Original article in Korean is at this link.

Since the passage of the Law on Special Education for the Disabled (장애인 특수교육법) in 2008, the number of students requiring special education has increased 25% from before its passage, a study has found.

With the number of people legally recognized as disabled increasing, opinions about them are changing with it being increasingly thought that education for them should be mandatory.

Statistics published by the Korea National Institute for Special Education (국립특수교육원) on the 6th show that in 2011, of the school-age population of 8,5503,772, 0.97%, or 82,665, received special education.

That represents an increase of 25.4%, or 16,725 more students receiving special education than did so in 2007.

The figures were 71,484 in 2008, 75,187 in 2009, and 79,711 in 2010.

There were eight categories of legal disabilities (visual, aural, emotional, learning, language, health, mental, and physical) in 2007 and ten since the passage of the new law in 2008.

The age range for mandatory education was expanded in 2009 from elementary and middle school to include all students aged 5 through high schol, expanded again in 2011 to include age 5, and will expand again this year to include age 3.

Last year 155 schools offered special education in 12,257 classes, and the number of disabled children receiving dependency allowances increased 23.8%.

Of the 2,375 institutions for the disabled, 37%, or 879, offer a total of 3,812 regular education programs for the disabled.