Excluding 3rd Year High School Students, All Kindergartens, Elementary, Middle, and High Schools in the Seoul Metropolitan Area Switch to Full Remote Classes... Until the 11th of Next Month (Update)

Excluding 3rd Year High School Students 100 Days Before CSAT
Proactive Measures Needed in Seoul Metropolitan Area

193 Confirmed Cases Among Students and Staff in Seoul Metropolitan Area Since 11th
Especially Increased Cases in the Last 3 Days

Eun-Hye Yoo, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is announcing the transition to remote classes for kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools located in the metropolitan area at the briefing room of the main building of the Government Seoul Office on the 25th. Photo by Moohonam Mun. munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] All schools in the Seoul metropolitan area will switch to full remote classes from the 26th until the 11th of next month. This includes kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, as well as special schools, excluding 3rd-year high school students who are 100 days away from the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

On the 25th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye held an emergency briefing at the Government Seoul Office with Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Lee Jae-jung, Superintendent of Gyeonggi-do Office of Education, and Do Seong-hoon, Superintendent of Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education, announcing the plan to switch kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools in the metropolitan area to remote classes.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo explained the background, saying, "Despite measures to minimize density after raising social distancing to level 2 in the metropolitan area, confirmed cases among students and staff continue to occur," and added, "Proactive measures for schools in the metropolitan area are necessary to prevent raising social distancing to level 3."

However, 3rd-year high school students who require face-to-face classes are excluded from the remote class transition. Deputy Prime Minister Yoo emphasized, "We are implementing strengthened measures to ensure the CSAT scheduled for December 3 proceeds as planned," and added, "We will do our best to ensure the CSAT proceeds without disruption."

Eun-Hye Yoo, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is announcing the transition to remote classes for kindergartens, elementary, middle, high, and special schools located in the metropolitan area at the briefing room of the main building of the Government Seoul Office on the 25th. Photo by Moohonam Mun.

According to the Ministry of Education, from the 11th to the 23rd, 150 students and 43 staff members in the metropolitan area were confirmed positive. Among 70 student cases confirmed over three days from the 21st to the 23rd, 41 (58.6%) occurred in the metropolitan area, and during the same period, 15 staff cases in the metropolitan area accounted for 68.2% of new staff cases nationwide.

Since remote classes will be implemented throughout the metropolitan area, measures comparable to those during the first semester's online school opening will be enforced. The EBS Online Class and e-Learning platforms have been expanded to support simultaneous access by 3 million users each, and on-site situation rooms have been established at each platform's managing institution to set up a real-time monitoring system.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo stated, "As in the first semester, we will lend smart devices free of charge to students who need them and provide emergency care," and added, "Students requiring additional basic academic support will be allowed face-to-face guidance."

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