Within 5 Days of New Semester... 190,000 Students in Seoul Could Not Attend School

Seoul Full Return to School for New Semester Drops from 84% to 66% on 7th
61 Schools Switch to Remote Classes in 5 Days
Staff COVID-19 Cases Rise, Causing Substitute Staff Shortage

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 Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the first day of the new semester, 84% of schools in Seoul conducted full in-person classes, but this dropped to 66% within five days as schools switched to remote learning due to confirmed cases and other reasons. It was reported that 190,000 students were unable to attend school within five days due to confirmed cases or quarantine.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 8th, the number of kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools that conducted full in-person classes decreased from 1,418 schools on the 2nd to 1,357 schools as of the 7th. Sixty-one schools switched partially or fully to remote learning.

The number of students attending school also decreased from 810,000 to 620,000 within five days. On the first day of school, many schools conducted full in-person classes with rapid antigen test kit distribution, but a considerable number of schools either implemented remote or shortened classes at the discretion of the principal or urgently switched to remote learning due to a higher-than-expected increase in confirmed cases.

Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stated, "Currently, each school is urgently adjusting density and changing attendance types variably according to the daily confirmed case status," adding, "The number of schools adjusting density has increased due to the rise in confirmed and attendance-prohibited students."

As confirmed cases surged significantly in middle and high schools, many schools adjusted their attendance methods. On the 7th, the percentage of schools conducting full in-person classes was over half for elementary schools (53.6%) and high schools (59.2%), except for middle schools (39.1%). Schools conducting full remote classes on the 7th were highest in middle schools (8.2%), followed by high schools (6.2%) and elementary schools (0.7%). The Ministry of Education is operating a "New Semester Adaptation Week" until the 11th, allowing schools to adjust density or switch to remote learning as needed.

With a sharp increase in confirmed cases among staff, schools are struggling to find substitute personnel. According to data collected by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education from the 28th of last month to the 6th of this month, there were 25,122 confirmed student cases and 2,369 staff cases. This accounts for 8.6% of all confirmed cases in Seoul and represents a 6.3 percentage point increase compared to the previous week. The number of confirmed cases among students and staff increased by 21,845 compared to two weeks ago.

To alleviate the shortage of substitute personnel, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education has relaxed hiring conditions for contract teachers and is considering allowing teachers on leave or secondment to participate as substitutes. Each of the 11 education support offices is recruiting a pool of part-time instructors responsible for covering absences. Despite these efforts, class gaps are occurring in various places, and some schools are conducting remote classes with confirmed teachers receiving home treatment.

Ko Hyo-seon, Director of Educational Policy at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "While it is standard for confirmed cases to take sick leave, there have been requests to allow teachers with mild symptoms or those willing to teach when substitute teachers are hard to find to continue classes." She added, "The education office is considering hiring substitute teachers, but the demand for personnel in Seoul is very high, and education support offices are skeptical about efficiency. However, due to the significant difficulties in hiring substitutes on-site, we will consider expanding the personnel pool and various measures including substitute hiring by support offices."

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