Schools to Send Text Messages to Parents on Kids Whereabouts
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
From next month, parents of elementary school students will be able to know when their children arrive at and leave school through text messages.
The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Monday that it will test its “Safeway Project” ― including text messaging the time of students arrive and leave for lower-grade students ― in 40 elementary schools across the nation.
The students will mark when they enter and exit the school gate by fingerprint-matching or RF card and the information will be text-messaged to their parents.
Also, volunteers, including retired teachers and parents, will accompany younger students on their way to school and home as well. After school, the volunteers will escort the students on their way to private cram schools, residences or anywhere else the parents designate. The volunteers will be paid for minimum costs, including traffic expenses and food charges from the school.
“The project was prepared to reduce kidnapping and school violence and satisfy the parents’ need to know the whereabouts of their children,” a ministry official said. “We will expand the service nationwide next June.”