For the first time, fewer than 300,000 children are expected to enter first grade in Korea this year, underscoring the effects of the country’s persistently low birthrate on its education system. According to the Ministry of Education’s revised projection report, released Tuesday, an estimated 298,178 children are expected to start first grade in 2026. The ministry had earlier projected that first grade enrollment would fall below 300,000 in 2027. But officials said that recent shifts in birthrates and school attendance as well as overall population decline now make it likely that the threshold will be crossed this year. The rapid decline in the number of first graders reflects the steep drop in school-age population over the past two decades. Korean Educational Development Institute (KEDI) data shows that the number of first graders dropped below 700,000 in 2000, down from 713,500 in 1999. The figure fell even faster after 2008, plummeting from 534,816 in 2008 to 468,233 a year later. In recent years, the pace of decline has accelerated again from 401,752 in 2023 to 353,713 in 2024