In fear of the spread of Corona 19, kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools, and special schools in the metropolitan area will switch to remote classes instead of attending school from tomorrow (26th) to the 11th of the following month.

Deputy Prime Minister Eun-hye Yoo and Minister of Education held an emergency joint briefing with Seoul Superintendent Jo Hee-yeon, Gyeonggi Superintendent Lee Jae-jung, and Incheon City Superintendent Do Seong-hoon at the Seoul Government Complex and made the announcement.

However, high school students who need face-to-face classes to prepare for careers and college entrance exams, etc., are not eligible for remote class conversion.

In addition, in addition to distance classes, additional face-to-face instruction is provided for students who need basic academic support.

In addition, for special schools, small schools with less than 60 students, and farming and fishing village schools, it is possible to autonomously decide whether to switch to remote classes.

Even though the Ministry of Education is in the second stage of'social distancing', it seems that the decision to apply full distance learning in the third stage only in the metropolitan area is based on the judgment that the spread of Corona 19 in the metropolitan area is so serious.

The number of schools that stopped attending school yesterday was 1,845 nationwide, the highest since the sequential school attendance at the end of May.

Among them, 148 places in Seoul, 422 places in Gyeonggi and 167 places in Incheon, and the metropolitan area accounted for a total of 40%.

From the 11th of this month, when the recent collective infection in the metropolitan area began in earnest, the number of students in the metropolitan area who had been tested positive for Corona 19 until yesterday has soared to 150 students and 43 faculty members.

However, the Ministry of Education said that as this measure corresponds to the second stage of social distancing, the grade non-calculation system (P/F system) applied to the first and second grades of middle school during the third stage is not applied.

The Ministry of Education is planning to decide whether to extend the deadline after continuing the measures to convert remote classes in the metropolitan area until the 11th of next month, after the spread of Corona 19 and consultations with the quarantine authorities.

The Ministry of Education today did not announce any measures for non-metropolitan schools.

Schools in the non-metropolitan area are continuing the existing measures to combine school and distance classes while keeping the school density below one-third.

(Photo = Yonhap News)