Governor Lee Jae-myung and Superintendent Lee Jae-jung "Urgent Need for Academy Closures"... Closure Rate Only 30%

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, and Lee Jae-jung, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, actively urged academies in the province to cooperate with temporary closures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

On the 6th, Governor Lee and Superintendent Lee held a joint press conference at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Suwon and stated, "Along with kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, academies must also close temporarily to protect students' safety from COVID-19."

The government postponed the start of the school year for kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools by one week on the 23rd of last month, and on the 2nd of this month, decided to postpone it further by two weeks. However, among the total 33,091 academies and private tutoring centers in the province, only 9,932 had closed as of the 4th, resulting in a closure rate of 30%. This means that 23,159 academies and tutoring centers, accounting for 70% of the total, are still operating.

Governor Lee expressed concern, saying, "The extraordinary measure of postponing the school opening could become ineffective," and added, "Gyeonggi Province has more than a quarter of the nation's students and about 33,000 academies and tutoring centers, so the risk of COVID-19 infection and spread is very high."

He continued, "With over 120 confirmed cases in the province and more than 6,000 nationwide, this is a critical moment to prevent the spread of COVID-19," emphasizing, "To overcome this crisis wisely, the active cooperation of academy stakeholders is urgently needed."

Governor Lee strongly urged, "We fully understand the difficult circumstances, but we strongly recommend active participation in temporary closures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and protect students' safety," adding, "That is the way to prevent greater damage and ensure the well-being of the community."

Lee Jae-jung, Superintendent of Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education, said, "Due to the unprecedented postponement of school openings and academy closures, we understand that concerns and difficulties regarding child care, learning gaps, and child health management are significant," and announced emergency child care measures by Gyeonggi Province and the Office of Education.

The Gyeonggi Office of Education is supporting students to use online learning platforms through each school's website.

Additionally, the province and the Office of Education are providing emergency child care through kindergartens, daycare centers, elementary schools, Dahamkke Care Centers, and local children's centers within the province. Gyeonggi Province is conducting child care community and care-type small library projects, and for families with children under 12 years old who have difficulty with facility care and childcare, a visiting child care service is also provided.

In particular, the province and the Office of Education plan to extend the elementary after-school care classrooms, currently operating until 5 p.m., until 7 p.m. and support lunch and dinner expenses. They also plan to strengthen disinfection measures at care facilities.

Superintendent Lee requested, "For kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools to open on the 23rd and for students to regain their daily lives, active cooperation from parents is necessary," and asked, "Please actively guide your children to refrain from using multi-use facilities such as academies, tutoring centers, PC rooms, karaoke rooms, and study rooms where 'social distancing' is difficult."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.