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Vice Education Minister Park Baeg-beom announces the postponement of the beginning of on-campus classes for schools by one week at the Government Complex in Sejong on May 11. (Yonhap News)

The respective schedules for students to return to classes at kindergartens and elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide have been postponed for one week each in the wake of an infection cluster of novel coronavirus cases associated with clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood. The classes had originally been scheduled to begin in phases, beginning with third-year high school students on May 13. The decision was based on the fact that the epidemiological investigation is not yet complete, while the nationwide distribution of patients’ places of residence has raised concerns of community infections.

On the afternoon of May 11, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced, “The starting date for on-campus classes for high school students in their third year has been postponed by one week from May 13 to May 20, while the schedules for other grades have respectively been postponed by one week.”

This means that classes will begin on May 20 for third-year high school students; May 27 for high school students in their second year, middle school students in their third year, first and second graders in elementary school and kindergartners; June 3 for high school freshmen, middle school students in their second year, and third and four graders in elementary school; and June 8 for middle school students in their first year and fifth and sixth graders in elementary school.

While the MOE had initially decided to treat third year high school students as an exceptional case and have them report to schools seven days after the extended holiday at the beginning of May due to the tight schedule of university entrance examination preparations, the school attendance schedule has now fully been pushed back to 14 days after the holiday weekend. The National United Achievement Test for high school students, which was originally scheduled to take place on May 14, appears likely to be put off until after classes begin on May 20. The decision was made by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae on May 11 following a teleconference with Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jung Eun-kyeong on the timeline for reopening schools.

“The 86 people who have tested positive with infections originating in the Itaewon neighborhood to date have places of residence distributed around the country, and an epidemiological study has only been completed for 2,456 of the 5,517 people who visited the clubs in question during the holiday period, or 44%,” the MOE explained on its decision to postpone the reopening of schools.

Also influencing the decision were position statements by teacher groups and the superintendents of education in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, and North Chungcheong Province, who called for postponing the schedule for reopening schools. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon suggested to the government the same day that the school reopening date for third-year high school students should be postponed by one week.

The school reopening dates for other grades could be put off even longer. The MOE said, “While as a rule we are postponing the schedule and methods of reopening schools for kindergartners, elementary and middle school students, and high school students other than those in their third year by one week each, we plan to respond swiftly to any changes that arise based on the findings of future epidemiological studies.”

This means that the reopening of schools could be postponed once again if the community transmission situation worsens or other cluster infections arise.

But Vice Education Minister Baeg-beom said, “If the principle of self-diagnosis when attending school is properly observed, there will be no change in the resumption of school openings in weekly cycles.”

Commenting on the possibility of the delayed start date resulting in an additional postponement of the university entrance exam schedule, he said, “We are not considering additional changes,” adding that this was based on the assumption that classes will reopen before the end of May.

Meanwhile, the MOE strongly recommended that any school employees or teachers who visited nightlight establishments in Itaewon between Apr. 24 and May 6 or whose activities overlap with patients who tested positive should visit a nearby screening clinic for testing regardless of whether they have symptoms.

Universities are also mulling over a postponement of their reopening of classes, which was scheduled to take place in mid-May. According to the Korean Association of Private University Presidents figures that day, 12 out of 21 universities that had originally planned to resume in-person classes on May 11 had decided to postpone them as of May 7. The number of universities that intend to hold their entire first semester of classes online increased from 62 to 71.

By Lee Yu-jin and Choi Won-hyung, staff reporters

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