Ministry of Education Conducts Safety Inspections on School Quarantine, Meals, and Experiential Activities
[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] The Ministry of Education will conduct an intensive safety inspection for students over 50 days to support the full resumption of educational activities such as normal school attendance and school trips.
On the 16th, the Ministry of Education announced that it has formed a Student Safety On-site Inspection Team led by Vice Minister Jang Sang-yoon, which will directly visit kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools, special schools, and universities starting from the 18th to carry out the '50-day Intensive Student Safety Inspection.'
The Ministry of Education will form teams of three members to conduct on-site inspections at 50 schools. Metropolitan and provincial offices of education will inspect at least 10% of schools within their jurisdiction, including kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools. Universities will conduct inspections independently.
During the intensive inspection period, safety checklists focusing on areas closely related to school life such as ▲school quarantine and meal hygiene safety ▲educational activity safety ▲educational facility safety will be used for inspections.
Regarding school quarantine and meal hygiene, the inspection will check whether quarantine plans have been established, contact management status, hygiene management of meal facilities and cooking processes, and food poisoning prevention management.
Safety management of experiential learning such as school trips, prevention and response to school violence (including sexual violence), and safety management of university group training (orientation, MT, etc.) will also be inspected.
A Ministry of Education official stated, "Since the COVID-19 situation continues and student infections persist, and we must prepare for the possibility of a resurgence, quarantine rules must be emphasized more. For on-site experiences such as school trips and training activities, traffic safety, safety inspections of student transport vehicles, and hygiene and quarantine in dining facilities are also included in the checklist."
Additionally, commuting safety management, safety inspections of school buildings and facilities, dormitory fire prevention and response, university laboratory safety management, and natural disaster response will also be assessed.
For vulnerable areas, support plans will be prepared in cooperation with metropolitan and provincial offices of education and related agencies, and if necessary, institutional improvements or legal amendments will be actively considered.
Vice Minister of Education Jang Sang-yoon said, "This intensive inspection was prepared to ensure that the difficult-to-resume in-person classes stabilize in the educational field and to prevent any possible safety accidents in advance, thereby guaranteeing the safety and educational rights of our precious students. We hope this will strengthen student safety at schools and become an opportunity for parents to trust the education authorities."
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