Students in Seoul and its surrounding areas returned to school for in-person classes on Monday amid signs of slowdown in new COVID-19 cases and mounting worries over the widening learning gap as the pandemic continues.
Schools will offer a mix of remote and in-person learning until October 11, after which the education ministry will decide whether to allow full-fledged reopening.
Schools around the nation are currently required to run with anti-virus limits, including capping attendance at one-third in elementary and middle schools and two-thirds in high schools, to guarantee social distancing.
High school seniors, who have been excluded from the government's school reopening measures, have also switched to a combination of offline and online instruction as they kick their university entrance exam preparations into high gear.
The annual College Scholastic Ability Test is slated for December 3.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
