Starting next month, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education will provide a free school attendance notification service for approximately 320,000 students across 607 national, public, and private elementary schools in Seoul.


The service automatically detects when students arrive at or leave school using devices carried by the students and receivers installed at the schools, sending real-time updates to parents via text message or app notifications.

During a survey conducted in December of last year, 429 out of 606 elementary schools in Seoul were operating their own attendance notification services, but most parents had to pay a monthly fee of 2,000 to 3,000 won.

To ensure that all elementary students can access safe services regardless of their school, region, or family background, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education plans to use special disaster safety management grants from the Ministry of Education to cover service fees and provide backup devices.

(Photo courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Yonhap News)