Cho Hee-yeon Proposes to Ministry of Education Daily Attendance Plan for 1st Graders in Elementary and Middle Schools After Chuseok Holiday

Request to Exclude 1st Grade Elementary and Middle School Students from One-Third Density Standard
Kindergartens to Be Exempted if Class Size Is Around 15 Students
Support for Flu Vaccination of Health and Care Teachers Under Review

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] Jo Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, announced on the 16th, "From the 12th of next month, when the special quarantine period ends, we plan to propose to the Ministry of Education and quarantine authorities to exempt 1st grade elementary and 1st grade middle school students from the density criteria."

At a press conference held at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the same day, Superintendent Jo said, "For kindergartens as well, if the class size is around 15 students, we will propose to the Ministry of Education to apply different density criteria," adding, "The final decision will be made through consultation between teachers and parents at each school."

The Ministry of Education announced that with the transition to social distancing level 2 in the metropolitan area, the number of students attending kindergarten, elementary, and middle schools will be maintained at one-third, and high schools at two-thirds, until the end of the special quarantine period on the 11th of next month during the Chuseok holiday. In response, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education proposed excluding 1st grade elementary and 1st grade middle school students from the density count starting from the 12th of next month.

Superintendent Jo explained, "Due to the significant reality of university entrance exams in Korean society, daily attendance for 3rd-year high school students has been naturally accepted," and added, "I want to bring up this proposal as a topic for social discussion because quarantine issues have been urgent and other matters were left as secondary." He further stated, "There are kindergarteners attending elementary school and elementary students attending middle school. This refers to 1st graders in elementary and middle school," adding, "These two grades have not even had the opportunity to adapt to school."

Actively Encouraging Interaction Between Students During Morning and Homeroom Sessions in Secondary Schools
Bidirectional Communication Between Teachers and Students is Important Even in Task-Centered Assignments

He stated that communication at school sites will be strengthened to ensure quality remote classes. Superintendent Jo said, "To enhance communication, we will actively encourage 'eye contact between teachers and students' activities in elementary schools and interaction between homeroom teachers and students during morning and homeroom sessions in secondary schools." He added, "Bidirectional communication seems more important than real-time interaction," and "Feedback on bidirectional communication, where teachers can assist students in effectively learning task-centered or content-utilizing assignments, is the most important."

To this end, they plan to expand the 'Learning Comfort Call' activity, which forms emotional bonds through telephone calls for elementary students who find it difficult to attend video classes alone, and implement customized non-face-to-face mentoring by university students to prevent basic academic underachievement among middle school students.

Additionally, support for influenza vaccination is being considered for school health teachers and care staff responsible for student care within schools.

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