Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae on April 20 holds a briefing at Government Complex-Seoul to announce the nation’s full return to regular school life in the post-omicron era. (Ministry of Education)
By Yoo Yeon Gyeong and Lee Jihae
All kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools nationwide from next month will resume full in-person classes.
Students can go on field trips, engage in interactive learning and move between classrooms. Online classes, which have been utilized for about two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will now be used for supplemental purposes only.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hae on April 20 in a briefing at Government Complex-Seoul announced these points in a plan to return to daily school life in the post-omicron era.
Through April 30, the Ministry of Education will maintain the quarantine system at the “preparatory stage” and from May 1, it will change management of quarantine and academic affairs in stages.
Once in-person classes are fully resumed on May 1, all movement between classrooms, group activity, discussions, interactive activity and field trips will be allowed. Online classes will be used to boost educational efficiency.
Each education office from next month can decide whether to require rapid antigen testing before students go to school, with such testing expected to be virtually suspended. If a confirmed case occurs in a class, only students showing symptoms or those deemed high risk for coming into contact with the infected person will get tested once or be advised to do so at a medical facility.
The mask mandate for classrooms will also get less strict. Students from May 1 can wear anti-droplet or surgical masks instead of being required to put on KF80 or stronger models now.
The ministry will maintain quarantine rules through the first semester such as checking for fever before entering classrooms or eating meals, having opened windows at all times, installing partitions at school cafeterias and conducting daily sanitization of school facilities.
Minister Yoo said, “From next month, we will seek ways to shift the aid system for schools and universities from focus on response to COVID-19 to support for recovery in education. We will also continue helping the maintenance and supplementation of the school quarantine and academic management system to guard against a potential resurgence of COVID-19 or a new infectious disease.”
dusrud21@korea.kr
