"Close Academies Too" ... Despite Ministry of Education's Recommendation, Mokdong and Daechidong Continue Normal Classes

Amid the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, the government has postponed the start of the new semester for elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide by two weeks. On the 3rd, a private academy in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, is closed. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] After the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the government recommended private academies to close temporarily, but in Seoul, only one out of three academies actually closed. In particular, the closure rates in Gangseo and Yangcheon districts, as well as Gangnam and Seocho districts?representative academy-dense areas?were below the Seoul average.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education on the 5th, as of 2 p.m. the previous day, 8,236 academies and private tutoring centers in Seoul were closed, accounting for only 32.6% of the total 25,240.

Among the 11 education support offices under the Office of Education, the closure rates in Gangseo-Yangcheon and Gangnam-Seocho, which include major academy districts such as Mokdong and Daechi-dong, were particularly low.

Out of 3,332 academies under the jurisdiction of the Gangseo-Yangcheon Education Support Office, only 685 were closed, resulting in the lowest closure rate of 20.6%. Following that, the Gangnam-Seocho Education Support Office had a closure rate of 24.4% (1,285 out of 5,270 academies).

On the other hand, the Nambu Education Support Office had a closure rate of 49.1% (936 out of 1,906 academies), the Jungbu Education Support Office 46.1% (395 out of 856 academies), and the Dongjak-Gwanak Education Support Office 45.1% (787 out of 1,744 academies), showing relatively higher numbers of academy closures.

The Ministry of Education previously announced on the 2nd the postponement of additional school openings nationwide and stated, "We will actively recommend closures to academies again and strengthen on-site inspections," but in reality, there is no authority to enforce closures on these private academies or tutoring centers.

Meanwhile, as of the 4th, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education reported that the number of students using emergency care services due to the postponement of kindergarten and elementary school openings were 6,117 and 5,368 respectively, with kindergarten students increasing by 410 and elementary students decreasing by 53 compared to the previous day.

On the 4th, the actual usage rates of emergency care services compared to applications were 47.9% for kindergarten and 39.3% for elementary school students.

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