Korean students returned to their universities early this month for the new semester, amid lingering worries about coronavirus infections on campus.

Universities have introduced new approaches to bringing students back to campus by resuming some pre-virus practices such as offline courses. Several colleges pushed for hybrid learning, combining in-person and remote classroom methods while still complying with the nation‘s quarantine guidelines.

The measures came out as the government decided to extend strict distancing rules in Greater Seoul, which includes Incheon and Gyeonggi Province. The social distancing scheme has been hiked to “Level 2.5,” forcing schools to postpone opening up their offline campuses to students. Campuses are only open for practical and theoretical subjects with 50 or fewer students per class.

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted educational institutions to scrap face-to-face teaching decisions to prevent new coronavirus clusters before the spring course. Professors were notified to conduct their classes via online solutions throughout the whole semester, leading to a slew of technical glitches related to online classes. Students are faced with a difficult situation, as they have to study from home, with offline classes and resources seriously limited.

According to health experts, students returning to school could potentially see a new wave of outbreaks. Please check out the video if you wish to see how students are starting the fall semester during the pandemic period.

Video script and article by Park Jun-hee (junheeep97@heraldcorp.com)
Video shot and edited by Ju Young-eun (yyj4307@heraldcorp.com)