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(2nd LD) Ministry warns of punitive measures over university’s suspension of expansion of quotas for medical courses

Theo

(ATTENTION: UPDATES with measures taken by other universities)

SEOUL, May 8 (Yonhap) — The Ministry of Education warned Pusan ​​National University (PNU) on Wednesday of punitive measures including suspending student admissions, a day after the school decided to cancel its planned increase in medical school admissions to stop.

The university in the port city of Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, was one of 32 schools allocated a total of 2,000 additional admission slots by the government in March as part of a medical reform initiative.

The allocation increased PNU’s overall medical school quota from 125 to 200, but the school had sought to use only about 50 percent of the increase to admit 163 medical students for the 2025 academic year.

However, in a meeting the previous day, PNU’s academic board rejected a revision of the school’s regulations reflecting the quota increase, saying that any quota increase for medical schools should be preceded by sufficient social debate.

PNU is the first of the 32 medical schools to make such a decision.

Pusan ​​National University medical students protest the school’s medical school quota increase plan in a collective action on campus on May 7, 2024. (Yonhap)

The Ministry of Education responded on Wednesday that it would issue a correction order on the PNU and take administrative punitive measures if the school does not comply.

“We can issue a rectification order if the school’s rejection of the (quota) revision is found to be final,” a ministry official said.

“If the order is not followed, the ministry plans to take administrative action, including suspending the admission of students,” the official said.

Cha Jeong-in, president of PNU, later told the press that he had asked the academic board to reconsider the quota increase plan for approval. Based on the request, the board plans to convene a reconsideration meeting in the near future.

Jeju National University also said its professors’ council and advisory board rejected a revision of the school’s regulations that would increase the enrollment rate for medical schools.

The university’s admissions management committee stopped deliberations on the admission increase and decided to hold further internal discussions.

Meanwhile, Kangwon National University withdrew a proposal to revise school regulations in line with the plan to increase admissions and suspended related discussions. The proposal was submitted by the advisory board.

Separately, the Seoul High Court plans to receive materials from the government on its justification for increasing admissions by 2,000 by Friday and decide next week whether to issue an injunction on the plan, education sources say. and legal circles.

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