Yang Obong, President of the Medical School Presidents’ Council, Holds Luncheon with Press on the 24th
Next Steps to Be Discussed After Assessing Returning Students; Council Meeting Scheduled for the 31st
"Return of Medical Students Is the Priority... More Than Half Needed for Normal Education"
As the deadline for registration and reinstatement applications for medical students who have not returned approaches at the end of this month, the presidents of 40 medical schools have decided to focus all efforts on persuading students to return by the 31st. While the principle of responding according to school regulations if students do not return remains unchanged, measures assuming a 'large-scale expulsion incident' will be discussed after the medical students return.
Yang Oh-bong, president of Jeonbuk National University and chair of the Council of Presidents for the Advancement of Medical Schools (Uichonghyeop), a meeting of the presidents of 40 medical schools, said at a luncheon with reporters in Sejong on the 24th, "We will hold a Uichonghyeop meeting around the 31st to discuss how to proceed regarding the unregistered students." Since the Ministry of Education and each medical school have set the deadline for the return of non-returning medical students by the end of this month, they plan to explore additional response measures after reviewing the status of returning students.
President Yang said, "We consider the return of medical students important until this week," adding, "I will not comment on transfer or other matters after expulsion." He emphasized, "We, the presidents of the 40 medical schools, must focus most on what is needed for the return of medical students by March 31 and what is necessary to persuade them to return," noting that "presidents, medical school professors, and deans are all concentrating on this."
According to the education sector, five universities?Yonsei University, Yonsei University Wonju, Korea University, Kyungpook National University, and CHA University School of Medicine?closed their registration and reinstatement applications on the 21st. Konyang University closed on the 24th, Seoul National University, Ewha Womans University, and Pusan National University on the 27th, and Kyung Hee University, Inha University, and Catholic University on the 28th. Since most medical schools have set their reinstatement deadlines this week, the scale of medical student returns is expected to become clear early next week.
The presidents of the 40 medical schools are known to maintain their existing stance of 'responding according to principles.' President Yang stated, "Each university has different school regulations and opinions, but there is no wavering among the presidents of the 40 universities in responding together according to principles to solve the medical school issue." He added that, like the five universities that closed registration and reinstatement applications on the 21st, the remaining 35 universities will also handle unregistered leave students according to school regulations. In the case of Yonsei University, from this day, 'expulsion notice letters' will be sent to unregistered leave students, and expulsion will be processed on the 28th.
The Ministry of Education and each medical school have set the condition that if medical students return by the end of this month, the number of medical school admissions next year will be frozen at the 2024 level of 3,058 students. The Ministry of Education considers a meaningful scale of returning medical students as the number sufficient for 'normal classes to be possible.' At the Ministry of Education's regular briefing that morning, an official elaborated, "It is a level at which classes can be conducted under normal and reasonable standards."
On university campuses, it is judged that about half of the unregistered leave students need to return for normal classes to be possible. President Yang said, "Generally, I think that more than half (of the returning students) is necessary for normal education to take place," adding, "(The specific scale) is a matter for each university to decide."
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