam is 78,625, while the number of students based on educational statistics is 76,342. When including 2,258 students subject to deferred or exempted enrollment, the total comes to 78,600.

The statistical difference of 25 is attributed to factors such as address changes to other provinces after enrollment, or discrepancies between the school attended and the registered address due to the joint school district system between Gwangju and Jeonnam. The office is currently verifying the reasons for each of the 25 cases.

The office explained that it regularly tracks the whereabouts of children in the province through the School Compulsory Education Management Committee and the Enrollment Management Task Force. For children at risk of going missing, they maintain a system for swift verification and action in cooperation with police stations and relevant agencies.

Kim Byeongnam, Director of Elementary Education, stated, "This clarification is intended to correct misunderstandings regarding the submitted data," and added, "Apart from discrepancies in registered addresses, no other significant issues were found."

He continued, "Taking this opportunity, we will strengthen the child safety verification system in the province and conduct even more thorough inspections of the child safety management system so that parents and residents can feel reassured."

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