Moon Administration Requires Vaccine Passes for Kids to Attend Hagwon Schools and Libraries
The Moon administration is messing with the hagwons, watch out there is going to be some angry ajummas:
![A Ministry of Education official checks a hagwon (cram school) in Daejeon for any violations of Covid-19 regulations on Monday. [NEWS1]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2021/12/06/2a8d9bc9-640b-40f6-a437-4901d92e7a75.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Students and parents are protesting the government’s new vaccine pass system, saying it infringes upon adolescents’ right not to get vaccinated.
Starting Monday, Korea’s vaccine pass systemwas expanded to hagwon (cram school) libraries, PC bang (internet cafes), public study rooms, movie theatres, restaurants and cafes — but only for adults using them.
From Feb. 1, 12 to 18-year-olds — people born between the years 2003 and 2009 — will require vaccine passes to enter those places, unless they submit a negative PCR test that was conducted within the previous 48 hours, according to the Central Disaster Management Headquarters’ briefing Friday.
In protest, an 18-year-old student in Daegu filed an online petition on the Blue House website Nov. 26, writing that the regulation is discriminatory against students and their right to an education. (…..)“The government has decided to more strongly advise vaccinations for minors because the situation has grown that much more dangerous over the past month,” said Son Young-rae, senior epidemiological strategist at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters.
Joong Ang Ilbo
“As the necessity grew for more people to be vaccinated, we have decided to expand the vaccine pass system to include individuals from ages 12 to 18.”
Son added that the infection rate for Covid among minors surpassed that for adults over the last four weeks.
According to the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, 99.7 out of every 100,000 minors were infected from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1, compared to 76.9 out of every 100,000 adults.
Yet, teens and their parents say that requiring a vaccine pass in places like hagwon, which are considered essential facilities for nearly all middle and high school students in Korea, is unfair.
“Enforcing a vaccine pass system in hagwon is a violation of the children’s right to learn,” said Ms. Lee, 47, a mother of two in Seongbuk District, central Seoul.
You can read more at the link.
