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.
96% of Seoul citizens think pandemic widens learning gap
A teacher gives a class online in an empty classroom of an elementary school in Songpa District, Seoul, in this March 30 photo. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
The vast majority of Seoul citizens believe the gap in academic performance has been widened among students in Korea during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, a poll showed Wednesday.
The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE) conducted a survey on 307 parents, students, educators and members of the general public on three topics, including measures to bridge the learning gap, online classes and sex education in the digital age.
Among the respondents who participated in the survey on ways to resolve the learning gap, 96 percent agreed with the statement, “There has been an education achievement gap since the outbreak of COVID-19.”
When multiple answers were allowed, 61.5 percent of respondents said the difference in academic interests of individuals and parents is a major factor contributing to inequities in education.
In regard to the education methods whether schools should provide remote or in-person classes, 73.8 percent said schools should carry out both in accordance with the virus situation.
More than 50 percent cited varying circumstances of private education as the reason for the learning gap, and 47.9 percent said economic differences between haves and have-nots have deepened the gap.
According to the survey, 28.1 percent of respondents said they agreed with the claim that full access to online learning is far from universal and that students who are poor are less likely to have access to the key tools and experiences they need to excel in online classes. A total of 19.8 percent said lack of schools' and teachers' interest and interactions in online education are key contributing factors.
Thirteen percent said financial support and full access to online learning with tools such as tablet PCs and desktops are necessary to bridge the education gap caused by the COVID-19 crisis.
When asked how to resolve the problem, 34 percent of respondents said improving quality of public education should come first, and 32 percent said conducting classes in person will play a key role to narrow the gap.
On the other hand, 25.2 percent of respondents said a law related to education should be enacted in preparation for the prolonged pandemic, and urged education authorities to prepare for opening schools and conducting face-to-face classes.
As a way to secure safety in the classroom, 58.3 percent said minimizing contact between students is the most important, while 40.8 percent said deployment of personnel or instructors who are to exclusively supervise quarantine measures in classrooms should come first.