High-school enrollment plummets with birthrate
By Rachel Lin and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer
High-school enrollment has plummeted by nearly 200,000 students over the past nine years amid a falling birthrate, threatening to close more than 100 private schools over the next five years, Ministry of Education data showed.
The number of high-school students last year was 609,745, compared with 809,188 in 2011, data showed.
The ministry said that the figure is likely to fall even further to 553,000 by 2026.
Despite this decline, the number of schools during the nine-year period increased from 491 to 513, leading to record-low average enrollment.
Public schools enrolled 22.8 percent fewer students over the period, from 1,616 to 1,248 per school.