Number of international students exceeds 100,000

By Kim Se-jeong

The number of international students at Korea’s institutions of higher learning surpassed 100,000 for the first time this year, according to statistics released Tuesday.

According to the Ministry of Education’s annual statistics, the number of international students enrolled in local universities increased to 104,262, up 14.2 percent from last year.

The statistics also found the number of students with different cultural backgrounds in grade schools is 99,186 this year, accounting for 1.7 percent of total students.

These students from multicultural families are mostly born in Korea and have at least one non-Korean parent. By the country of origin for parents, Vietnam topped the list, followed by China, Japan and the Philippines. The number of families with mixed cultural backgrounds is on the rise. The children are still young, mostly in elementary schools. Experts project the number will continue to increase.

The statistics show that schools increasingly feel the effects of the falling birthrate.

The number of elementary school students, aged 8 to 13, fell by 2.8 percent to 2.67 million this year. Middle school students, aged 14 to 16, also hit a new low at 1.45 million and high school students stood at 1.75 million.

The decrease in student numbers shrank class sizes. An elementary school classroom now has 22.4 students on average, while middle school classes are at 27.4 and high school classes at 29.3 students.

The number of students per teacher also decreased. For elementary schools, it is 14.6 students per teacher this year. At middle and high schools, the numbers were 13.3 and 12.9 students per teacher.

The low birthrate is a growing threat to Korea whose economic growth has depended on manpower. The government is considering accepting more immigrants as one long-term strategy. It is also offering a variety of financial and welfare benefits to couples, but these measures receive more jeers than support from experts and the public.