Jeonnam High School 1st Graders, Middle School 2nd Graders, and Elementary School 3rd-4th Graders, About 60,000 More Attend School for 3 Additional Days

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Jun-kyung] The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education announced on the 2nd that, in accordance with the government's phased school reopening policy by grade, an additional 60,000 students from 1st-year high school, 2nd-year middle school, and 3rd to 4th grades of elementary school will return to school.

Following the reopening on the 20th and 27th of last month, the students newly returning to school from the 3rd include ▲1st-year high school students (12,610 students from 127 schools) ▲2nd-year middle school students (13,880 students from 130 schools) ▲3rd to 4th-grade elementary students (29,331 students from 428 schools) ▲and 546 students from special schools, totaling 59,857 students.

A total of 163,739 students, accounting for 79.1% of all students in Jeonnam Province (206,943 students), will attend in-person classes. When 1st-year middle school and 5th to 6th-grade elementary students return on the 8th, all schools will have completed reopening for in-person classes.

As the number of students attending in-person classes increases, the Office of Education has prepared multifaceted measures to minimize student density and contact, aiming to protect children from the risk of COVID-19 infection. They also plan to implement detailed measures to disperse students in oversized schools and overcrowded classes to alleviate density.

Accordingly, for elementary schools with more than 900 students, priority will be given to 1st and 2nd graders attending school first, while 3rd to 6th graders will attend on alternating days or weeks. Even after all students return on the 8th, the number of students attending in-person classes will be kept below two-thirds of the total student body.

At Gwangyang Madong Elementary School, which has 1,037 students, 3rd to 6th graders will be divided into odd and even classes, alternating between in-person and remote classes daily. Suncheon Shindae Elementary School, with 1,257 students, will split 3rd to 4th graders and 5th to 6th graders into morning and afternoon sessions, combining in-person and remote classes.

For middle and high schools, in schools where regional infection concerns are spreading, the number of students attending in-person classes will not exceed two-thirds. 3rd-year students will attend daily, while 1st and 2nd-year students will alternate between in-person and remote classes weekly, with operational methods varying according to school conditions to minimize density.

At Jeonnam Arts High School, which has overcrowded classes with more than 30 students per class, 1st and 2nd-year students will attend on alternating weeks with cross-class instruction, and 3rd-year students attending daily will be dispersed using special classrooms.

Support measures for students at eight special schools in the province have also been prepared. The Office of Education plans to invest approximately 144 million KRW to increase the number of school buses to ensure distancing inside vehicles and will provide support such as meal guidance assistants and safety personnel.

Even after reopening, to further reduce density, care will be provided, including remote learning support, for elementary students who do not attend school but require essential care.

In particular, joint efforts with related organizations will strengthen guidance to prevent students from entering high-risk multi-use facilities such as coin karaoke rooms and PC bangs, and psychological support for students attending in-person classes will also be provided.

Superintendent Jang Seok-woong stated, “As the number of students attending school increases, the risk of COVID-19 infection also rises accordingly. The Office of Education and schools must devise various measures to minimize student density and maintain vigilance so that the hard-won reopening of schools does not go to waste.”

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