Why Did Cha Hyeon-il, Yeongdeungpo District Mayor, Take Special COVID-19 Prevention Measures for the College Entrance Exam?

District Mayor Cha Hyeon-il Conducts On-Site Inspection of Exam Venues on the 1st... Special Crackdown on Private Academies and PC Rooms

On the 1st, Cha Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo District (left), inspected special quarantine measures for the CSAT, checking the disinfection status inside a classroom at Yeouido High School.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has launched special quarantine measures to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infection among test takers and the local community and to create a safe exam environment ahead of the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

The district plans to establish a quarantine management system that minimizes infection risks for test takers and the community through organic cooperation with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. It will also prepare measures to provide testing opportunities for confirmed and quarantined test takers with restricted movement, while intensively managing quarantine conditions around private academies, restaurants, and karaoke rooms near exam sites to ensure a COVID-19 safe CSAT.

The district formed a 'CSAT Evaluation Response Quarantine Management Task Force' consisting of four teams: ▲Situation Control Team ▲Test Taker Management Team ▲Exam Site Management Team ▲Quarantine Team Around Exam Sites. Starting from November 26, one week before the exam, until December 5, they began implementing key quarantine tasks in preparation for the CSAT.

First, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the district established a system to manage test takers by sending 'CSAT Applicant Compliance Guidelines' along with confirmation or quarantine notices to self-quarantined test takers and promptly notifying the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education of any confirmed or quarantined cases.

Additionally, a dedicated team for self-quarantined test takers was organized to establish movement plans on the CSAT day and prepare corresponding measures.

If test takers cannot travel by private car, dedicated officials will pre-assess the route and travel time from their homes to the exam site and support their movement on the CSAT day by mobilizing 119 ambulances, quarantine taxis, and official vehicles. For those traveling by private car, routes will be closely managed using the GIS dashboard to ensure safe arrival at the exam site.

Measures for separate exam sites for self-quarantined test takers have also been established. The separate exam site within Yeongdeungpo-gu is Seonyu High School (227 Seonyu-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu), with a maximum of four people assigned per classroom. Waste generated at the separate exam site will be separately collected by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and incinerated as medical waste at the Yeongdeungpo-gu Public Health Center.

The district health center’s screening clinic will also extend its operation until 10 p.m. on December 2, the day before the CSAT. The testing institution for test takers has been unified to the Health and Environment Research Institute to secure rapid diagnostic test results.

Furthermore, the district will thoroughly inspect the quarantine preparations at the CSAT exam sites. This includes checking entrants’ temperatures, operating separate exam rooms, educating personnel related to separate exam rooms, securing quarantine supplies, conducting disinfection before and after exams, installing desk partitions for test takers, and securing and distributing protective equipment for supervisors.

On December 1, two days before the CSAT, Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Chae Hyun-il personally conducted a pre-inspection of the environment around the CSAT exam sites in the Yeouido area. Mayor Chae patrolled the school routes around Yeouido High School, Yeouido Middle School, and Yeouido Girls' High School, carefully checking safety measures and met with school officials to request active cooperation in quarantine measures for the CSAT.

In addition, from December 3 to 5, the district will launch a special intensive quarantine campaign for student safety. It will strengthen special inspections and crackdowns on 8,874 restaurants and entertainment facilities in preparation for the CSAT.

The main inspection items include compliance with Seoul-style enhanced measures such as mandatory temperature checks and continuous quarantine management. Entertainment facilities accessible to youth will be selectively inspected, and a one-strike-out policy will be enforced for facilities violating quarantine rules.

Private academies, where an increase in test taker visits is expected, have been under focused inspection since November 13. The district is checking 40 private academies, 37 study cafes, and wind instrument and singing academies to ensure compliance with academy quarantine rules, with inspections scheduled to be completed by December 7.

Special inspections will also be conducted on 498 key management facilities such as karaoke rooms, PC rooms, and movie theaters. Compliance with quarantine guidelines will be strictly verified on-site, with fines imposed for mask non-compliance and joint inspections by the police for multi-use facilities like PC rooms.

Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Chae Hyun-il stated, “In preparation for the 2021 CSAT amid the third wave of COVID-19 with rapidly increasing confirmed cases, we have taken proactive quarantine measures. We will implement thorough quarantine measures, including on the CSAT day, so that test takers who have worked hard for a long time to achieve their dreams can do their best until the end.”

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