Ministry of Education "Leave of Absence Approved on Condition of Return Next Year"... Paid Leave or Expulsion if No Return

'Emergency Measures for Normalizing Medical School Bachelor's Degree'
Approval After Confirming Intent to Take a Leave of Absence
Operation of 'Medical Education Support Center' Sharing Jopbo
Improvements Allowing Extension and Additional Leave of Absence Applications

The government announced that it will approve leaves of absence on the condition that medical students who have not returned to classes will come back by the start of the first semester next year. For students who have no intention of returning, measures such as repeating a year or expulsion will be applied according to each university's academic regulations. To guarantee the class rights of returning students, a so-called 'Medical Education Support Center' will also be operated to share and support study materials.

On the 6th, Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, held a briefing at the Government Seoul Office and announced the "Emergency Measures for Normalizing Medical School Academic Affairs," which includes these details. This measure was prepared to normalize the academic operations of medical schools, which have been disrupted by large-scale leave applications and class refusals by medical students since February.

The Ministry of Education will thoroughly verify the intention and reasons for leave of absence for students who have not returned by the end of December and approve leaves on the premise that they will return at the start of the 2025 academic year, rather than approving collective leave. To approve leave, individual students must go through procedures including ▲re-persuasion for return through individual counseling ▲reconfirmation of leave intention and correction of previously submitted leave applications to clearly confirm no intention of collective leave ▲verification of leave reasons, return intention, and supporting documents ▲approval of leave only if the return date is specified to align with the start of the 2025 academic year through counseling.

However, if students fail to provide reasons for leave according to academic regulations, they will not be eligible for leave, and if they continue not to return, measures such as repeating a year or expulsion will be taken according to the academic regulations.

Lee Ju-ho, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, is making an announcement on the flexible operation guidelines for medical school academics on the 10th at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno, Seoul. This guideline was prepared to support medical students so that they can study without worrying about repeating a year after returning. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Along with this, from this month, universities will set return deadlines while giving students as many opportunities as possible to return, considering educational conditions and curriculum operations, and actively persuade them to return through counseling. If cases of infringement on learning rights such as coercion of collective actions or online disclosure of lists are confirmed during this process, strict measures will be taken. Additionally, the curriculum will be prepared to allow smooth course completion and promotion through flexible academic operations upon return.

Also, from the end of this month, universities will be required to establish and submit to the Ministry of Education plans for curriculum operation for the 2024 and 2025 academic years when approving students' leaves this year. Based on this, the curriculum will be operated to protect the learning rights of students who complete their studies normally in 2024 and those who return, and special programs will be operated to support a smooth return in 2025 and strengthen medical capabilities even for students on leave.

In the 2025 academic year, the curriculum will be operated considering each university's quota increase, scale of returning students, and educational conditions, but priority in course registration and class division will be given to new students in 2025, and separate measures such as protection from coercion of collective actions will be prepared. Measures will also be prepared to protect the learning rights of students who complete their studies normally this year and those returning in the second semester. The university headquarters and medical schools will cooperate to operate a "Medical Education Support Center (tentative name)" that provides grievance counseling and shares and supports past exam questions and study materials (jokbo).

Institutional improvements to support the management of medical students' leave and return will also be pursued. For recruitment units related to medical personnel training, where the state determines the scale of talent development based on manpower supply and demand, amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Higher Education Act and academic regulations will be promoted so that universities can manage the scale of leaves and returns considering the quality and conditions of education.

First, the academic regulations will reflect the "maximum number of students that can be educated beyond the quota" considering educational conditions per semester (academic year), flexible curriculum operation, and utilization of human and material resources of the entire university, and management will be conducted to prevent academic operations exceeding this number.

Also, regulations limiting continuous leave exceeding two semesters will be added to academic regulations to enhance predictability and stability of medical personnel. However, in cases of special reasons making education difficult, supplementary regulations will allow leave extension or additional leave applications with the president's approval.

Along with this, in cooperation with university sites, plans for shortening and flexibly operating the curriculum for smooth medical personnel training and supply will be prepared, and to support this, flexible scheduling of the national medical licensing exam and resident selection will be pursued through consultations with the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Ministry of Education plans to review universities' curriculum operation plans reflecting the implementation of leave approval principles and procedures under the emergency measures, approval of collective leave, and efforts to guarantee students' learning rights, and reflect the results in financial support from 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Lee said, "I believe it is the responsibility of the government and universities to make the best efforts to bring students back until the very end," and added, "Even when universities approve leave confirming individual reasons rather than collective leave, it is important to prepare academic operations after return in advance to ensure that students' learning rights are not infringed."