**Some Medical Students Intend to Return to Classes Late… Each Medical School to Submit Status to Ministry of Education by Tomorrow**
**Overall Rescheduling Status to Be Released After the 9th… Government and Universities Prepare Countermeasures for Tripling**
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Eunji Ko = The possibility of collective rescheduling of medical students becoming a reality has increased.
With most medical schools having already confirmed the students who will be rescheduled after the cutoff last month, they are expected to report the specific status and future plans to the Ministry of Education by the 7th.
According to the education sector on the 6th, medical schools nationwide must submit information including the rescheduling criteria (planned), the number of students to be rescheduled, the schedule for the rescheduling (performance) committee, and the number of students notified of rescheduling by the 7th.
This is in response to the Ministry of Education’s request for universities to submit the status of rescheduled and expelled students and academic operations plans for students not attending classes by the rescheduling deadline of the end of last month.
After all medical students registered and returned to their studies by the end of March, class attendance has remained stagnant at 26%.
On the 2nd, five medical schools already notified a total of 1,916 students who were absent for more than a month without notice that they were subject to expulsion according to school regulations.
The students affected are from Soonchunhyang University (606 students), Eulji University (299 students), Inje University (557 students), CHA University School of Medicine (190 students), and Konyang University (264 students).
However, most students from Soonchunhyang University, Konyang University, and Eulji University have decided to return to classes, so the actual number of expulsions is expected to be small.
Although the rescheduling deadline was the end of last month, the Ministry of Education has stated that if students express their intention to return by the 7th, it will be up to the universities to decide.
Chungnam National University has yet to notify students of expulsion but students from the class of 2024 who received academic warnings last year may face expulsion if they receive a second warning.
Therefore, discussions about returning to classes are taking place, especially among the class of 2024.
Unlike expulsion, rescheduling allows students to retain their student status, so the likelihood of students returning after being notified of rescheduling is low.
If this situation continues, more than 7 out of 10 medical students are expected to be rescheduled.
Medical schools operate on a yearly basis rather than by semester, so if students are rescheduled now, they can return in the 2026 academic year.
In the case of first-year students from the classes of 2024 and 2025, they would be attending classes alongside new students from the class of 2026, creating a “tripling” scenario.
The government and universities, which have been striving to prevent tripling, are hastily preparing countermeasures.
The Ministry of Education has been actively reaching out to medical students to persuade them to return before the rescheduling deadline of the end of last month.
Lee Ju-ho, Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, met directly with medical students on the 22nd and 29th of the last month, urging them to return to school before assuming the acting presidency.
Although a meeting with the representative body “Korea Association of Medical Colleges” (KAMC) was requested, it did not take place.
However, with the resignation of former Acting President and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok, there is a perception that Acting President Lee might find it increasingly challenging to solely focus on normalizing medical education.
However, since Lee has become the highest decision-maker in the administration, albeit for a one-month temporary role, there is simultaneously an analysis that he might have more flexibility in addressing the issue.
The Ministry of Education has mandated that universities also submit the expected size of next year’s freshman class and academic management plans along with the rescheduling status by the 7th.
Dong-A University and Jeonbuk National University have already amended their rules to give course registration priority to the class of 2026.
In response to recommendations from some universities, the Ministry of Education is also considering easing regulations to allow the admission of transfer students to fill slots vacated by rescheduling or expulsion.
An official from the Ministry of Education stated, “After the 7th, even if students want to return, it will be difficult,” and “The rescheduling status of each university will be released after the 9th.”
eun@yna.co.kr