By Bahk Eun-ji
The ministry of Education (MOE) ordered all kindergartens, and elementary, middle and high schools to delay the start of their new school year with the spring semester by two more weeks, Tuesday, amid lingering concerns over the spread of COVID-19. The spring semester is now scheduled to begin April 6 as the ministry previously ordered schools to postpone its start by three weeks.
The move comes amid lingering concerns over the highly contagious coronavirus spreading among young children, who have more vulnerable immune systems, especially in schools where many of them come into close contact with each other.
The government has reported two-digit increases in new infections per day since Sunday after nearly three weeks of registering more than 100 confirmed cases daily, but the government is still on high alert for smaller infection clusters nationwide. There were 8,320 COVID-19 infections in Korea as of Monday, with 81 fatalities.
“The education ministry has been paying close attention to the number of infections of people under the age of 18. After close consultation with the health authorities, we decided to delay schools from reopening by two more weeks to prevent them from becoming possible hotbeds for COVID-19,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a press briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), a 352 adolescents and children under the age of 18 had contracted COVID-19 as of Monday. Among them 56 have recovered, while 296 are under quarantine with no deaths reported so far.
The education ministry said it will rearrange the academic calendars and curricula for the education sector in order to minimize confusion following the delayed spring semester.
Under the current Education Law, the number of days which elementary, middle and high schools should be open, is set at 190, but this will be cut to 171 due to the ministry’s order to delay schools from opening.
The MOE said, however, it has not yet decided whether to postpone the national college entrance exam, one of the most important tests for high school students here. The exam takes place in early November. The ministry said it will decide whether the exam date will be rearranged or not at the end of next week.
Daycare centers for children, providing care for toddlers and children up to 7 years old, will also be closed for another two weeks, the health ministry said. Following the measure, emergency care services for preschool and elementary-age children of working parents has been put in place.
The number of students at elementary, middle and high schools was around 5.4 million as of last year.
