Number of children of multicultural backgrounds continues to rise in Korea: ministry

The number of children enrolled in various levels of formal education -- from kindergarten through high school -- has dropped by nearly 100,000, data showed Wednesday. Though the total number of children in Korea keeps declining, the number of children specifically from multicultural families continues to rise, accounting for 3.5 percent of all elementary, middle and high school students this year.

According to the results of the 2023 Basic Education Statistics released by the Ministry of Education on Wednesday, the number of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school students fell by nearly 100,000 on-year.

This decrease is attributed to the plummeting birth rate since 2017, resulting in a more than 5.6 percent decline in the number of kindergarteners, a 2.3 percent decrease in the number of elementary students and a 1.6 percent drop in the number of middle school students. Conversely, the number of high school students increased by 1.3 percent from the previous year.

In terms of schools, while the total number of elementary, middle and high schools increased, 121 kindergartens were shut down. An official from the Ministry of Education explained that while existing grade schools were maintained, new schools were built in new cities, leading to an overall increase in the total number of elementary, middle and high schools.

Students of multicultural backgrounds -- with one parent of Korean nationality and the other of another nationality -- reached record highs of 181,178.

The number of students of multicultural backgrounds in elementary, middle and high schools marked a 7.4 percent increase from the previous year.

The count of such children has risen consecutively for 11 years since 2012. The number of foreign students -- whose parents are both of foreign nationality -- was 181,842, also the highest ever, reflecting a 9.0 percent increase from the previous year.

Among the foreign students, the highest numbers came from China, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, followed by Japan.