The number of primary and secondary schoolchildren going abroad for their studies has dropped for the second year running, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Thursday.

The number of outbound schoolchildren between March 2008 and February 2009 stood at 27,349, down 319 or 1.2 percent from 2007. In 2007, their number decreased by 1,843 or 6.2 percent. 

That is still many times the number in 1998, which was a mere 1,562. It exceeded the 10,000 mark in 2002 for the first time and reached a peak of 29,511 in 2006.

The main reasons for the decline are the weak won and abating enthusiasm for early schooling abroad, the ministry speculates.

The won weakened nearly 40 percent from W900-1,000 against the greenback in the first half of 2007 to W1,388 on average between December 2007 and February 2008, a period when parents had to decide whether to send their children overseas for studies for 2008.

Parents are also becoming disaffected. A staffer with an agency arranging studies abroad said, "There have been media reports about problems with early overseas schooling, including children getting homesick or becoming confused about their national identity. Many parents have become disillusioned to see celebrities unsuccessfully send their children overseas."

The director of another agency arranging studies abroad said, "The decline in early schooling isn't a temporary phenomenon but a growing trend. Parents who used to be inordinately enthusiastic about early schooling abroad have come to their senses. "The government's efforts also help as it has come up with various measures to meet demand for early international schooling," including the global university complex being built in Songdo, Incheon.

Lee Kyung-nam, a ministry official in charge of overseas education policy, said disillusionment was in fact "the biggest reason."