전체 학생 3.4% 줄었지만 이주배경 학생은 4.3% 늘어…초등학생 20명 중 1명꼴

Student Numbers Fall 3.4% but Students with Migrant Backgrounds Rise 4.3%, About One in 20 in Primary School

Part of the August 31, 2026 daily edition

교육부와 한국교육개발원이 8월 26일 발표한 ’2026년 교육기본통계’에 따르면, 4월 1일 기준 유치원과 초·중·고교 등의 학생 수는 536만 2281명으로 지난해보다 18만 9007명(3.4%) 줄었습니다. 반면 초·중·고교와 각종학교의 이주배경 학생은 21만 838명으로 지난해보다 8630명(4.3%) 늘었습니다. 학교급별로는 초등학교의 이주배경 학생 비율이 5.3%로 가장 높았습니다. 초등학생 약 20명 중 1명꼴입니다. 이주배경 학생 가운데는 국내에서 태어난 국제결혼가정 학생이 13만 8736명(65.8%)으로 가장 많았고, 외국인가정 학생이 5만 8562명(27.8%), 중도입국 학생이 1만 3540명(6.4%)이었습니다. 교원 1인당 학생 수는 유치원 8.5명, 초등학교 11.6명, 중학교 11.5명, 고등학교 10.0명으로, 모든 학교급에서 전년보다 줄었습니다.

Translation

According to the 2026 Basic Statistics on Education released on August 26 by the Ministry of Education and the Korean Educational Development Institute, the number of students in kindergartens and primary, middle and high schools as of April 1 was 5,362,281, down 189,007 (3.4%) from last year. By contrast, students with migrant backgrounds in primary, middle and high schools and miscellaneous schools numbered 210,838, up 8,630 (4.3%) from last year. By school level, primary schools had the highest share of students with migrant backgrounds, at 5.3%. That is roughly one in every 20 primary pupils. Among students with migrant backgrounds, those born in Korea to international-marriage families were the largest group at 138,736 (65.8%), followed by students from foreign families at 58,562 (27.8%) and students who immigrated during their school years at 13,540 (6.4%). Students per teacher were 8.5 in kindergartens, 11.6 in primary schools, 11.5 in middle schools and 10.0 in high schools, down from the previous year at every level.

Vocabulary

이주배경명사 (noun)migrant background
비율명사 (noun)ratio, share, proportion
학교급명사 (noun)school level (primary, middle, high)
국제결혼가정명사 (noun)family in which one parent is a foreign national
외국인가정명사 (noun)family in which both parents are foreign nationals
중도입국명사 (noun)immigrating part-way through one's schooling
교원명사 (noun)teaching staff, teachers (formal)
각종학교명사 (noun)miscellaneous schools (a legal category outside the regular school types)

Grammar points

반면on the other hand, by contrast

반면 (or 반면에) opens a sentence that runs the opposite way from the one before it. The first sentence says the total number of students fell; 반면 introduces the group that rose. It is the written equivalent of a spoken 그런데 or 하지만, but it is stronger about the contrast being a real opposition of directions, which makes it the natural connector for statistics that move in different ways. It can also attach to a clause as -(으)ㄴ/는 반면 (whereas).

Example: 반면 초·중·고교와 각종학교의 이주배경 학생은 21만 838명으로 지난해보다 8630명(4.3%) 늘었습니다.

By contrast, students with migrant backgrounds in primary, middle and high schools and miscellaneous schools numbered 210,838, up 8,630 (4.3%) from last year.

N 중 N꼴about one in N, at a rate of N per N

중 means among, and 꼴 after a count turns the whole phrase into a rate: 20명 중 1명꼴 is about one person in every twenty. 꼴 signals that the figure is an average, not an exact count, which is why it so often follows a percentage to make it concrete, as here where 5.3% is restated as one in twenty. It also appears with money and time: 한 달에 한 번꼴 is about once a month.

Example: 초등학생 약 20명 중 1명꼴입니다.

That is roughly one in every 20 primary pupils.

전체 학생 3.4% 줄었지만 이주배경 학생은 4.3% 늘어…초등학생 20명 중 1명꼴

Translation

Vocabulary

Grammar points

반면on the other hand, by contrast

N 중 N꼴about one in N, at a rate of N per N

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