Photo : YONHAP News
Education minister Lee Ju-ho asked the presidents of 40 universities with affiliated medical schools to introduce regulations to prevent any student from taking a leave of absence for more than two consecutive semesters.
At a meeting Friday, Lee called on the university to prevent continued academic disruptions for the 2025 academic year as a result of what he called collective action by medical students in protest of the medical school admissions quota hike.
Saying there is no justification for a collective leave of absence by mass numbers of medical students to protest the government’s health care reforms, the minister asked the schools to notify students in advance that they could fail or be expelled if they do not return to their studies by the 2025 academic year.
The government convened the meeting to explain a plan it recently announced, under which it intends to approve leave of absence requests on condition that the students agree to return in 2025.
Lee denied the government was pushing to reduce medical training from the current six years to five, saying schools have autonomy in deciding such matters.