S. KOREA TO RE-OPEN SCHOOLS STARTING TOMORROW

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Although Korea continues to see sporadic cases of COVID-19, high school seniors will start school tomorrow as planned. Local education authorities have laid out plans for the new school year. Twelfth graders, who are to take college entrance exams later this year, will take in-person classes every day. Those in other grades will receive classes both online and in person.

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​​An infrared thermal camera has been installed at the entrance. Tables in the cafeteria are temporarily separated with partitions. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education says schools in the city are ready to welcome their students. Educational authorities have also laid out a plan for the new school year. In Seoul, 12th graders will attend school on a daily basis, whereas other students will receive classes both online and in person on different days. Unlike 12th graders, who are to take college entrance exams or prepare for employment tests this year, high schools are advised to have 10th and 11th graders attend school every other week. Middle schools will also provide in-person and online classes, but students will be required to attend school at least once a week to take evaluation tests. As for elementary schools, on-site classes will be held at least once a week by grade. Authorities want to make sure that there are no more than 30 students in one class. As for overcrowded elementary schools with more than a thousand students, authorities recommend that grades one through three and four through six receive in-person classes on different days of the week. Schools' start and end times as well as lunchtime will be spaced apart by grade. Authorities will also provide staff who will be in charge of hygiene control.

[Soundbite] CHO HEE-YEON(SEOUL METROPOLITAN OFFICE OF EDUCATION SUPERINTENDENT) : "Some 7,000 people including after-school and retired teachers will provide help in terms of hygiene control, temperature checks and disinfection."

The education ministry says schools in Daegu, the early epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea, will follow a similar reopening plan. Schools in Busan with more than a thousand students are recommended to alternate in-person and online classes every other day, and start classes at different times. Meanwhile, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union has blasted the government for reopening schools by jeopardizing children's safety with college entrance exams as an excuse. It is demanding that special measures be taken such as dispatching quarantine control staff to schools.