South Korea’s Educational Crisis Amid Declining Birth Rates

This week, South Korea’s Ministry of Education disclosed that over 4,000 schools have shuttered across the nation from 1980 to March 2025. This substantial number of closures directly relates to the swift decline in the child population observed in recent decades.

During the same timeframe, school enrollment dropped by nearly 5 million. A report indicated a clear connection between these school closures and South Korea’s position as the country with the lowest birth rate globally. It’s kind of alarming, really.

Most of the closures have been elementary schools—3,674, to be exact—while 264 middle schools and 70 high schools also closed. Notably, in just the last five years, 158 schools have closed, with another 107 expected to shut down in the next five years.

Experts, affiliated with the South Korean government, predict that this trend will persist. By the end of the decade, more than 800,000 fewer students are expected to be enrolled.

The Ministry of Education identified the drastic decline in birth rates as the primary cause for the shrinking school system.

On another note, education officials recently pointed out that the remaining students face challenges staying in school, particularly amid rising mental health crises and an alarming number of suicides. A report revealed that there were 221 teenage suicides in 2024, a significant increase from previous years, particularly in the greater Seoul area. The current administration is treating this as an urgent situation, planning to hire more mental health professionals in schools by 2030 and extend around-the-clock counseling services.

Reports have been surfacing since 2023 that the availability of pediatric services in the country is dwindling. As birth rates fall, medical students appear increasingly hesitant to pursue pediatrics due to financial worries. It’s noteworthy that pediatricians earn less compared to their counterparts in other medical fields, and many worry about having an insufficient patient base.

This downward trend in pediatric care has raised alarms, particularly following two shocking incidents in 2023 involving children who were refused treatment at multiple hospitals. In one case, a 17-year-old girl tragically died after being turned away by four hospitals. In another, a 5-year-old boy died of respiratory issues after being rejected by four hospitals before receiving care at a fifth.

Such incidents have compounded parental anxieties regarding healthcare options for future children, further discouraging them from starting families. In fact, South Korea noted its first population decline in 2020, with a decrease of 20,838 people compared to 2019. The fertility rate then stood at 0.92, significantly lower than the 2.1 birth rate considered necessary for population stability.

As of April 2025, the birth rate hit a record low of 0.79. However, some good news arrived in June when Statistics Korea announced an 8.7% increase in births from April 2024 to April 2025. This uptick followed aggressive policies from the previous government aimed at encouraging family growth, though the former president faced impeachment for trying to impose martial law in December 2024.

Statistics Korea attributed the rise in births to a combination of increased marriages, a growing number of women in their early 30s, and various government initiatives designed to support families.

In an effort to bolster birth rates, the South Korean government has been introducing incentives for couples to have children. Yet, there’s a growing societal trend where “kids-free zones” are appearing—places like cafes, restaurants, and even some formerly child-friendly areas such as museums, where children are now discouraged or outright banned.

This situation aligns with a broader global concern; many nations, including South Korea, are grappling with projected population declines due to falling birth rates. The United Nations Population Fund recently warned in its annual report about a “fertility crisis” stemming from an environment that makes raising children increasingly difficult for couples.

In essence, while it’s often assumed that people choose whether or not to have children based on desire or ability, the reality is much more complex.