The government will prepare legal grounds to reduce the density of schools where the proportion of students with immigrant backgrounds (multicultural students) exceeds 30%. It also plans to strengthen customized educational support such as Korean language education and psychological and emotional counseling for immigrant background students.
The Ministry of Education held the first social relations ministerial meeting of 2025 at the Government Seoul Building on the 11th and deliberated and announced the plan for customized educational support for immigrant background students.
Immigrant background students refer to students whose parents or they themselves are foreign nationals. This also includes students who have had foreign nationality in the past. As of last year, there were 193,814 immigrant background students, accounting for 3.72% of all students. This is about a threefold increase compared to 67,806 in 2014 (1.07%).
In response, the government will first prepare legislation to enhance the educational capacity of schools in areas with a high concentration of immigrant background students. This aims to alleviate density when immigrant background students are excessively concentrated in specific schools, allowing local education offices to reduce density according to local conditions. It will adjust the standards for new students by school or encourage voluntary transfers.
Plans are in place to add teachers and increase support personnel at dense schools. Additionally, support will be strengthened by linking local finances and infrastructure.
Schools eligible for this support have more than 100 students, with over 30% being immigrant background students. Last year, there were 100 schools meeting this criterion, located in areas such as Ansan and Siheung in Gyeonggi Province, Guro and Yeongdeungpo in Seoul, Asan in South Chungcheong Province, and Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province.
The government also plans to provide customized education for each immigrant background student. For children of international marriage families born in Korea, a "student personalized integrated support system" will be provided. The aim is to identify challenges that students face early and offer situation-specific customized support in collaboration with the community. For students from foreign families who entered midway or are foreign nationals, initial Korean language education and psychological and emotional support will be strengthened.
Support for immigrant background students, which has primarily focused on elementary schools, will be expanded to middle and high schools. The installation of Korean language classes in middle and high schools will be increased, and materials for residence qualifications, career guidance, and academic path will be developed. The Ministry of Education will work with the Ministry of Justice to improve the visa system, allowing graduates to settle and find employment.
At the meeting, the Ministry of Education also announced a plan for promoting "digital competency education for all." This focuses on supporting everyone from infants to adults to acquire digital competencies.
However, considering the developmental characteristics of infants, the use of digital content is not recommended for those under 2 years old. For ages 2 to 5, the use of digital devices will be made possible with parent-child interaction.