Students Notified of 'Self-Quarantine' on Suneung Day; Teachers Volunteer as 'Full-Body Protective Suit Supervisors'

Three Daegu Exam Candidates Notified of Close Contact with Confirmed Case at Dawn
City Education Office in Chaos Searching for Proctor Teachers for Self-Quarantine Exam Sites
Volunteer Teachers Assigned to Hospital Exam Sites... Dongsan Hospital Pro

A separate testing site for self-quarantined examinees. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] In Daegu, on the morning of the 3rd, the day of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a hectic situation arose as officials urgently sought teachers to supervise three examinees who had been in close contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases during the early hours of the day, assigning them to separate testing rooms.

According to the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, the three examinees, who were notified by the Ministry of Education, did not have enough time to undergo COVID-19 testing that morning, so their infection status could not be confirmed. Accordingly, each of these examinees was assigned to a separate testing room designated for self-quarantined students, with one student per room.

The challenge was finding teachers to supervise them. Despite the early hour, the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education urgently began searching for teachers willing to supervise while wearing full-body protective suits every hour. Fortunately, they received encouraging news from teachers assigned to hospital testing sites who volunteered to help.

Among the teachers assigned to hospital testing sites, six volunteered to supervise the first and second sessions. These volunteer supervisors headed to the separate testing rooms rather than Dongsan Hospital, which had been designated as the hospital testing site.

Dongsan Hospital, designated as the hospital testing site that day, also contributed to the CSAT operations. The hospital urgently provided 30 protective suits to support the supervision duties at the separate testing rooms and dispatched professional nursing staff to thoroughly and carefully train the teachers on how to properly put on and take off the protective suits.

Thanks to the volunteer supervisors who stepped up for the examinees amid the urgent situation before the CSAT began, the Office of Education was able to recruit additional teachers to supervise after the third session (1:10 PM), finally allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.

Kang Eun-hee, Superintendent of the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, said, "Even with thorough preparation by the education office, it is difficult to succeed without the willingness of teachers to volunteer. I am grateful for the precious hearts of the teachers who showed courage. I hope that with this spirit and the community’s dedication, today’s CSAT will be conducted safely and smoothly without any issues."