Students at 10 medical schools boycotting classes

All News 15:36 March 11, 2024

SEJONG, March 11 (Yonhap) -- Students at 10 medical schools are boycotting classes in protest of the government's decision to increase the medical school enrollment quota, officials said Monday, raising concern they could end up failing to advance to a higher grade en masse.

The other 30 medical schools have postponed the opening of a new semester as protests continue against the government's plan to add an additional 2,000 medical seats to the current 3,058 to help address a shortage of doctors, the education ministry said.

"We've confirmed class boycotts at 10 medical schools," a ministry official said. "In other words, 10 out of the 40 medical schools have opened a new semester, while the 30 other schools have adjusted their academic schedules."

Should class boycotts continue, students could face grade retention en masse. At most medical schools, students receive a failing grade if they are absent from one-third or one-fourth of the total number of classes, and those with even a single F should repeat the same year again.

A photo shows an empty classroom at a medical school in the southeastern port city of Busan as students boycott going to class in protest of the government's plan to raise the medical student quota on March 11, 2024. (Yonhap)

At Hallym University in the eastern city of Chuncheon, students will get an F if they don't return to class by Thursday, given their failure to meet the minimum number of classes they are required to take in a semester.

However, each university is trying to prevent such a situation from happening by looking for ways to make up the required minimum number of classes, which is set for 15 weeks in a semester.

Education Minister Lee Ju-ho has requested the Korean Medical Student Association to answer his proposal to join him in a discussion by 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The ministry said it plans to discuss with the student group ways to normalize the academic schedule of medical schools and how to protect the students' right to learn.

Meanwhile, a total of 5,446 leaves of absence had been filed with due documentation as of Sunday, accounting for 29 percent of the 18,793 medical school students enrolled across the country as of April last year, according to the education ministry.

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