A classroom of an elementary school in Seoul is vacant on March 17, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) — As the coronavirus outbreak has postponed the new school year by more than a month, teachers are coming up with various ways to meet with their students.
To ensure social distancing, teachers are meeting with each of their students separately.
Park Sam-won, a teacher at Jeonggwang Middle School in the southwestern city of Gwangju, began to meet with his new homeroom students on March 12.
He decided to meet with his students at parking lots, bakeries, or coffee shops near the students’ home.
He would meet with each of them for a maximum of five minutes, and said he understands if some students refuse to meet with him.
So far, seven out of 25 students have agreed to meet with him, and he has completed interviews with four of them.
While some students felt awkward in their first encounter with their teacher, it was an invaluable time for both the teacher and students who will be spending the whole school year together.
“I usually let the students talk, so in some cases, both of us would end up not talking at all,” said Park.
Some teachers are going out to distribute school materials to students.
Teachers at Sangsa Elementary School in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province went out to distribute class materials, wrapped in soft linen, to students that depend on a school bus to come to school.
Some schools implemented a ‘drive-through’ system to distribute class materials at the school gate.
“We are grateful for the voluntary efforts made by the teachers to meet with their students,” said Woo Jae-hak, head of secondary education section at the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
