Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae on Monday indicated an imminent expansion of partial school reopenings as daily COVID-19 infections remained in the double-digits for the fifth-consecutive day. 

In a meeting with reporters, Yoo announced plans to introduce a “flexible administration of school affairs” that fit circumstances of regions and schools. She earlier stressed the need for such measures to address a widening gap between students in terms of the quality of education under the remote learning system. 

The prospective system will likely be put in place from next Monday following the closure of the special Chuseok quarantine period on Sunday. 

The Education Ministry switched from online-only classes to partial classroom reopening on September 21 after a recurrence of infections in the Seoul metropolitan area since mid-August slowed down, but still has kept classroom accommodation capacity at one-third in kindergartens, elementary and middle schools and two-thirds in high schools.

The minister said, however, the "density level" of classrooms will be maintained, raising speculation that more afternoon classes will be introduced.