Daejeon Office of Education Begins Efforts to Locate and Ensure Safety of 917 Children Who Missed Elementary School Preliminary Enrollment

Main Reasons for Non-Response:
Applications for Enrollment Exemption or Deferral, Planned Transfers, and Overseas Departures
Seven Children Still Unaccounted for as Follow-Up Measures Continue

Daejeon Office of Education Building (Photo by Mo Seokbong)

The Daejeon Office of Education has begun efforts to determine the whereabouts and safety of 917 children who did not respond to the preliminary enrollment call conducted at elementary schools in the district over two days, from January 5 to 6.

As of January 9, each school in Daejeon, in cooperation with relevant agencies such as administrative welfare centers, confirmed the whereabouts and safety of the 917 non-responding children through various methods, including phone calls, home visits, and verification of immigration records. The main reasons for non-response were found to be applications for exemption or deferral from school enrollment, planned transfers to other schools, and overseas departures.

Despite the schools' ongoing efforts, the whereabouts of seven children remain unconfirmed, and follow-up measures are underway. Of these, four children who have left the country and cannot be reached by guardians or through home visits in Korea have been referred to the relevant authorities for investigation. For the remaining three children, the schools are sequentially conducting home visits to meet with guardians and requesting that they visit the school.

If the whereabouts and safety of any child cannot be confirmed despite these procedures, the authorities plan to immediately refer the case for investigation.

An official from the Daejeon Office of Education stated, "Schools are currently making every effort to quickly confirm the whereabouts and safety of children who have not yet enrolled. We will continue to cooperate with the police and other relevant agencies until the enrollment deadline on March 3 to ensure the safety and location of all children who have not yet started school."