By Jhoo Dong-chan
The number of students from interracial families has jumped more than 20 percent in a year, the Ministry of Education said, Thursday.
According to the ministry's data as of April, there were 82,536 students at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools who had parents of different races. This was an increase of 21.7 percent, or 14,730 people, from a year ago.
This number accounts for 1.2 percent of the nation's total number of students in primary and secondary education.
The amount of elementary schoolchildren from interracial families was 2.2 percent of the total, surpassing 2 percent for the first time. Such students took up 0.9 percent and 0.5 percent of the total number of middle and high school students, respectively.
Of the students, 20.9 percent had parents from Vietnam, followed by China, 20.8 percent, Japan, 15.9 percent, and the Philippines, 13.5 percent.
The number of foreign students here also exceeded 90,000 for the first time, standing at 91,332.
The figure peaked at 89,537 in 2011 and gradually decreased to 84,891 last year, but rebounded this year.
"We believe the rebound resulted from colleges' active promotion in attracting foreign students as well as improved conditions for foreign students' residence," a ministry official said.
This goes against overall trends, where the total number of students has been decreasing, mainly because of the falling birthrate.
The number of students in preschools, elementary, middle, and high schools was 6.8 million this year, a 2.4 percent drop from last year.
Middle schools experienced the largest decline, 7.7 percent.
Colleges and universities had about 3.6 million students, a 1.7 percent decrease.
This represents the first time the number of students at four-year universities has declined. "It is a result of universities' reducing admissions amid the decrease in the school-age population," the official said.
The number of students from interracial families has jumped more than 20 percent in a year, the Ministry of Education said, Thursday.
According to the ministry's data as of April, there were 82,536 students at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools who had parents of different races. This was an increase of 21.7 percent, or 14,730 people, from a year ago.
This number accounts for 1.2 percent of the nation's total number of students in primary and secondary education.
The amount of elementary schoolchildren from interracial families was 2.2 percent of the total, surpassing 2 percent for the first time. Such students took up 0.9 percent and 0.5 percent of the total number of middle and high school students, respectively.
Of the students, 20.9 percent had parents from Vietnam, followed by China, 20.8 percent, Japan, 15.9 percent, and the Philippines, 13.5 percent.
The number of foreign students here also exceeded 90,000 for the first time, standing at 91,332.
The figure peaked at 89,537 in 2011 and gradually decreased to 84,891 last year, but rebounded this year.
"We believe the rebound resulted from colleges' active promotion in attracting foreign students as well as improved conditions for foreign students' residence," a ministry official said.
This goes against overall trends, where the total number of students has been decreasing, mainly because of the falling birthrate.
The number of students in preschools, elementary, middle, and high schools was 6.8 million this year, a 2.4 percent drop from last year.
Middle schools experienced the largest decline, 7.7 percent.
Colleges and universities had about 3.6 million students, a 1.7 percent decrease.
This represents the first time the number of students at four-year universities has declined. "It is a result of universities' reducing admissions amid the decrease in the school-age population," the official said.
