Ministry of Education and KDCA: "Adjust Density in Schools in Daejeon, Gwangju, and Jeonju if Necessary"

On the 8th, when the fourth phase of in-person classes for first-year middle school students and fifth- and sixth-grade elementary students began, first-year students were heading to school at a middle school in Seoul. According to the Ministry of Education, 1.35 million first-year middle school and fifth- and sixth-grade elementary students attended school that day, marking 98 days since the original school start date of March 2 this year. Previously, third-year high school students first returned to school on the 20th of last month, followed by a phased return for each grade. With this day's attendance, a total of 5.95 million elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide began in-person classes for the first semester of this year. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Sunghye] The Ministry of Education and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 21st that they are closely monitoring the situations in Daejeon, Gwangju, and Jeonju, where new COVID-19 cases have been continuously reported, and will take measures to minimize crowding within schools if necessary.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye and KDCA Director Jeong Eun-kyung held a regular video conference on the same day and agreed, "Through close information sharing, let us actively consider preemptive measures to ensure safe in-person classes, such as adjusting the density of students in schools in Daejeon, Gwangju, and Jeonju."

This suggests that, similar to the strengthened attendance limits in kindergartens, elementary, and middle schools in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon?where the number of students attending in person was limited to one-third of the total (two-thirds for high schools)?measures to minimize crowding within schools may be reinforced in these regions if COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo and Director Jeong also decided to strengthen inspections of multi-use facilities frequently visited by students through the education offices of Daejeon, Gwangju, and Jeonju.

Additionally, they plan to advise students and school staff to refrain from using multi-use facilities such as PC rooms, karaoke rooms, and study cafes, and to always wear masks when visiting such facilities if unavoidable. They will also emphasize refraining from conversations without masks while dining in restaurants.

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