No. of primary, secondary students studying abroad falls

The number of primary and secondary school students studying abroad declined by a record margin in 2009, showing falling interest in overseas study.

According to the Korean Educational Development Institute, 18,118 Koreans ranging from elementary to high school students studied abroad between March 2009 and February last year, down 9,231 (33.7 percent) from 27,349 in 2008.

The number of elementary school students saw the biggest fall with 4,162, while that of middle school students fell by 3,165 and that of high school students 1,904.

By region, 6,478 students in Seoul went abroad to study in 2009, down from 9,462 in 2008, and those in Gyeonggi Province decreased from 9,753 to 5,953.

The most popular country for the students to study in was the U.S. with 31.9 percent, followed by Southeast Asian countries with 21.9 percent, Canada 14.6 percent and China 8.1 percent.

The number of primary and secondary school students going abroad started to surge from 2000 and peaked at 29,511 in 2006. The figure, however, decreased to 27,668 in 2007 and has since declined for three consecutive years.

On the reason for the drop, experts say demand for overseas study is declining. Yet others say this is just a temporary phenomenon driven by the economic slowdown.