"Return Tuition Fees" University Campuses, Online Classes Poor Quality... How Long Will the Confusion Last?

Server Down and Access Failures Everywhere as Semester Starts
Poor Online Lecture Preparation... Students 'Boiling'
Some University Lectures Targeted by Outsiders with Swearing and Malicious Comments
"Violation of Learning Rights" Students Demand 'Tuition Refund'
"Compensate Tuition" Petition Appears at Cheongwadae

Amid the impact of the novel coronavirus infection, universities are moving to online lectures, but requests for tuition refunds continue due to concerns over lecture quality. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Universities that had postponed the start of the semester due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) began the semester with online lectures from the 16th, but most universities have not been able to operate normally, with servers crashing from the first day of classes.

Additionally, at some universities, lectures were conducted not on the school's own online lecture site but on external video sites accessible to anyone, leading to outsiders, not students, accessing the lectures, disrupting classes, and increasing students' complaints, including demands for tuition refunds.

According to the Korea University Professors Association (KUPA) on the 18th, it was found that universities such as Chung-Ang University, Hanyang University, Korea University, Konkuk University, and Kookmin University experienced server crashes and connection instability immediately upon the semester start on the 16th.

Six universities including Korea University, Kookmin University, Ewha Womans University, Chung-Ang University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and Hanyang University experienced server crashes. Konkuk University faced connection instability and playback errors, preventing smooth continuation of lectures.

Sungkyunkwan University also confirmed ongoing errors such as delays in accessing online video lectures and repeated video buffering issues starting from the 16th.

KUPA pointed out, "Universities have never fully implemented online lectures before, but due to the Ministry of Education's request, lectures were pushed forward without improving the IT systems, resulting in this crisis."

Given this situation, student dissatisfaction is growing. A student in their mid-20s attending a university in Seoul, A, expressed frustration, saying, "I cannot help but request a tuition refund," and added, "The problem is that the lectures themselves are poor, regardless of whether they are online or offline."

Another student in their late 20s, B, lamented, "The lectures are so poor that I don't know what I'm learning. It's pure chaos."

Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Board

Amid criticism that students' right to learn is being infringed due to universities' poor preparation for online lectures, a petition titled "Request for Tuition Reduction Due to University Semester Postponement" was posted on the Blue House's public petition board on the 2nd. As of 5:30 a.m. on the 19th, about 90,533 people had agreed to the petition.

The petitioner argued, "Online lectures inevitably have a lower quality than regular offline lectures," and "Since the quality of lectures is reduced, students need to be partially compensated through tuition reductions."

Due to the impact of COVID-19, on the 16th when major universities in Seoul started the semester through online and other non-face-to-face lectures, a freshman from the class of 2020 who entered university this year is seen at a home in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, looking at a notice about a server error after accessing the school website to attend a liberal arts lecture on their laptop computer. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, universities using external video sites such as YouTube instead of their own servers are suffering from malicious comments. Anyone with an ID on the video site can access the lectures and leave real-time comments.

On the 16th, Professor C from the Department of Political Science and Diplomacy at OO University was subjected to harsh malicious comments during an online lecture conducted on AfreecaTV, such as "Send star balloons," "Isn't the professor teaching too politically?" and "The professor is ugly."

The professor, embarrassed, eventually appealed during the lecture that there were difficulties, but the number of viewers for the course, which has 50 enrolled students, exceeded 300.

Ultimately, the department announced that for lectures conducted on AfreecaTV, anyone not using their real name or disrupting the class would be removed. However, the lecture had already been ruined by various profanities and malicious comments.

Despite growing student dissatisfaction due to poor preparation for online lectures and connection failures, there is currently no legal basis for universities to refund tuition fees.

On the morning of the 18th, Yoo Eun-hye, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs and Minister of Education, appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" and said regarding students' demands for tuition refunds due to postponed semester starts and replacement with remote lectures, "We understand the difficulties, but it is difficult to come up with clear solutions."

She added, "(Decisions on tuition refunds) are matters determined by university presidents, and there is no legal obligation to refund," and said, "We are considering measures such as slightly lowering interest rates for university students who have taken out student loans or extending the repayment period."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.