The government vowed to gradually reduce the maximum number of students in high school classrooms to improve education quality and prepare for the declining population of students, officials said Monday.

The Education Ministry said it would cut the number of students per classroom at high schools to 24 -- the average of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member countries -- by 2022. Korea’s current average is 30 students per classroom, as of last year.

The ministry said it would also seek to lower the number of students per teacher from 16.6 to 13.3.

This is part of the government’s measures to improve the educational quality of high schools while preparing for a decreasing number of students nationwide.

The ministry estimated that the number of high school students would fall by more than 100,000 to some 460,000 in two years. As of this year, about 596,000 students attend high schools across the country, the education authorities said.

It stressed that smaller classroom sizes would allow for more class participation and student-driven curriculums.

The ministry said that 2022 will be the right time to reduce classroom sizes, as first-year students of high school in 2022 will be those who have benefitted from the “exam-free semester” scheme for middle schools -- a special semester that allows students to explore their career interests and freely study without exam burdens.

Starting from April 2013, the ministry initiated the exam-free semester at dozens of middle schools as a pilot project, then officially introduced the system to all middle schools this year.

By Lee Hyun-jeong  (rene@heraldcorp.com)