"Infectious Disease and Future Education Preparedness"… Ministry of Education Establishes Proactive Administration Implementation Plan

Active Administration to Ensure Student Health, Safety, and Learning Rights

Euneh Yu, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is speaking at the Social Relations Ministers' Meeting held on May 11 at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The School Health Act will be amended to allow students and staff with epidemiological links, such as those entering from countries with infectious disease outbreaks, to be prohibited from attending school, expanding beyond the previous restriction that only those diagnosed by a doctor were barred from attending.

The Ministry of Education announced on the 5th a plan focusing on proactive administration that includes this content as a key task. Proactive administration refers to public officials actively handling their duties based on creativity and expertise to improve unreasonable regulations and serve the public interest.

This year’s six key tasks are ▲ Strengthening the school infectious disease prevention system ▲ Reducing teachers’ workload ▲ Supporting vocational high schools and promoting employment ▲ Establishing a foundation for remote education development ▲ Creating future-oriented school spaces ▲ Developing a comprehensive plan for artificial intelligence (AI) education. These priority tasks will be selected and pursued through the end of the year to ensure tangible results.

Specifically, the plan includes supporting 40,000 personnel to create conditions that allow teachers to focus on classes and student guidance, and adding two more sessions of the technician qualification exam to expand opportunities for certification. The public platform for remote education will be advanced and utilized for future education through capacity building. Additionally, standardized family school spaces will be diversified and improved by enhancing 65 school-level projects to build varied and flexible learning spaces. Furthermore, through the establishment of proactive education policies for the paradigm shift in future education, such as expanding AI education, the plan supports nurturing the necessary talent.

Moreover, to establish proactive administration as a public service culture, outstanding cases will be discovered, and incentives will be given to excellent public officials who achieve results through active work promotion. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye stated, "We will strive to achieve results that the public can feel, including preparing plans for future education in the post-COVID-19 era without delay."

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