Lee Hae-rin is a City Desk reporter at The Korea Times, covering social issues, tourism and taekwondo. She is passionate about speaking up for the rights of minorities, including women, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities and animals as well as discovering the latest makgeolli trend in town. Feel free to reach her at lhr@koreatimes.co.kr.
Number of students from multicultural backgrounds triples over 9 years
In this file photo, students from multicultural backgrounds learn the language and culture of their parents' countries at an elementary school in Songpa District, Seoul. Korea Times files
By Lee Hae-rin
By Lee Hae-rin
The number of students from multicultural backgrounds grew three times over the last nine years to 160,000.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Education, Wednesday, the number of minors from multicultural backgrounds who are enrolled in elementary, middle, and high school increased from 46,954 in 2012 to 160,058 this year.
In contrast, the country's low birthrate led the total number of students to drop by 21 percent from 6.72 million to 5.32 million and increased the proportion of multicultural students from 0.7 percent to 3.0 percent.
In elementary schools, the percentage of those from multicultural families grew from 1.1 percent in 2012 to 4.2 percent, while increasing five times to 2.5 percent in middle schools. In high schools, the figure went up from 0.2 percent to 1.1 percent, surpassing 1 percent for the first time.
Despite their growing number, students from such backgrounds have benefited less from the country's multicultural family policies, the ministry said.
According to the gender ministry's 2018 report, teenagers from multicultural backgrounds are susceptible to fewer educational opportunities than other students, discrimination in school, peer relationships and language barriers.
Also, the ministry reported that 8.2 percent of multicultural children have experienced violence in school. The figure is greater than last year's average of 1.1 percent among total students from the education ministry's report.
The country needs more support for married immigrants who lack an understanding of the Korean educational system and social networks to guide their children's learning, the ministry said.
In response, Vice Minister of Gender Equality and Family Kim Kyung-sun visited family centers in North Gyeongsang and Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Those centers run projects to support multicultural schoolchildren to discuss ways of improvement.
“The ministry will continue to listen to the needs of the students from multicultural backgrounds and fully support their growth,” Kim said.