Full Remote Classes Extended Until the 20th for Elementary, Middle, and High Schools in the Seoul Metropolitan Area... Private Academies Also Prohibited from Gathering (Update)

High school seniors attend in-person classes... Non-metropolitan areas maintain 1/3 density for kindergarten, elementary, and middle schools, and 2/3 for high schools
Nationwide large academies also prohibited from in-person classes... Small and medium academies in the metropolitan area banned until the 13th

On the 25th, 100 days before the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test, an instructor is conducting an interactive real-time remote class for enrolled students at Jongno Academy Gangnam Main Branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Full remote classes for kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools in the Seoul metropolitan area will be extended until the 20th. However, third-year high school students preparing for college entrance exams will continue to be excluded from remote classes as before.

The Ministry of Education announced on the 4th that, as the government extends the current 'Social Distancing' Level 2.5 measures applied in the metropolitan area for one more week until the 13th, the full remote class period for kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, originally scheduled until the 11th, will be extended by one week until the 20th.

Earlier, as COVID-19 cases continued to rise mainly in the metropolitan area, the Ministry of Education switched in-person classes to full remote classes for kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon from the 26th of last month until the 11th of this month.

During this period, since the number of students attending high schools in the metropolitan area is limited to one-third or less, it is expected that only third-year high school students will attend school daily, while first- and second-year students will continue remote classes.

In particular, the Ministry of Education expects that third-year students will need face-to-face classes for the time being, as the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) mock exam, organized by the Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation, is scheduled for the 16th, and the student record deadline for early college admissions is approaching.

Outside the metropolitan area, kindergartens, elementary, and middle schools will maintain density restrictions limiting in-school attendance to one-third or less of the total students until the 20th. High schools in these areas must maintain density at two-thirds or less.

Regarding private academies, all large academies with 300 or more students nationwide are prohibited from conducting face-to-face classes until the 20th. Especially in the metropolitan area, due to the extension of Social Distancing Level 2.5, academies with 10 or more students, including study rooms, are banned from face-to-face classes until the 13th.

However, private tutoring centers with fewer than 10 students are restricted from gathering until the 13th but may operate while strictly adhering to quarantine guidelines.

Small and medium-sized academies outside the metropolitan area may conduct face-to-face classes under compliance with quarantine rules.

Vocational training institutions, which operate similarly to academies but had been blind spots in management, have also been added to the gathering ban and are only allowed to conduct remote classes.

Park Baek-beom, Vice Minister of Education, said, "Since the proactive transition to remote classes and measures to minimize density were implemented in mid-August, the number of COVID-19 cases among students and staff has gradually decreased," adding, "As cases continue to occur, deep caution and preventive measures are still necessary."

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