Military officials carry out a disinfection operation at a middle school in Daegu, some 300 kilometers south of Seoul, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Running online and offline classes in parallel last year due to the outbreak of the coronavirus had a severe side effect on students who were in socially and economically vulnerable positions, a study showed Sunday.
Particularly among lower grade elementary school students, it led to some cases where the process of development actually receded.
Students who are in an educationally disadvantageous situation during the COVID-19 period are experiencing weakening health due to the increase in consumption of instant food, a lack of exercise and changes in sleep patterns, according to the latest report from the Korean Educational Development Institute.
The research team identified these results after interviewing 13 students, 11 parents, 29 school and educational office-related officials, and 14 municipal government officials.
For students in vulnerable groups, the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to expanding the scope of the students who are placed in an educationally disadvantageous position, while deepening the degree of disadvantage.
Interviews with school staff members revealed cases where some second grade elementary students acted awkwardly and stammered or forgot the Korean alphabet they learned during the first grade.
The research team concluded that for students in vulnerable groups, school is everything to them as they cannot rely on private tutoring. School shutdowns and remote classes are generating severe side effects for these students.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
