Ministry of Education, "Schools Relatively Safe... Principle to Expand In-Person Classes from the 6th"

Priority Vaccination for Faculty, Staff, and University Entrance Exam Candidates... Completion by Early September

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the Ministry of Education has reaffirmed its policy to expand in-person classes starting from the 6th and announced that it will reveal the vaccination plan for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 within September.

On the 2nd, Deputy Minister of Education Jeong Jong-cheol stated in an online briefing, "Even under Level 4 social distancing, it is possible to expand in-person classes through various quarantine measures, and schools are relatively safe according to the Ministry of Education's position." He added, "I understand there are concerns given the severe spread, but face-to-face classes are essential, and if necessary, through persuasion, the principle of maintaining expanded in-person classes must be upheld." Previously, the Ministry set a policy for full in-person attendance in Level 3 social distancing areas starting from the 6th, and about two-thirds attendance by school level in Level 4 areas.

The Ministry also announced that the vaccination plan for children and adolescents aged 12 to 17 will be announced within this month. The Vaccination Expert Committee recently recommended vaccines for this age group. Deputy Minister Jeong responded, "We will announce the timing and detailed vaccination plan within this month after consultation with quarantine authorities and related organizations."

The Ministry plans to complete vaccinations for education and childcare workers at daycare centers, as well as for high school seniors, high school staff, and university entrance exam candidates by early this month. Currently, the completion rate of the second vaccine dose among daycare teachers and others is 35.1%, and for high school seniors and others, it is 83.7%.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Education will complete preparations for quarantine by inspecting the quarantine status of schools at all levels and nationwide academies by the 3rd. During on-site inspections of nationwide academies, 29,289 inspections were conducted, and 120 corrective actions were taken. The Ministry supports 64,000 dedicated quarantine personnel for schools, investing 179.2 billion KRW in this effort. Installation of partitions inside schools will also increase, expanding from 95.5% on the 31st of last month to 98.6% by the 3rd.

Universities will operate a special quarantine period this month and conduct joint inspections with local governments. They will check the quarantine status of multi-use facilities near universities and operate a 24-hour call center for emergency COVID-19 response at universities.

Measures have also been prepared to protect and manage foreign international students. Ahead of the second semester opening, 21,873 students completed entry from the 1st to the 31st of last month. To encourage compliance with quarantine guidelines among foreign international students, the Ministry has produced and distributed multilingual quarantine guideline materials targeted at them. It also informs long-term foreign residents who are international students that they are eligible for vaccination and plans to encourage vaccination through the production and distribution of multilingual informational materials.

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