Daegu Elementary School Students Drop by 5,500 in One Year Due to Low Birth Rates... First-Grade Classes Set at 23 Students Each

High School Students Up by 40
Daegu Office of Education Announces Class Allocation

The Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education announced the “Elementary, Middle, and High School Class Allocation Results” on February 20.

This year, the total number of students is 227,161 and the number of classes is 9,676. Compared to the previous year, the number of students decreased by 6,614 (2.8%), and the number of classes decreased by 191 (1.9%).

Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education

By school level, the number of elementary school students is 105,005, down 5,562 (5.0%) from the previous year, and the number of classes is 4,859, down 99 classes (2.0%).

The number of elementary school students has been continuously decreasing over the past four years due to low birth rates. Following a decrease of more than 6,500 students last year, the number decreased by more than 5,500 again this year, and the school-age population continues to decline sharply. Assuming that the average number of students per elementary school is about 440, this corresponds to the size of 13 schools, and the trend toward smaller schools is expected to accelerate.

In middle schools, the number of students is 62,583, down 1,092 (1.7%) from the previous year, and the number of classes is 2,365, down 36 classes (1.5%). Due to the impact of low birth rates, the number of new first-year middle school students born in 2013 is 19,676, a decrease of 2,177 (10.0%) from the previous year.

In high schools, the number of students is 59,573, an increase of 40 (0.1%) from the previous year, while the number of classes is 2,452, a decrease of 56 classes (2.2%). In particular, with the enrollment of students born in 2010, a Year of the White Tiger marked by a baby boom, the number of new first-year high school students is 20,642, an increase of 1,400 (7.3%) from the previous year. After the 2025 academic year, when the number of middle school students reaches its peak, the number of high school students is expected to continue increasing for three years.

To proactively respond to this sharp decline in the school-age population and the changing educational environment, the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education has set the number of students per elementary school class at 26, which is 0.5 fewer students than the previous year. In particular, first-year students will be placed in classes of 23 students, which is lower than the 26 students per class for grades 2 to 6. This measure was introduced to help new students, who are starting school life for the first time, adapt better to school, and to ensure basic academic achievement and realize individualized, customized education.

Daegu Superintendent of Education Kang Eunhee said, “Despite difficult conditions such as the decline in the school-age population and in the number of teaching staff, we worked to ensure appropriate class allocation by gathering opinions from schools and conducting various analyses,” adding, “We will continue to expand individualized, customized education that supports the growth of every single student, and respond to the future educational environment through a variety of measures.”

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