The World On arirang

More elementary school students and students with disabilities in South Korea will be able to return to classrooms once the infection risk decreases.
The Education Ministry announced on Tuesday that it is aiming to create a safe learning space at schools nationwide to eventually bring more children back to school.

"The time when all students can go to school will be reviewed comprehensively, and depends on the level of infection risk in the community and the nation's vaccine situation."

The ministry will assign nearly 2-thousand contract teachers to help out students in the first, second and third grades of elementary school.
Those teachers will provide basic educational support during in-person classes so that the main teacher can focus on delivering lessons to in-person and online students at the same time.
To support parents with child care during the pandemic care services such as after-school care for younger students will be available nationwide covering more than 459-thousand students.
The ministry is also planning to hire professional counseling teachers who can visit schools frequently to provide emotional support for these younger students.
As many classrooms operated remotely since last year the government is trying to develop its online learning environment and use AI technology to help students with more individual learning in subjects such as math, Korean, and English starting this year.
Choi Won-jong, Arirang News.