Ministry of Education: "의평원 Opposing Evaluation and Certification Revisions Shows Bias Toward Specific Professional Groups"

Contents such as the pre-certification supplementation period during large-scale disasters
Included... Ministry of Education "To Ensure Accountability of Accreditation Bodies"

The Korea Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation (KIMEE), which assesses the quality of medical education, recently demanded the withdrawal of the "Regulation Amendment on the Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions," which was recently announced for legislative notice. In response, the Ministry of Education rebutted, stating that "KIMEE is biased toward the interests of a specific professional group."

On the 17th, the Ministry of Education issued a statement regarding KIMEE's press conference held the previous day, emphasizing, "KIMEE's opposition to the amendment and its claim that the policy to increase the medical school quota by 2,000 students should be canceled or revised is excessively biased toward the interests of a specific profession, regardless of its responsibility as an accreditation body that must conduct fair and objective evaluation and accreditation."

The "Regulation Amendment on the Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions" specifies that in the event of a large-scale disaster causing the academic operations of medical schools to be disrupted or educational conditions to deteriorate, the accreditation body must provide a supplementation period of at least one year before disaccrediting a specific university. Additionally, when the accreditation body changes evaluation and accreditation standards, it must provide prior notice, and if there is a vacancy in the accreditation body, the validity period of the existing evaluation and accreditation can be extended.

At the press conference the day before, KIMEE demanded the withdrawal of the legislative notice, criticizing the Ministry of Education by saying, "Announcing decisions that shake the existing medical education system without any prior notice and pushing them unilaterally as if conducting a speed race clearly shows a disregard for the value and role of medical education that trains doctors." They also pointed out that if the accreditation validity period can be extended when there is a vacancy in the accreditation body, it would effectively allow "indefinite extension," making it impossible to guarantee the quality of medical education.

In response, the Ministry of Education reiterated that the amendment to the presidential decree aims to secure the accountability of all evaluation accreditation bodies. Regarding the special case of vacancy in the accreditation body, the Ministry stated, "This provision is intended to respond to temporary vacancies in accreditation bodies and does not mean indefinite extension of the evaluation accreditation validity period," adding, "In Japan, related laws also provide exceptions to the obligation of evaluation and accreditation."

Regarding the supplementation period before disaccreditation in large-scale disaster situations, the Ministry explained, "It is to prevent disadvantages to students and disruptions in the training of medical personnel." The Ministry added, "Because the social impact is significant, it is not appropriate to leave the decision on whether to apply disaccreditation grace in special situations where academic operations cannot be conducted normally due to large-scale disasters solely to the discretion of the accreditation body. Therefore, we intend to establish grounds for this in the presidential decree."

Concerning the provision requiring prior notice when changing evaluation and accreditation standards, procedures, or methods, the Ministry explained, "The purpose is to ensure predictability of evaluation by requiring a minimum of one year’s prior notice," and added, "Considering the timing of the presidential decree amendment, the current major change evaluation by KIMEE will not be subject to the amendment related to prior notice."

The Ministry of Education stated, "We will supplement the amendment if necessary after the legislative notice and consultation with related organizations." The legislative notice period for the "Regulation Amendment on the Evaluation and Accreditation of Higher Education Institutions" is from the 25th of last month to the 4th of next month.