In South Korea, recent data has shown an increasing trend in students facing mental health crises, including committing suicide.
On August 28, the Ministry of Education submitted data to the National Assembly’s legislative research service revealing that in 2022, out of 1,731,596 students tested, 22,237 were identified as being at risk of committing suicide, constituting 1.2% of the total students tested. Since 2012, the Ministry has conducted annual “Emotional and Behavioral Characteristics Tests” for students in the first and fourth grades of elementary school and the first grades of middle and high school, meaning each student undergoes testing once every three years.
After a decrease in students identified as at risk during the intermittent school attendance period of 2020-2021 due to COVID-19, the number began to increase again in 2022.
Recent assessments show a mixed trend in student mental health statistics. The number of students classified as high-risk fell from 22,128 (1.2%) in 2019 to 18,098 (1.0%) in 2021.
However, this number increased again, reaching 19,292 (1.1%) last year. This represents a rise in high-risk students for two consecutive years.
On the other hand, the overall number of at-risk students, including those categorized as high-risk, decreased from 4.6% (80,676 students) in 2022 to 4.4% (76,663 students) last year.
Despite this, about 20% of students identified as at-risk or high-risk did not receive assessments or treatment from professional institutions. Last year, only 81.9% of high-risk and 78.8% of at-risk students received such evaluations and treatment. This gap is mainly due to refusals from students and parents.
Additionally, the installation rate of Wee Classes, which offer counseling support in schools, has remained steady at around 74%, even as the number of students facing mental health crises increases.
The legislative research service of the National Assembly pointed out, “Efforts should be made to install Wee Classes in about 3,000 schools that currently do not have them, as part of an effort to devise mental health support strategies for all students.”
Additionally, they suggested that expanding support programs for medical treatment and therapy costs should be actively considered to enhance mental health support for students, including improving connections with professional institutions.