Yonsei University, Hanyang University, and Other Major Universities to Combine Online Lectures in Second Semester
Students Complain, "Online Classes? Why Isn't Tuition Reduced?"
Angry Students Demand "Immediate Tuition Refund," Some Initiate Collective Lawsuits for Tuition Refund
On the 1st, a press conference was held in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, announcing a class-action lawsuit for tuition refund involving 3,500 university students from 42 universities nationwide. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] "The first semester tuition refund hasn't been done yet?", "If classes are online, tuition should be reduced."
As the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, some universities have announced that they will conduct online lectures in the second semester as well. Accordingly, controversy over tuition refunds is expected to continue.
Students understand the necessity of non-face-to-face lectures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but they unanimously called for measures to resolve the tuition refund issue that has continued since the first semester. Even if face-to-face and online lectures are combined, the quality of classes inevitably declines compared to before, and it is difficult to conduct experiments and practical training, making it impossible to freely use school facilities.
Yonsei University announced on its website on the 6th that "Second semester classes starting on September 1 will be operated by combining face-to-face classes, non-face-to-face classes, and hybrid online-offline classes."
Hanyang University also stated on its website on the 18th of last month that "The situation remains very fluid, with COVID-19 cases continuing mainly in the metropolitan area," and "In the second semester of 2020, classes will be designated and operated to comply with social distancing and other quarantine rules while ensuring the quality of education." Experiment and practical classes will be conducted face-to-face. For other classes, if the number of students exceeds 20, they will be switched to remote classes. In addition, major universities such as Sogang University and Ewha Womans University have adopted a hybrid online-offline approach.
As a result, the voices of university students urging tuition reduction and refund are growing louder. They argue that they did not receive quality education through online-centered classes and could not use on-campus facilities such as libraries or practice rooms, so tuition should be adjusted to exclude facility maintenance fees included in the tuition.
On the 1st, a press conference was held in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, announcing a class-action lawsuit for tuition refund involving 3,500 university students from 42 universities nationwide. Photo by Yonhap News
A (26), a student attending a university in Seoul, said, "If the school really cares about students even a little, they should refund part of the first semester tuition and adjust the second semester tuition to be lower," adding, "Because we cannot use the library or campus lounges, we have to use study cafes for team projects, which is a significant financial burden. I don't understand why I have to pay usage fees when I can't use most of the school facilities," expressing frustration.
Another student, B (23), said, "It seems like they are trying to brush it off by starting the second semester without refunding the first semester tuition," and added, "The government and schools should prepare measures before the semester starts, but it doesn't seem easy."
He added, "Due to personal circumstances, I can't take a leave of absence, so I will have to pay the full tuition next semester and only get frustrated. I'm fed up with the school unilaterally notifying us without respecting students' opinions. I don't understand why they don't refund students when operating costs such as water and electricity bills must have decreased."
According to a survey, 99 out of 100 university students responded that "tuition refund is necessary."
According to a survey conducted by the National University Student Council Network (Jeondaenet) from the 24th to the 28th of last month targeting 11,105 students from 198 universities nationwide, 99.3% of respondents answered this way. Regarding the "appropriate percentage of tuition refund for the first semester," 10.9% of respondents said "90% or more," and 27% said "50% of tuition should be refunded." The average appropriate refund rate was 59%.
Students cited reasons such as "the quality of remote classes is poor" (83.3%, multiple responses allowed), "facilities are unavailable" (79.2%), and "they are taking majors or liberal arts classes that cannot be conducted remotely" (47.2%).
Meanwhile, university students have formed a Tuition Refund Movement Headquarters and filed a "tuition refund class-action lawsuit" against the Ministry of Education and universities.
The Tuition Refund Movement Headquarters, organized mainly by Jeondaenet, held a press conference in front of the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the 1st, submitting a complaint and stating, "The defendant, the Government of the Republic of Korea and universities, must respond to university students' demands and immediately refund the first semester tuition."
They said, "The National Assembly Education Committee increased the budget by 271.8 billion won last month to support tuition refunds, but this means that only about 10% of tuition per school, about 400,000 won per person, will be refunded," urging a uniform refund of 1 million won for private university students and 500,000 won for national and public university students.
Lee Hae-ji, executive director of Jeondaenet, criticized the decision of several universities to conduct second semester classes mainly online, saying, "If the second semester starts without resolving the first semester tuition issue, students' dissatisfaction will explode," and added, "It is regrettable that the second semester class method is being decided without listening to students' opinions again."
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