The Jeollabuk-do Office of Education will reduce the standard number of students per class for elementary and middle schools for the 2026 academic year. For elementary schools, the standard number of students per class will be reduced by 2 per district, and for middle schools, a reduction standard of 2-3 students will be applied, taking into account regional conditions. Reflecting the trend of decreasing student numbers, elementary schools within development zones will further lower the standard number of students per class this year.

The criteria for organizing composite classes have also been adjusted. The previous standard of '5 students or fewer in one grade, 9 students or fewer in two grades' has been lowered to '(adjacent grades) 3 students or fewer in one grade, 5 students or fewer in two grades' to address the increasing trend of composite classes in small schools.

Jeollabuk-do already has the lowest number of students per class in the country. According to KOSIS (Education Basic Statistics), the 'number of students per class' in 2025 was lowest in Jeollanam-do with 17.0 students, followed by Jeollabuk-do with 17.7 students, and Gangwon with 17.8 students, while the metropolitan area had relatively higher numbers with Gyeonggi at 22.5 students, Seoul at 21.7 students, and Incheon at 22.0 students (national average of 20.9 students).

If the reduction criteria of Jeollabuk-do Office of Education are applied, the number of students per class in non-metropolitan areas with a 'small-scale and dispersed' structure is likely to decrease even further.

According to data from the National Data Center, the number of births in Jeollabuk-do decreased from 8,971 in 2019 to 8,165 in 2020, and continued to decline to 7,475 in 2021, 7,032 in 2022, and 6,622 in 2023. The number of births in 2023 decreased by approximately 26% compared to 2019.

If we simply correlate this number of births with the 'year of birth + 7 years = year of elementary school enrollment' (excluding variables such as migration, early or delayed enrollment), the estimated number of elementary school entrants in Jeollabuk-do for the years ahead are as follows: 2026 academic year: 8,971 (2019 births), 2027 academic year: 8,165 (2020 births), 2028 academic year: 7,475 (2021 births), 2029 academic year: 7,032 (2022 births), 2030 academic year: 6,622 (2023 births).

In a situation where the decrease in new students continues, lowering the upper limit of class formation standards by 2-3 students can lead to the relative maintenance or increase of the number of classes with the same number of students. As the teaching staff quota is reduced annually (according to the Office of Education), discussions on maintaining small schools, rotating and concurrent teacher assignments, and consolidation or joint operation of schools may increase at the regional and school levels. Particularly, as the standard for composite classes has been lowered, the direction of reducing composite classes in small schools (to ensure the right to education) may be strengthened, but the precise design of resources, schedules, and subject operations to support this will be a key issue in the future.