The Ministry of Education Announce the Convergence of On and Off-line Education

Gyu Hee Kim

The Korean Ministry of Education announced that they are trying to join on and off-line education because of the COVID-19 that is spreading all over the world.

On March 2, the Ministry of Education postponed the start of the new semester for all kindergarten, elementary and secondary schools. They postponed it from March 2 to March 9 at first, but then changed the date to April 6 because of the virus spreading.

According to the Ministry of Education, the government is preparing to start schools safely on April 6. They also said that they are trying to converge on and off-line education in preparation for more postponement.

The Ministry of Education concluded the Remote Assistance Cooperation Agreement on March 25 for the preparation of the new semester start date postponement. They said that schools will do both on and off-line education alternately. However, when it becomes hard to have off-line classes, such as they have a person who is confirmed to be infected by COVID-19, then schools will have online classes.

Each region’s Education Office selected the model schools which will do online classes for a week. The advantages and disadvantages of this pilot education program are going to be reported to the government.

By concluding the agreement, the Ministry of Education and other institutions are trying to stabilize the online education program. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education said that they are going to expand support of digitization, tuition reimbursement, and the rental of smart devices for underprivileged students.

This situation could lead to a change in university and college admission schedule. The Ministry of Education announced that they are examining a practical plan regarding the change of the university and college admission schedule. They said that they will decide the change of schedule after the confirmation of the starting date for the new semester.

The Ministry of Education said that this measure will help to turn the crisis caused by
COVID-19 into an opportunity for future education.