The rapid rise in the number of students from multicultural families in South Korea is pushing the country’s education system and policies to their limits, revealing an urgent need for more effective integration strategies in classrooms.

Now numbering over 180,000 and accounting for 3.5% of all students — a threefold increase since 2011 — multicultural students face an education system ill-prepared to embrace diversity. Despite this growing presence, the system’s policies and practices have yet to evolve to offer inclusive and equitable educational opportunities.