Greater Seoul area students, schools should commit to two-weeks' remote-only learning
With daily COVID-19 infection cases hovering in the 300s again, students from kindergarten and up to 11th grade in Seoul and its surrounding area will engage only in remote learning for two weeks through Sept. 11.
There are a few exceptions, mainly high school seniors who will take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in December. But overall, it's a targeted highest Level 3 social distancing for students in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
Hesitant to shut down non-essential businesses and taking into consideration the nature of schools, authorities took this selective step as other parts of the nation remained at Level 2 social distancing.
Schools already experienced delayed opening and online learning in the first semester, so the lessons picked up then should come into use now and for the second semester.
Among the pressing issues is daycare services. Companies will have to consider extending daycare holidays for working parents. Education authorities are requesting schools proffer daycare to elementary students and President Moon Jae-in weighed in asking policymakers to come up immediately with ways to support families with daycare needs during the period. But not all schools will have sufficient resources to do so. Another paramount issue is the widening academic gap between the students in the high-performance tiers vs. lower ones, which should be addressed with some complementary study support measures.
The authorities must inspect smaller cram schools or those with 300 or fewer students and employees that are excluded from Level 2 distancing.
The education ministry reiterated that the CSAT will take place as planned on Dec. 3. But who can predict the coronavirus' trajectory over the next several months? Korea has had experience once in 2017 when the Pohang earthquake in the southeastern region put off the CSAT test date by a week. The ministry would do well to draft up a possible Plan B while it has some time.