Ministry of Education: "Full Return to School in 2nd Semester, Flexible Academic Operations Possible with Morning and Afternoon Classes"

Ministry of Education: "Will Provide Autonomy Considering Regional and School Situations"
Plans to Offer Monitoring and Consulting for Flexible Academic Operation Best Practices
Full Return to School Roadmap for 2nd Semester to Be Announced This Month

As the school density standard was raised from one-third to two-thirds, middle school students in the metropolitan area have increased attendance, and vocational high school students can now attend school every day. On the 14th, students lined up for temperature checks at Jangpyeong Middle School in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. 2021.06.14 Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education announced that it will promote full in-person attendance for the second semester based on a 'flexible academic operation' tailored to the circumstances of each region and school.

At the Ministry of Education's online regular briefing on the 14th, an official stated regarding the plan to allow two-thirds attendance at large universities or operate morning and afternoon shifts during full in-person attendance in the second semester, "We are reviewing the second semester full attendance in a way that sufficiently provides autonomy considering the situations of regions and schools."

The official added, "It is not possible to apply the same standards to all 20,000 schools nationwide, including kindergartens," and said, "Within broad standards, autonomy will be granted so that regions, schools, and infection situations can be flexibly managed."

The Ministry of Education plans to share cases of schools operating academic schedules flexibly with schools at all levels and support consideration of various academic operations.

The Ministry also decided to include content related to full attendance at universities in the roadmap for full attendance in the second semester, which is scheduled to be announced this month. Measures for overcrowded classes, which teacher organizations have demanded legal amendments for, will also be announced together.

An official from the Ministry of Education explained, "We are preparing a roadmap for full student attendance, and universities will proceed along the same flow," adding, "There is a procedure to operate and consult differently from elementary, middle, and high schools, and we will prepare and announce it together by the end of this month."

On the morning of the 14th, when in-person classes were expanded for middle schools in the Seoul metropolitan area, students who attended school at Wolchon Middle School in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, underwent COVID-19 prevention procedures such as temperature checks and hand sanitization before heading to their classrooms. To address the academic achievement gap caused by accumulated class shortages, the Ministry of Education relaxed the school density standard for middle schools in the metropolitan area from one-third to two-thirds starting that day. 2021.6.14 Photo by Joint Press Corps

From this day, the Ministry of Education relaxed the second-stage school density standard to two-thirds and allowed full attendance for vocational high schools. For middle school students in the metropolitan area, who had the lowest attendance rate, the number of attendance days can double.

An official from the Ministry of Education explained, "Although phased measures were applied for full student attendance in the second semester, full attendance for metropolitan middle schools and vocational high schools is not mandatory," adding, "The school can decide whether to allow full attendance considering the school's readiness and regional infection situation."

There are concerns that as the number of attending students increases, the density in school cafeterias will rise, increasing the risk of group infections. Regarding this, the Ministry of Education believes there will be no significant issues as metropolitan middle schools apply staggered meal times. They have also communicated enhanced meal service quarantine measures to vocational high schools.

The Ministry of Education official said, "The metropolitan and provincial offices of education have instructed vocational high schools to install partitions at all seats in cafeterias and apply staggered meal distribution by grade and class, and if necessary, alternative meals can be provided," adding, "They also guided thorough ventilation before and after meals and disinfection of meal utensils."