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Students at an elementary school in Seoul learn how to wash their hands. (Hankyoreh archives)

South Korea’s average of 23.1 elementary school students per class remains higher than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average of 21.1, a study shows. While its ratio of public education spending to gross domestic product (GDP) was higher than the OECD average at 5%, government investment in higher education was found to still be lacking.

On Sept. 8, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) published an analysis of major OECD education indicators for 2020. The findings showed averages of 23.1 students per class in elementary schools and 26.7 per class in middle schools as of 2018 -- both higher than the respective OECD averages of 21.1 and 23.3. While the rate has been declining since 2008 (30 students), it still exceeds the OECD average. The number of students per class is also notable as one of the conditions allowing in-person classes to continue amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The average numbers of elementary and middle school per teacher also exceeded the OECD average at 16.5 and 13.3, respectively, while the 12.2 average for high schools fell below the average.

At 5%, South Korea’s ratio of public education spending to GDP as of 2017 was at the same level as the OECD average of 4.9%. But owing to a lack of government investment, the ratio of government investment to public education spending in the area of higher education stood at 38.1% -- slightly over half the 68.2% average for the OECD.

As of 2019, the higher education completion rate for South Koreans aged 25 to 34 was 69.8%, the second highest among OECD members. The OECD average is 45%. Vocational college graduates earned 111.3% of the salary of a high school graduate as of 2018, while university graduates earned 138.7% and graduate school graduates earned 184.9%. The relative wage gap was found to have declined from the year before.

The results of the study are to be published this month on the OECD website (www.oecd.org). MOE plans to publish a translated version in December and make it available on the Korean Educational Statistics Service website (kess.kedi.re.kr).

By Choi Won-hyung, staff reporter

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