Yoo Eun-hye: "Adjusting School Density Linked to Nationwide Cases Unsuitable for Omicron"

Discussion on Minimizing School Burden at School Daily Recovery Support Team Meeting
Yoo Eun-hye: "There Will Be No Complete Transfer of Responsibility to Schools"

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye said on the 10th, in response to criticism that the new semester academic operation and quarantine system places responsibility on schools, "The method of adjusting density linked to confirmed cases nationwide and regionally is not suitable for Omicron."

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo held the 26th School Daily Recovery Support Group meeting with vice superintendents of the 17 metropolitan and provincial offices of education, stating that preparations must be made for a situation where confirmed cases reach 130,000 to 170,000 in late February and the trend of confirmed cases continues throughout March and April.

Yoo explained, "This is not a decision for all schools to switch entirely to remote classes, but rather to maintain the roles and functions of schools and choose a path that provides as many students as possible with opportunities for face-to-face classes."

He added, "In a situation where confirmed cases are rapidly spreading, it is necessary to quickly distinguish between confirmed cases and contacts and to be able to promptly decide on the type of academic operation centered on classes according to the occurrence situation of the school. If not only one school but several surrounding schools are in similar situations, the roles of the education support office and the office of education will increase."

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said, "It is true that the workload at school sites is increasing, but responsibility will not be entirely shifted to schools," and explained, "School-led quarantine investigations are an alternative due to the limitations of not being able to proceed in the past manner, and since they are not legal investigations, schools will not be held legally responsible for the investigation process and results."

The meeting was convened to discuss detailed measures for implementing the quarantine and academic operation plan for the first semester of the 2022 school year and to find ways to minimize the burden on schools. The Ministry of Education announced the new semester academic operation and quarantine system on the 7th, setting attendance criteria based on the status of confirmed and quarantined individuals by school and requiring schools to conduct self-investigations when confirmed cases occur.

The Ministry of Education discussed specific guidance on investigation targets and methods related to school self-investigations, as well as ways for the Ministry of Education, offices of education, and education support offices to actively support schools.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said, "We will provide separate guidance on related procedures so that schools do not feel excessive burden, and operate emergency response teams in consultation with offices of education," adding, "We will deploy about 70,000 health teacher support personnel and school quarantine dedicated personnel to support the field."

The self-diagnosis app will also be improved to reduce the burden of grasping the status of confirmed and quarantined individuals at schools. Yoo explained, "Through improvements to the self-diagnosis app functions, we are actively preparing to promptly notify quarantine information and enable students to quickly inform schools of various situation information such as self-quarantine and confirmed cases."

The Ministry of Education stated, "Next week, we plan to hold nationwide education director video conferences and principals' meetings to prepare so that academic operations for the new semester can be conducted safely."

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