[Photo] First-Year Middle School Students Attending School While Social Distancing

On the 8th, when the fourth phase of in-person classes for first-year middle school students and fifth and sixth graders in elementary school began, first-year students were heading to school at a middle school in Seoul. According to the Ministry of Education, 1.35 million first-year middle school and fifth and sixth-grade elementary students attended school that day, marking 98 days since the original school start date of March 2 this year. Previously, third-year high school students returned to school on the 20th of last month, followed by a phased return for each grade. With this day's attendance, a total of 5.95 million elementary, middle, and high school students nationwide began in-person classes for the first semester of this year./Reporter Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@