'Unprecedented' Nationwide Postponement of All Elementary, Middle, and High School Openings... Chinese Students Under 'Intensive Management' (Comprehensive)

Ministry of Education, "No Consideration for Uniform School Closure" → Shift to "Nationwide School Opening Postponement" Stance
Advises Academies to Close and Requests Avoidance of Multi-use Facilities

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) worsened, the government postponed the start of the new school year by one week to March 9 for all kindergartens, elementary, middle, high schools, and special schools nationwide. Following last week's postponement of school openings in the Daegu area, an unprecedented nationwide simultaneous delay of school openings has become a reality.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, after a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19 held at the Government Seoul Office, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo Eun-hye held a briefing and stated, "The government recognizes the current situation seriously and will take all possible preemptive measures to protect the safety of the public and students," adding, "The opening of frontline schools scheduled for the 2nd of next month will be postponed by one week."

According to the current 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act,' the Minister of Education can order school closures if an infectious disease spreads. The Ministry of Education explained that it consulted with the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters to decide on this collective postponement of school openings.

Earlier, as recently as the afternoon of the 21st, the Ministry of Education had stated that it was not considering nationwide simultaneous school closures or postponements. Since the government was maintaining the infectious disease crisis alert level at 'caution,' a nationwide postponement of school openings could cause excessive anxiety and raise concerns about childcare gaps for dual-income families due to school closures.

However, as community transmission of COVID-19 began and the government raised the crisis alert level to the highest stage, 'serious,' it is understood that the education authorities urgently decided on a full postponement of school openings.

This is the first time that all schools nationwide have postponed their openings simultaneously. Even during the outbreaks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015 or the novel flu, postponements were only made regionally or by individual schools, and nationwide delays did not occur.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said on the day, "Depending on the future (COVID-19 spread) situation, we may consider additional postponements of school openings," leaving open the possibility that school openings could be delayed beyond March 9 depending on the spread of COVID-19.

Following the postponement, schools at all levels will adjust summer and winter vacations to prioritize securing instructional days, and if closures are prolonged, they will consider reducing the legally mandated number of school days by up to one-tenth (18 days for kindergartens, 19 days for elementary, middle, and high schools). However, even if the school opening is postponed, teachers and staff are required to report to school during the closure period and work normally on tasks such as preparing for the new semester.

Additionally, homeroom teachers and class assignments, as well as annual curriculum operation plans, will be communicated to students and parents, and various content such as EBS lectures will be provided to enable students to study online at home. Kindergartens and elementary schools will take measures such as strengthening hygiene rules and facility disinfection to prepare for safe care services.

Regarding private academies, the Ministry of Education will recommend closure measures, suspension of student attendance, and exclusion of instructors at risk of infection in consideration of confirmed cases' movement paths and infection risks in affected areas. Joint inspection teams from the Ministry of Education and metropolitan/provincial education offices will strengthen on-site inspections.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo urged, "During the approximately two weeks until school opens, parents should carefully guide their children to refrain from using multi-use facilities such as educational facilities outside school and PC rooms."

The Ministry of Education also designated this week as an 'intensive management week' to operate a special management system, as a large number of Chinese international students are expected to enter the country. According to the Ministry, out of about 19,000 Chinese international students scheduled to enter, around 10,000 will arrive this week.

Accordingly, the Ministry will clearly inform students arriving from China in advance about academic matters and attendance suspension policies and support flexible academic systems so that students can earn credits sufficiently even from China. For students still residing in China, the Ministry will operate intensive credit completion programs or relax credit limits to minimize disadvantages from taking leave, and significantly ease restrictions on credits recognized for remote classes.

Furthermore, the Ministry will encourage credit exchange agreements so that students residing in China can receive credit recognition even if they take remote classes at other universities, and will provide Korea National Open University content free of charge for the first semester of the 2020 academic year.

Deputy Prime Minister Yoo stated, "The Ministry of Education will make every effort to ensure that COVID-19 countermeasures such as postponement of kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high school openings and protection and support for Chinese international students are effectively implemented on the ground," adding, "The government will mobilize all administrative power to do its best to protect the safety of our citizens and students from COVID-19."