South Korea said Tuesday it will begin the new school year on April 9 with online classes for middle and high school senior students following repeated delays due to the novel coronavirus.
According to the Bahrain News Agency, the unprecedented move to introduce online classes at elementary, middle and high schools nationwide will be carried out step by step, depending on grades, according to the education ministry.
The new school year here usually starts in March, but the country had postponed it three times by five weeks to next Monday over concerns that schools are vulnerable to small-scale cluster infections of COVID-19, South Korean News Agency (Yonhap) reported.
To provide schools with one or two weeks of preparations for remote classes, the government has decided to push back the start of the spring semester again to April 9.
“To brace for a possible prolonged pandemic and prepare for future education, it is necessary to boldly push for remote classes right now,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae told a press briefing.
Under the government’s blueprint, middle and high school students in their third and final year will start to learn online next week.
