Kindergarten, Elementary 1,2, High School 3 attend school every day
Confusion is inevitable when distance is strengthened
Controversy about providing meals during remote classes
Demand for “teachers to get the vaccine first”
Conducted in Washington with 28 US states
Teachers wearing masks are installing transparent screens on their desks to prevent the spread of Corona 19 in preparation for students going to school after school at Gyeongbuk Arts High School in Daemyeong-dong, Nam-gu, Daegu on the morning of the 23rd. Daegu/Yonhap News
The commencement of the new semester for the second year of Corona 19, which begins on March 2nd, is approaching a week ahead. On the 23rd, the number of new corona 19 confirmed cases reached 357 and the possibility of the 4th epidemic was mentioned, but the education authorities repeatedly nailed “there is no delay in school”. However, this year too, for the time being, distance classes and face-to-face classes have to be held at the same time.
_________
Voices of “teachers also get vaccination first”
As the education authorities are attempting to gradually expand face-to-face classes due to the gap in care and widening educational gaps, requests for teachers to include teachers as priority candidates for the Corona 19 vaccine have emerged mainly from teacher organizations. In the current government’s COVID-19 vaccination plan, teachers will receive vaccinations from July along with essential personnel such as adults (age 18-64) chronically ill, firefighters, police, etc. It is a request. The biggest reason is that the group that suffers the most damage when schools are closed due to the spread of infection within the school is the students of the underprivileged class. “The way teachers, who will be exposed to hundreds of students every day due to the expansion of school, most actively protect themselves and the safety of students is vaccination first” (Korean Federation of Teachers’ Associations). In the U.S., the Vaccination Advisory Committee (ACIP), an advisory body of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), included teachers, along with health care workers and nursing facility residents, as recommended candidates for vaccination. The US (CNN) reported on the 17th (local time) that 28 out of 50 states and the capital Washington are vaccinating some or all of the teachers first. In France, the mayor of Paris directly stepped forward, stressing that “schools also need urgent quarantine,” and asked for teachers to be included as priority candidates for vaccination. The educational authorities only presented a principled position. On the 16th, Deputy Prime Minister of Social Affairs and Education Minister Yu Eun-hye said in a questionnaire to the government of the National Assembly on the 16th, “We have set priorities such as health teachers and caring teachers who are in charge of special schools, and we are continuing to request and discuss with teachers so that they can give priority to vaccination. The opposite voice is also difficult. It is pointed out that it is practically difficult to change the priorities that have already been set given the limited supply of vaccines available in the first half. Joong-sik Eom, a professor at Gachon University’s Gil Hospital (infectious medicine department), said, “It may be worthwhile to change the rank of the few vaccinations that you think are really necessary within the scope that does not significantly affect the vaccination schedule, but if you allow the entire job group, First of all, after asking for vaccination, the vaccination schedule could be messed up.”
_________
School density standards eased by reorganization of distance?
It is also a matter of how many days of school attendance will increase. Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said at the cabinet meeting that day, “We will operate the academic calendar normally this year, and to secure the maximum number of school days under strict quarantine.” Unlike last year, from March, it is possible for kindergarten students and the first and second graders to attend school every day until the second stage of social distancing. The same is true of high school 3, which was the only subject of daily attendance last year. In particular, kindergarten students and early 1st and 2nd graders were excluded from the criteria for determining school density, so the number of school days is expected to increase compared to last year. Students with disabilities will continue to take measures last year, with exceptions from the school density standard, until step 2.5 of distancing, but take classes to school as a’principle’. The variable is that the quarantine authorities are discussing overhaul of the distance system. In line with this, there is a possibility that the education authorities will also ease the standards for school density compared to the current in line with the demand for more face-to-face classes. Deputy Prime Minister Yoo said on the 22nd, “We should prepare in the direction of gradually expanding face-to-face classes to students of other grades.” Even if classes are expanded to school, it is expected that the school field will be confused for the time being as it finds an appropriate balance between quarantine and education. This is because quarantine becomes more difficult as more students come to school. For example, the education authorities said that students who wish to have school meals during remote classes would be able to eat meals at school, but some of the teachers’ organizations suggested that “the progress of quarantine such as vaccination should be fully considered and gradually promoted.” Also did. By Lee Yoo-jin, Choi Won-hyung, and Seo Hye-mi, staff reporter [email protected]