Start of 3rd Phase School Attendance for Elementary, Middle, and High Schools... Formal Submission of Self-Diagnosis and Introduction of QR Codes "Not Sure"

1.78 Million Students Nationwide Scheduled to Attend School

Over 500 Schools Postpone Start Dates Due to Cluster Infections in Bucheon, Incheon

Ministry of Education Focuses on Academy Quarantine Measures and Reviews QR Code Implementation

As sporadic cases of the novel coronavirus infection continue to occur, starting today, 1st-year high school students, 2nd-year middle school students, and 3rd to 4th-grade elementary school students have additionally begun their commute to school. On the 3rd, students are seen heading to school at Wolgok Elementary School in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 3rd, 1.78 million students in 3rd and 4th grades of elementary school, 2nd grade of middle school, and 1st grade of high school started attending school. This is the third phase of returning to school, following the start with 3rd-year high school students last month. The final fourth phase of returning to school will take place on the 8th. By this date, 77% of the 5,944,310 students nationwide in kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools have begun in-person classes.

However, challenges remain. In the metropolitan area, except for high schools, the number of students attending school per day in kindergartens and elementary and middle schools must not exceed one-third of the total. Schools are implementing various attendance methods, such as having 1st and 4th grades, 2nd and 5th grades, and 3rd and 6th grades attend on different days, or having classes 1 through 5 of each grade attend on different days. As over 70% of students return to school sequentially, there are cases where parents formally respond to the health self-diagnosis conducted before attending school on behalf of their children. Since health checks are supposed to be conducted starting one week before the return to school, students preparing to attend on the 8th are experiencing login and access difficulties.

More than 500 schools have postponed their return dates. Due to cluster infections at the Coupang logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, and the Pioneer Church in Incheon, 493 kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools in those areas postponed their return dates as of the 2nd. Including 27 schools in Seoul, all but three of the 534 schools nationwide that postponed their return dates are located in the metropolitan area. The Ministry of Education reports no secondary infections within schools after reopening and is focusing on quarantine measures for private academies. They are considering applying QR codes, which have been introduced in multi-use facilities such as karaoke rooms and PC rooms, to private academies as well. Whether their use will be mandatory will be decided through practical consultations with the Central Disease Control Headquarters.

Opinions in the private academy sector are divided between those who view it positively for facilitating movement tracking and those who see it as an unnecessary system. They argue that multi-use facilities visited by unspecified many people differ from private academies, which already hold student information. Private academies have been maintaining student entry logs for over three months.

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