By Jung Min-ho

Starting with the next academic year, elementary, middle and high schools in Seoul will likely start at 9 a.m., up to 90 minutes later than they currently start, according to Seoul’s education chief Monday.

Cho Hee-yeon, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education (SMOE), proposed the idea of giving students more time to “sleep and have breakfast with their families.”

A later start to the school day was adopted by Lee Jae-jeong, superintendent of Gyeonggi Province, in September.

SMOE’s adoption of the program will likely trigger other liberal education superintendents in 13 of 17 cities and provinces nationwide to follow suit.

The office will collect opinions from teachers, students and their parents about the proposal until the end of this year. It is also planning to hold public debates on the issue.

In addition, the Seoul office will consider measures to prevent students from taking private classes before 9 a.m.

Although Cho said he is just “encouraging the schools to adopt the policy voluntarily,” the decision appears to be firm.

After collecting opinions, Cho said he plans to map out the details of the policy by February before putting it into effect in March.

In Gyeonggi Province, of the 2,250 elementary, middle and high schools, 90.1 percent have delayed their school starting time to 9 a.m., and 15 to 20 percent of those schools run voluntary morning programs, according to the Gyeonggi Provincial Office of Education.

The policy has been received favorably by most students. But it has also drawn concerns from their parents over the students’ academic performance.

Cho also suggested preventing teachers from giving homework to first- and second-graders in elementary schools over criticism that it hurts their creativity and makes them passive in learning.

Instead, he proposed giving them two to three hours of “play time” to help them develop creativity.