Admissions to nursing, primary and lower secondary school teaching, social work, and pedagogy programs have declined, continuing a trend observed in recent years. The data, released on Sunday, reveals a consistent downward curve across these four major welfare education fields.

Specifically, nursing programs experienced the most significant drop, with an eight percent decrease in admissions compared to last year. This year, 3099 students were admitted, 269 fewer than the previous year. This represents a substantial decline from the 4112 admissions recorded four years prior. A sharp decrease occurred between 2021 and 2022, followed by a period of stabilization before the recent drop.

Admissions to primary and lower secondary school teacher education also saw a decrease, with a three percent reduction. This year, 2046 individuals were admitted, 63 fewer than last year, continuing a decline from the 2556 admissions in 2021.

Similarly, social work programs experienced a three percent drop in admissions, with 2040 students admitted this year compared to 2103 last year. Since 2021, social work education has seen the smallest percentage decrease among the four major welfare education programs, with 2226 admissions four years ago.

Finally, pedagogy programs saw a one percent decrease in admissions, with 3612 students admitted this year, 33 fewer than last year. However, admissions to the program have significantly declined since 2021, when 4781 students were admitted. After a steep drop in subsequent years, the downward curve has begun to level off slightly.