Seoul Elementary, Middle, and High Schools to Remove Recommended Volunteer Hours This Year

by Lee Hyeonjoo

Published 07 Jun.2020 09:00(KST)

Not Reflected in High School Entrance Exams Either

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, is announcing the plan for operating in-person classes on the 18th at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education in Jongno-gu, Seoul. This plan, which includes the Ministry of Education's phased and sequential in-person class announcement according to social distancing in daily life and the detailed implementation measures of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stipulates that for 3rd-year high school students, attending school daily is the principle, while 1st and 2nd-year students will operate on a biweekly basis by grade and class, combining remote and in-person classes. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] This year, the recommended volunteer hours for elementary, middle, and high school students in Seoul will be temporarily removed.

The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education announced on the 7th that it will eliminate the recommended volunteer hours based on individual plans due to the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The recommended volunteer hours for students are calculated by combining volunteer hours based on school plans and those based on individual plans.

The Office of Education explained, "Despite the first reduction of recommended volunteer hours announced in April, face-to-face volunteer activities could not be held, leading to this decision."

The previously changed recommended volunteer hours were at least 3 hours for grades 1-3 in elementary school, 7 hours for grades 4-6, 10 hours for middle school, and 15 hours for high school.

The recommended volunteer hours by school level can also be autonomously decided by the school principal. The volunteer hours determined by the school refer to activities organized as volunteer hours within creative experiential activities.