More students return to school this week
Concerns are growing ahead of the resumption of physical classes for younger students, scheduled this Wednesday, amid lingering woes over possible transmission of COVID-19 at schools in Korea.
According to the Ministry of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), high school second graders, middle school seniors, elementary school first and second graders and kindergarteners are to return to classrooms Wednesday. Last week, high school seniors returned to classrooms as they face a hectic academic schedule ahead of the nation’s college entrance exam, which has been pushed back to Dec. 3.
Parents and educators showed their concerns when a high school student tested positive for the virus in Daegu, a southeastern city, just one day after the school’s reopening. In Incheon, west of Seoul, all senior students at 66 high schools were sent home on the first day of school after two students were confirmed to have contracted the virus. In addition, about 60 students in North Gyeongsang Province, nearly 30 students in Gyeonggi Province and five in North Chungcheong Province were sent home or taken to hospitals after exhibiting symptoms of the virus, such as a fever and a sore throat, on the same day.
Parents and teachers are raising concerns that it is too early to return younger students to school. In particular, they said elementary school students and kindergarteners are not accustomed to following virus prevention measures such as wearing masks and maintaining personal space.
“It can be more dangerous for the younger students when their teachers stress that they should not take off their masks, because there is a high possibility that they will keep wearing the mask even if they have difficulty breathing,” said Jung Hyun-jin, a spokesperson of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU).
On the day of reopening, a senior high school student in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, collapsed due to breathing difficulties while wearing a mask.
Despite concerns over possible virus transmissions at schools, Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae reaffirmed the government’s commitment to the additional reopening schedule for students in lower grades in a press briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul, Sunday.
To allay the worries of parents, the education ministry will arrange for 30,000 personnel who can be exclusively in charge of disease control work at schools across the country.
“The 30,000 personnel will include retired teachers, volunteers, parttime instructors and after-school program teachers. They will support disease control activities as well as class management at schools,” Yoo said.
Although it seems the COVID-19 outbreak is under the control of the disease control authorities, parents are still worried about sending their children to school.
Lee Joo-sang, 45, a father of a first-grade elementary student in Seoul, said he is in two minds about his daughter going to school.
“I’m still worried about sending her to school, and I think online classes are much safer. But at the same time, I feel like my daughter just lost almost three months,” Lee said.
New COVID-19 cases stayed below 30 for the third consecutive day Sunday, but health authorities remain on high alert as infections continue to spread across the country ahead of the expanded school reopening.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 25 new infections Saturday, bringing the total to 11,190. Of them, 17 were local infections.