7,620 Students Submitted Leave of Absence Requests in One Day
Only 30 Cases, Including Military Leave, Approved Based on School Regulations
In response to the government's plan to increase medical school quotas, more than 8,000 medical students, accounting for about 46% of all medical students, have submitted leave of absence applications, initiating collective action in earnest.
According to the Ministry of Education on the 21st, as of 6 p.m. the previous day, 7,620 medical students from 27 out of 40 medical schools nationwide submitted leave of absence applications within one day. Including the 1,133 medical students who submitted leave applications on the 19th, a total of 8,753 medical students are understood to have joined the collective leave of absence. According to the 2023 Education Statistics, there are a total of 18,820 enrolled medical students, meaning about 46.5% have submitted leave applications. However, the Ministry of Education explained that some students who canceled their leave applications and then reapplied may have been counted twice, so there may be some overlap in the numbers.
It was identified that three medical schools engaged in collective actions such as class boycotts the previous day. Additionally, six medical schools approved 30 leave applications, which were based on procedures in accordance with school regulations such as military leave and leave due to failure or non-completion, and no leave applications citing 'collective leave' as the reason were approved.
In protest against the government's plan to increase medical school quotas by 2,000, student representatives from medical schools nationwide have decided to submit leave of absence applications together on the 20th of this month. The photo shows a medical school in Seoul on the 16th. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@
The Ministry of Education stated that it urged each university to carefully review the approval of students' leave applications according to laws and principles and to strictly manage collective actions such as class boycotts in accordance with school regulations. Some medical schools are reportedly responding to students' collective actions by postponing scheduled classes.
While the government’s position is that collective leave of absence does not qualify as a valid reason for leave under school regulations, medical students are simultaneously conducting 'class boycotts,' which could lead to a large-scale failure situation. There are concerns that if medical students are collectively failed, there will be sequential gaps in the number of candidates taking the national medical licensing exam and those applying for internships, potentially leading to a shortage of medical personnel.
Earlier, representatives of medical students from all 40 medical schools nationwide officially declared that they would submit collective leave of absence applications starting the previous day. The Korean Medical School Students Association (KMSA) stated in a press release, "To protect future generations and patients who will suffer from doctors trained hastily, and to protect juniors who will not receive proper education due to the quota increase, we are beginning to submit collective leave of absence applications."
The Emergency Response Committee of Sungkyunkwan University Medical School announced that starting the previous day, all 213 medical students across all grades submitted leave applications and will refuse major classes and practical training. At Pusan National University Medical School, 582 out of 590 students submitted leave documents the previous day, with 98.6% of the entire student body participating in collective action. The Daegu regional alliance of four medical schools (Kyungpook National University, Keimyung University, Yeungnam University, and Daegu Catholic University) also issued a statement supporting collective leave of absence. In addition, medical students have formed their own task forces (TFs) at each university to create materials explaining the problems of increasing medical school quotas and are posting them on social media platforms.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
