Education offices in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province announced Sunday they would cancel classes for three days starting Monday for schools in some parts of the regions where patients were confirmed or suspected to be infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome.
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education chief Cho Hi-yeon held an emergency meeting and decided to suspend classes for all 126 elementary schools and kindergartens in the city‘s southern districts of Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu from Monday to Wednesday.
With the announcement, the number of schools, kindergartens, colleges, universities and special education institutions in Seoul that canceled classes totaled 178.
“I would advise other schools to actively consider suspending classes as well to address the concerns of parents,” Cho said. “(The SMOE) will keep a keen eye on the situation, and may extend the period (of suspension) or order more schools to cancel their classes.”
The SMOE has also allocated 600 million won ($530,000) to provide health-related supplies for all schools to check each student for fever, one of the most common symptoms of MERS.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education also decided to cancel classes for all kindergartens and elementary, middle and high schools in Suwon, Yongin, Pyeongtaek, Anseong, Hwaseong, Osan and Bucheon from Monday to Friday. A total of 1,255 educational institutes will be affected by the GPOE’s measure, according to officials.
Korea‘s first-ever MERS patient had been admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Pyeongtaek, prior to his diagnosis in May. The hospital is considered the primary epicenter of the outbreak in the country.
By Yoon Min-sik ()
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
