Universities and colleges in South Korea are planning to gradually expand in-person classes following the Education Ministry's guideline to increase offline school activities from the fall semester.

Under the ministry's plan, face-to-face classes will begin with experiment, practice and performance courses and small classes at junior colleges.

Toward the end of September, when 70 percent of the population is expected to be vaccinated, larger lectures and in-person classes at four-year universities will resume.

Schools are trying to encourage students to receive shots while discussions are underway to allow them to take necessary days off to rest after vaccination. Several schools including Dongguk University and Kukmin University in Seoul have already implemented vaccination leave.

Efforts are also underway to make face-to-face classes safer for students. Seoul National University, which has announced the resumption of physical classes from fall, is working to develop an app to help students on campus social distance by tracking the number of people in buildings and classrooms in real-time.