A limited number of students in the greater Seoul area will return to school on Monday amid lingering concerns about the continued spread of COVID-19.

The Education Ministry recently said it will allow kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools in Seoul and its surrounding areas in Gyeonggi Province and Incheon to resume offline classes along with remote learning from Monday.

Schools in the metropolitan area had switched to online classes on August 26 amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in the region. High school seniors were not subject to the policy.

However, the government decided to allow the schools to mix online and offline classes from Monday as health authorities eased the so-called Level 2.5 social distancing to Level Two last week.

Under the Level Two guidelines, schools are required to operate with attendance capped at one-third in elementary and middle schools and two-thirds in high schools.