Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Hundreds of schools to stay closed on coronavirus fear
A front gate of Yale Elementary School in Seoul, Monday, is closed for two days after it was discovered that several people infected with the coronavirus were reported to have visited a store run by parents with children attending the school. /Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bakh Eun-ji
A growing number of schools here are postponing the start of their spring semesters to prevent the possible spread of the new coronavirus among children, according to the Ministry of Education, Monday. The move comes amid growing concerns over the infectious disease epidemic that has so far hospitalized 15 people here.
“Basically, the decision to postpone the reopening after vacation is made by school's principals, while the temporary closure of schools should come after prior consultation with the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The measure can currently be operated in regions involving the tracking of the contacts of confirmed patients, but it could also be applied to other regions if necessary,” said Lee Sang-soo, a deputy general of the education course policy division during a press briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong.
As of 9:00 a.m., 336 elementary, middle and high schools and kindergartens across the country were temporarily closed. Among them, nine schools and kindergartens were in Seoul, 189 were in Gyeoggi Province, and 138 in North Jeolla Province.
In Seoul, only one kindergarten decided to postpone its reopening, while three elementary, two middle schools and three high schools decided to do so. Yale Elementary School in Seoul closed for two days from Monday as the 10th and 11th confirmed patients visited a store operated by the parents of children attending the school.
An official of the Yale Elementary School said the regional health center quarantine officials visited the school Sunday to conduct disinfection of the whole school building, and it will decide whether it will extend the temporary closure of the school today. The parents have not been placed under quarantine measures nor are they being monitored by the health authorities yet.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education said its regional education offices of Suwon and Bucheon ordered all schools in their jurisdiction to delay their reopening for a week as confirmed patients visited the regions before they were quarantined.
In Suwon, 99 kindergartens were temporarily shut down while as were 77 in Bucheon and nine in Goyang. Gunsan, a city in North Jeolla Province, has a high number of schools closed temporarily ― 59 kindergartens, and 49 elementary, 21 middle and 16 high schools.
The MOE said it will closely consult with the regional education offices to rearrange the academic calendar of the schools if they decided to delay their reopening for more than two weeks. If the schools put off reopening for the spring semester for more than three weeks, the education ministry will advise them to reduce the coming summer vacation which will start in July.
The ministry said that it will likely advise universities to postpone their spring semester to prevent the possible spread of virus infections from Chinese students who are set to return to Korea this month.
“The ministry will have an emergency meeting within this week with university officials to decide whether they will postpone reopening, which is set for March 2,” Lee said.