[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

More than 1,200 elementary, middle and high school students were hospitalized for mental health reasons during the first semester of last year, a new survey shows — and the problem is increasingly driving long absences and grade retention.

The Korea Educational Development Institute surveyed 17 metropolitan and provincial education offices on students hospitalized during the first semester of 2025 and found that 1,268 students nationwide were admitted for mental health conditions.

The institute said the figure likely understates the true scale, as a shortage of pediatric psychiatric beds prevents some students who need inpatient care from being admitted. Because the survey covered only one semester, the annual number of hospitalized students is estimated to exceed 2,000.

By school level, middle school students accounted for the largest share at 602, followed by high school students at 569 and elementary students at 97. By region, Gyeonggi Province recorded the highest number at 266, followed by Seoul (169), South Gyeongsang Province (141), Busan (128), Daegu (97) and Incheon (87).

Students hospitalized for mental health conditions missed school for extended periods. Their average absence for the semester was 31.5 days, of which an average of 20.9 days were directly attributable to psychiatric hospitalization.

While 55.3 percent of the students (701) missed 30 days or fewer, 8.8 percent (111) were absent for more than 60 days. Under current enforcement decrees of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, students must attend at least two-thirds of annual school days to advance to the next grade, meaning those absent for more than 60 days face a high risk of being held back.

Mental health problems ranked as the leading cause of grade retention. Of the 576 students who repeated a grade during the first semester of last year, 123 — or 21.5 percent — cited mental health as the reason.

That figure surpassed all other causes, including school maladjustment (114 students), studying abroad (99) and enrollment in unlicensed alternative education facilities (60).

The institute said other causes such as school maladjustment and school refusal are also closely linked to mental health, and interpreted the data as showing that mental health problems are a direct or indirect cause of grade retention among students.


betterj@heraldcorp.com