Deans call for reversion to previous enrollment quota as schools not ready to take more students
With the start of the new academic year just days away, South Korea's medical school crisis remains far from resolved, raising concerns over the effectiveness of the government's decision last year to expand medical school admissions quota by 2,000 spots.
Despite efforts to persuade students to return, the overwhelming majority of those who protested the policy by taking a leave of absence have yet to re-enroll, leaving universities and students in a state of uncertainty.
Approximately 18,000 medical students remain on leave after boycotting classes to protest the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's plan to hike medical school admissions places by 2,000. Even after the government delayed the start of the semester to encourage them to return, only 8 percent of these students have applied to take courses ahead of the new term in March.
The continued conflict, now over a year long, between medical students, residents and doctors on the one hand and the government on the other has also resulted in additional tensions within universities. The Ministry of Education referred 11 cases for investigation related to allegations that students were pressured into submitting leave-of-absence requests or were forced to comply with the class boycott.
The uncertainty is even greater for 4,500 newly admitted medical students, who are stepping into an educational environment fraught with disruptions. Many universities are struggling to accommodate the influx of students due to insufficient infrastructure and resources, further complicating the transition into the expanded medical school system.
At Chungbuk National University, which saw the largest increase in medical school enrollment nationwide, the campus is reported to be unprepared to handle the sudden hike in student numbers. The university’s medical school, which previously had an annual intake of 49 students a year, must now accommodate 126 incoming students, along with last year’s returning students, bringing the total to over 170 medical students this year.
However, classroom capacity remains inadequate, according to school officials. The university’s largest lecture hall has only 160 seats, forcing some students to attend medical school classes in other buildings instead. Other lecture halls are outdated, experiencing leaks and lacking essential renovations, while student lounges and club rooms are still being converted into makeshift study spaces, according to local media reports.
Due to all of these problems, medical school deans are resisting the government's push for further increases in medical school enrollment. In a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, attended by representatives from 40 medical schools and the minister of education, deans reiterated their demand that the 2026 admissions quota should be reverted to the pre-expansion level of 3,058 students.
The Korean Association of Medical Colleges proposed that the total quota should be determined through negotiations between the medical community and the government, rather than through unilateral policy decisions. Medical school leaders also called for greater financial and administrative support from the Ministry of Education to maintain and improve the quality of medical education amid the expansion.
The Ministry of Education is now considering giving individual universities the authority to determine their own medical school admissions quotas for 2026. In the meantime, the ministry urged universities to engage in direct discussions with students to encourage their return.
Officials also noted that the ministry’s medical education normalization plan, originally scheduled for release this month, may be postponed to March due to concerns that it could worsen student unrest.
With the semester set to begin in early March, the crisis remains unresolved, leaving students and universities in limbo. The government's ambitious expansion policy, initially aimed at addressing the nation’s doctor shortage, now faces doubts about its feasibility and execution.
jychoi@heraldcorp.com
