An undated file photo of an entrance ceremony at an elementary school in Seoul (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Student enrollment in elementary schools nationwide is expected to drop below 400,000 for the first time this year due to the nation’s rock-bottom birth rate, officials forecast Wednesday, citing data from the education and interior ministries.
According to the government data compiled as of Dec. 20, 413,056 children are eligible to enter elementary schools this year.
But the number of children who actually enroll in schools in March has usually been around 90 percent of those eligible as of the previous year, excluding preschoolers who apply for deferment or exemption from school due to overseas migration, health and other reasons.
Taking the precedent into consideration, the number of first-year elementary school students is expected to remain in the mid to late 300,000 range this year, the officials said. In Seoul, for instance, student enrollment is expected to fall more than 10 percent to about 59,500 from over 66,000 last year.
The officials said the nation’s elementary school enrollment will decrease further below 300,000 in two years, as the number of children born in 2019 who will enter elementary schools in 2026 is only 302,676.
Last year, the number of births again fell to an all-time low of 235,039 in terms of resident registration, though the official figure has yet to be confirmed.
(Yonhap)
