Student exodus abroad rises 40%

Despite the government's turnaround last month that rescinded its earlier support for allowing eligibility for all students to study abroad and limiting the eligibility to those above middle school level, the number of students leaving Korea to find a better study environment has not been decreasing.

According to the Seoul Department of Education, as of August the number of students who have quit middle and high schools for reasons of studying abroad or emigration stood at 1,925, which is an increase of 40% from the same period last year of 1,379.

Among the 1,925 students, 1,146 of them were middle school students, an increase of 37.6% from last year's 833 students.

ecolee@donga.com