Schools In Seoul Resume In-person Classes

Educational activities in the South Korean capital Seoul and nearby areas have back to business again with schools there resuming in-person classes on a limited scale from September 21.

The ministry of education has opted for resumption of face-to-face classes following significant drops in corona cases in the region since mid-August.

On September 15, the country’s Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae first announced the decision to re-start classes with students in schools.

In line with the decision, students have returned to schools under a hybrid schedule of in-person and online classes to limit the number of people at schools at any given time.

Students will be attending in-person classes once or twice a week which will likely be stretched depending on the situation with regard to covid-19.

A statement from the ministry said that Kindergartens, elementary and middle schools are now allowed to have up to one third of the school capacity filled. This limit goes up to two thirds for high schools.

But some schools can adjust the attending capacity after having discussion with the ministry.

Schools in the capital city have already been conducting online learning since August 26 as the capital city witnessed a sudden surge in corona cases then.

What will happen if corona situation gets worse or gets better in the country?

On that scenario, the education minister Yoo said that the Health Ministry would closely monitor infection development and the regional situation to decide whether school re-openings would be expanded further next month.

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, there are now at least 23k cases of infections by the virus with 385 deaths in South Korea.

On September 20, the country recorded just 70 new cases, 55 of which are local, as per the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.