The number of kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school students in South Korea has decreased by about 170-thousand in the past year.
 
According to data by the Education Ministry and the Korean Education Development Institute on Thursday, the number of students at  the schools came to six-point-46 million, down 167-thousand or two-point-five percent, from a year earlier.
 
The number of middle school students dropped five-point-two percent, while that of high school students fell four-point-seven percent.
 
However, the number of students with multicultural family backgrounds jumped ten-point-three percent on-year to 109-thousand, accounting for one-point-nine percent of the total.
 
The number of students per teacher was 14-point-five at elementary schools, 12-point-seven at middle schools and 12-point-four at high schools, all decreasing from a year ago.