Classes to Open for Gifted Students
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Primary and secondary schools in Seoul will have at least one classroom for gifted students by 2012.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to select distinguished students at elementary and middle schools and run special programs for the gifted.
Currently, gifted students are selected through tests for whom 287 classes have opened, but not all schools have the option. However, they will set up at least one class per school for talented students by the target year.
``We will pick up to a maximum of 20 students who have talents in math and sciences for special education,'' said Hong Deok-pyo, supervisor of the education office.
``We will increase the number of gifted student places up to 13,900, which will account for 1 percent of the total number of Seoul students,'' Hong added.
On concerns the plan might trigger competition among parents to make their children eligible for the special classes, the education office declined to comment. The authorities will also create curricula for gifted students and distribute them to each school.
Meanwhile, the average number of primary school children per class stood at 29.2 as of April, the lowest figure since 1970 when the government started to collect statistics, according to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.
However, the numbers are still higher than the OECD average figure, 21.5 for elementary students, 24.1 for secondary students.
Falling birthrate and an increasing number of new elementary schools are driving down the figure, the official said. ``About 100 elementary schools have opened every year across the country and the number of children continue to decrease due to the falling birthrate. We see the trend continuing for next several years,'' said Chung Byung-geol, the ministry official.