On the First Day of the New Semester, Separate Routes by Grade and Shortened Classes... "Please Support Schools"

Uncertain School Commute Amid Record High COVID Cases
Principals Can Choose Academic Operation Methods at Their Discretion
Principal Opting for Full Attendance Says "Courage Taken Due to Strong Demand for In-Person Classes"
Some Students or Families Confirmed Positive, Unable to Attend Entrance Ceremony
Some Classes Switch to Remote Learning the Day Before School Starts

As the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continues, children are heading to school on the morning of the 2nd, when elementary, middle, and high schools reopened, at Geumyang Elementary School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

"We are also anxious, but please give us a lot of support. The school will do its best." (Yu Kyung-gyun, Principal of Changseo Elementary School)

On the morning of the first day of the new semester, the 2nd, in front of Changseo Elementary School located in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, the principal greeted the parents who came to see off their children like this. A banner congratulating the new students was hung at the main gate, and the school security officer called out the students' names and checked on them. Parents waving their hands to see off their children or taking photos of their children going to school with smartphones were also noticeable by the school wall.

On that day, the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded was 219,241. As we enter the third year of COVID-19, parents who have experienced both in-person and remote classes generally welcome full in-person attendance. A parent in their 40s with a 5th-grade child said, "We conducted a survey among parents about attending school, and the majority opinion was that it is better to send them. It is much better to go to school than to stay at home." They added, "Since it is a small school, being able to attend every day feels like an advantage. This year, since they are promoting normal attendance, I think the number of school days will increase compared to last year." A parent of a first grader said, "My child is excited to play with friends at school, but with the spread of Omicron, it's sad that they probably won't be able to eat and play with friends like before, and it's pitiful to remember childhood with friends' faces covered by masks."

The Ministry of Education allowed school principals to decide the academic operation method at their discretion for two weeks, considering the surge in confirmed cases. Taking into account the Omicron variant, flexible academic operation standards are applied, and from the 3rd, schools operate differently, ranging from full in-person attendance to full remote classes. A first-year middle school student said, "I don't know exactly if I will go to school every day starting tomorrow, but I prefer going to school because I can see my friends' faces rather than remote classes."

The Ministry of Education distributed rapid antigen test kits to students attending school, and most schools conducted shortened classes. Schools minimized overlapping routes by dismissing students sequentially by grade. Many entrance ceremonies were replaced by broadcasts again this year, and external visitors were not allowed in schools, so parents had to watch their children entering classrooms from a distance. Yu Kyung-gyun, principal of Changseo Elementary School, said, "It is not safe for children to stay at home, so to take care of both health and learning, we decided on daily attendance for all students. More than 60% of parents supported full attendance in the survey, so we took a bit more courage. We are doing our best with disinfection, social distancing, and other quarantine rules, and we asked families to follow quarantine rules more strictly as well."

As the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continues, on the 2nd, when elementary, middle, and high schools reopened, parents at Geumyang Elementary School in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, watched their children moving to classrooms. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Students who tested positive or are quarantined due to a confirmed family member could not attend the entrance ceremony, resulting in many absences in classrooms. Until the 13th, unvaccinated individuals with confirmed family members must quarantine for seven days. A parent of a first grader living in Seoul said, "My child was counting down the days until the entrance ceremony, but it's pitiful that they can't go to school from the first day of the new semester and now have to go alone later."

On the first day of school, there were cases where remote classes were suddenly switched because confirmed or quarantined students exceeded 15% of the same class. A parent said, "Before going to school, I heard that remote classes would start the day before because the confirmed cases in the same class exceeded the standard. My child was eagerly waiting to go to school, so it's very disappointing."

To attend school, students must take rapid antigen tests twice a week and record the results in a self-diagnosis application (app), but parents generally feel burdened by this. A parent in their 40s who came to see off their 4th-grade child said, "Compared to PCR tests, rapid antigen tests are less invasive, so it wasn't too hard, but doing it twice a week is somewhat burdensome." Another parent said, "I'm worried about how to swab my child's nose, and people around me are annoyed. Children follow quarantine rules better than adults, so I wish tests were only done when symptoms are suspected."

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