Students take a mock college entrance examination at a high school in Seoul on June 18, 2020, amid the prolonged coronavirus outbreak. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Close to half of high school seniors in South Korea sleep less than six hours every day, a government report showed Tuesday.
The Ministry of Education conducted a survey of health examinations taken by 93,970 students from 1,023 elementary, middle, and high schools, which showed that only 3.1 percent of elementary school students slept less than six hours each day.
The proportion, however, jumped to 9.5 percent among first graders at middle schools, 16.1 percent among second graders and 22.9 percent among third graders.
The proportion soared to 40.4 percent among high school freshmen, 44.4 percent among sophomores and 50.5 percent among seniors.
Among female high school students, 51.6 percent averaged less than six hours of sleep every night last year, which was 12.5 percentage points higher than their male counterparts.
At middle schools, 20.4 percent of female students slept less than six hours, 8.4 percentage points higher than male students.
At elementary schools, more boys slept less than six hours (3.3 percent) than girls (3 percent).
Last year’s report from the National Youth Policy Institute showed that 52.4 percent of all student respondents lack sleep, primarily due to schoolwork (47.4 percent).
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
