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The schoolyard of an elementary in Daegu remains empty on Mar. 17. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean government is pushing the start of the spring semester at kindergartens and schools nationwide back to Apr. 6, two weeks later than had been previously decided. Its decision was based on the conclusion that “social distancing” will need to continue at least through early April as the novel coronavirus outbreak persists into the long term. This will be the first time that classes start in April since 1961, when the new school year system beginning in March was adopted. Amid the unprecedented postponement, changes to the university entrance exam schedule are also being weighed, including a deferment of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

Speaking at a briefing on Mar. 17, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education Yu Eun-hye said, “Based on the opinion of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and experts that there is a risk of schools becoming a major source of community coronavirus infections, we have made the decision to postpone the spring semester at all kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide by an additional two weeks from Mar. 23 to Apr. 6.”

The decision took into account the fact that the risk of small-scale cluster infections remains high despite a decline in the number of new coronavirus diagnoses, as well as the continued rise in cumulative confirmed cases among young children and adolescents. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) announced the same day that it was extending the closure of daycare centers nationwide by two weeks, with the end date moved from Mar. 22 to Apr. 5.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) plans to recommend that offices of education and schools in South Korea’s 17 metropolitan cities and provinces deduct the 10 days of closure after Mar. 23 from the legally designated number of total class days (180 for kindergartens, 190 for elementary, middle, and high schools), and to grant permission for class hours to be reduced. While the option of adjustments by using the vacation period ahead of time was available with the original start date postponement decision, a reduction in class days became unavoidable with the latest one.

The question of whether the university entrance schedule will be changed remains up in the air. Yu announced that “feasible ideas for university entrance schedule adjustment in light of the long-term postponement of the high school start date are being considered,” adding that the “university entrance exam schedule is to be decided and announced concurrently with the start of classes.”

The same day, MOE formed a “new semester start date preparation team” headed by Vice Minister of Education Park Baek-beom to review measures for school disease prevention and hygiene management and student learning support.

By Lee Yu-jin, staff reporter

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