Parents on edge as schools brace for in-person classes
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Schools from elementary to secondary level are bracing for full in-person classes for the upcoming spring semester, but parents are on edge over infection fears as the country's daily COVID-19 tally is expected to go up further down the road.
With the new semester for most schools scheduled to start Wednesday, the education ministry is recommending all schools nationwide provide full in-person learning under its new four-tier attendance plan following a grace period for the first two weeks.
Under the plan, schools will be recommended against shifting to full remote learning unless 3 percent of students test positive or 15 percent go into self-quarantine due to infections or close contact with patients.
During the two-week grace period from March 2 to 11, it will be up to each school to decide for itself whether to give lessons in person or online ― many have opted for all classes at school.
Parents have voiced anxiety over imminent in-person class gatherings at a time when the country's daily COVID-19 tallies are renewing records while young children have yet to be inoculated under the national vaccination plan.
"I am very nervous about my children going to school every day given the recent upsurge in infections ahead of the new semester," a mother of two girls in eastern Seoul wrote in an online mother's community.
"I was on edge literally every day over infection fears as my children went to school every day in the second semester last year," she noted.
Another mother of a high school student in southern Seoul is worried that all the efforts she made to keep away from COVID-19 and outside activities may go to waste if her son goes to school this week and comes in contact with anyone with the virus.
"I hope in-person classes can resume after the peak (of the current Omicron wave) is reached," she added.
In Seoul alone, 5,036 COVID-19 infections among kindergarten and school students were confirmed in the week ending Feb. 20, with 22.4 percent of them infected at schools.
Infections among children aged five to 11 have also risen sharply as the government has yet to roll out a vaccination campaign for them. After approving the use of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine for the age group, the government is scheduled to announce its first inoculation plan for young children shortly.
Medical experts, however, predict the actual administration of COVID-19 vaccines for children is likely to start only after the current Omicron wave reaches its peak, which is widely expected to be around 250,000 new daily cases in mid-March.
On Sunday, South Korea reported 139,626 new coronavirus infections after recording an all-time high of 171,442 last Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum once again pledged in-person classes for all students following the upcoming two-week grace period.
"Schools where children meet friends and learn socialization should be (open and) retained as other public spaces of our society," he wrote on Facebook. "Teachers nationwide are preparing for the school opening with resolute determination to safeguard students and keep up full in-person learning." (Yonhap)