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Whether or not to postpone the opening date of elementary and junior high school again, the government has decided to announce it at 2 pm today (17th). Both the authorities and the ruling party say that starting next week is difficult right now, and the possibility of opening the school for the first time in April is increasing.

Reporter Han Ji-yeon reports.

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The number of people who agreed to the national petition to postpone school opening in April exceeded 100,000 in a week, and the ruling party emphasized the inevitability of delaying school opening.

[Lee Nak-yeon / In addition, Democratic Party of Corona 19 Chairman of the National Overcoming Committee: It seems inevitable to postpone the school's opening a little longer.]

The authorities also made it clear that it was difficult to open school on March 23.

[Jung Eun-Kyung / Director of Disease Management Division: Until the end of March and early April, it is the same that it is necessary to maintain the parts of 'social distance'. This will be the same for schools.]

The public opinion on postponement of acting is increasing, and the Ministry of Education is deepening.

First of all, I am concerned about the disruption of the academic schedule.

If you postpone additional school days, you will have to reduce the number of days in the class by 10%, and you will lose the midterm and final exam schedule for the first semester.

In particular, in the case of high school 3, it is inevitable not only for various simulation evaluations, but also for the application for the occasional application on September 7 and the entrance exam on November 19.

There is also a practical concern as to whether delays in corona 19 will be noticeably lowered by delaying another week or two.

In the medical field, it is pointed out that postponement is not enough, and it is necessary to discuss ways to change the teaching method so that students' movements do not overlap as much as possible after school starts.

The Ministry of Education will announce whether to postpone the opening of school later today after final consultations with the quarantine authorities.