[Column] Full Return to School in Two Months... Disappointing Measures for Overcrowded Classes

As the school density standard was raised from one-third to two-thirds, the attendance of middle school students in the metropolitan area has expanded, and vocational high school students can now attend school every day. On the 14th, students are attending school at Jangpyeong Middle School in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. 2021.06.14 Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Full in-person attendance will begin from the second semester. The Ministry of Education is promoting full in-person attendance by significantly relaxing the school density standards in accordance with the new social distancing guidelines. On the 20th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye stated in a briefing, "72% of school members in classes with more than 30 students hoped for expanded attendance," adding, "We will prepare measures to enable full in-person attendance even in oversized schools and overcrowded classes through flexible academic operations."

The issue lies in the countermeasures. The Ministry of Education's measures for overcrowded classes in the second semester full attendance plan include converting special classrooms into regular classrooms and installing modular classrooms. Even if multipurpose rooms or special activity rooms are used as classrooms, it is insufficient for dividing classes. Modular classrooms are temporary buildings installed during school building expansions or renovations. They can respond according to student demand. The Public Procurement Service selected three modular classroom suppliers as innovative prototype products, and the Ministry of Education explained that rental or purchase is also possible.

Even if demand is identified now, the schedule is tight to introduce them before the second semester starts. Each modular classroom costs tens of millions of won, and safety concerns related to fire must also be resolved. After securing space, the next step is recruiting teachers. The Ministry of Education said it will first recruit temporary teachers and reflect this in the long-term teacher supply plan. At this pace, the declaration of the end of COVID-19 will come before the resolution of overcrowded classes.

The Ministry of Education postponed the release of the "Comprehensive Education Recovery Plan," originally scheduled for the end of this month, to next month. The plan will include improvements to the overcrowded class resolution system, school establishment and expansion system improvements, and adjustments to school districts. The Ministry stated, "We will prepare the overcrowded class system improvement plan this year and secure the budget and reflect field surveys from next year to find implementation measures."

Although the overcrowded class issue has been a long-standing problem even before COVID-19, parents are anxious and teachers frustrated as measures are only now being proposed. The overcrowded class standards are not legally specified and are established by each city and province. This creates a structure that allows mutual avoidance of responsibility. Just as much effort is being put into promoting full in-person attendance, it is time to also focus on measures to resolve overcrowded classes.

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