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Number of elementary school students at lowest-ever level
http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/



Declining birth rates brought the population of elementary schoolchildren to its lowest-ever since the Education Ministry began collating annual statistics in 1962. Having hit a record low each year since 2005, the number of elementary schoolchildren stands at about 64 percent of its peak figure in 1970.

About 3.67 million students were enrolled in elementary schools across the country as of April, nearly 158,000 less than last year.

The number of elementary schools, however, increased by 57 to 5,813. There are now 21.3 students per elementary school teacher.

A variety of factors, including a lack of social support for working women who raise children, are cited as reasons for Korea`s low birthrate.

A total of 496,700 babies were born here last year, less than half of the million babies born in 1970.

Korea`s total fertility rate, or the mean number of children a woman bears during her child-bearing years, dwindled to below that of Japan, France, Italy, the United States and Britain.

Another record-breaking statistic released yesterday was the percentage of high school graduates that went on to college.

Almost 84 percent of high school graduates went to college in Korea last year, way above the 50-something percent of most other OECD countries.

The percentage has continued to rise from 26.9 percent in 1970 thanks to an increasing number of higher education institutes and a growing demand for college education.

Despite the high percentage of college students, critics note that the competitiveness of Korean universities still lags behind internationally. Also, a growing percentage of highly educated people remain jobless.

Even graduates of professional high schools, where students learn practical job skills, mostly choose to go to college rather than get a job. Seventy-three percent of professional high school graduates had enrolled in university this year.

The percentage of students leaving and coming into the country is also on the rise.

The share of non-Korean students enrolled in Korean colleges went over 1 percent for the first time.

A total of 40,585 foreign students were enrolled at local colleges, accounting for 1.14 percent of total students on the rolls. A whopping 72 percent of them were from China, followed by Vietnam (3.6 percent), Mongolia (3 percent) and Japan (2.5 percent).


Only about a thousand students (2.6 percent) were from the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia or Britain. (G8 countries not including Japan)

The percentage of high school graduates going to study abroad has also risen from 0.19 percent in 2006 to 0.31 percent this year.

The population pyramid for teachers is also changing, thanks to the planned restructuring of the pension system.

An increasing number of public school teachers are choosing to quit before retirement age because they believe the expected changes in the pension system will result in reduced financial benefits.

The number of public school teachers who quit in the year ending April 1 surpassed the number of those who reached retirement age for the first time.

In elementary schools, 2,115 quit their teaching jobs for good, double the figure of teachers who retired because they turned 65.

By Kim So-hyun

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2008.09.04