University with Open Gates... In-Person Classes Gradually Resuming

Preparing for May Offline Classes Focused on Experiment and Practice Subjects
JeondaeNet Prepares Tuition Refund Lawsuit

On the 21st of last month, members of the National University Student Network held hand placards with content related to tuition refund during a press conference delivering the results of a survey on tuition refund and economic measures for university students, which involved 21,784 participants from 203 universities nationwide in front of the Government Seoul Office Building.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] As the government transitions social distancing to a daily quarantine system and finalizes the reopening schedule for elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide, universities are also beginning to start offline classes one after another. However, students demanding a 'tuition refund,' claiming they have not been able to attend proper classes for over two months and have not used campus facilities, have announced legal action. Conflict is expected with universities, which maintain a stance against refunds.

According to university circles on the 7th, as the COVID-19 situation improves, universities are preparing for offline classes in May. Seoul National University began face-to-face lectures focusing on experimental and practical subjects from the 4th. Korea University will conduct both face-to-face and online lectures starting from the 11th. For classes with fewer than 30 students, the university allows face-to-face lectures only if consent is obtained from members. Hankuk University of Foreign Studies and Dongguk University will also start face-to-face lectures on the 11th. Yonsei University decided to continue online classes until the end of the first semester on the 27th of next month, but will allow face-to-face lectures for courses requiring experiments and practicals, as well as graduate classes, starting from the 13th of next month.

Although university lectures are normalizing belatedly, student dissatisfaction does not seem to subside. They claim their right to lectures has been infringed by 'low-quality online lectures,' and the damage caused by the inability to use offline facilities is significant. Lee Hae-ji, former executive director of the National University Student Council Network (Jeondaenet), a nationwide federation of student councils, said, "We are currently seeking legal advice to proceed with a tuition refund lawsuit against each university," adding, "We will recruit plaintiffs next week." He stated, "Universities must take responsibility for failing to provide educational services as expected by students." Jeondaenet is demanding that the government and universities refund more than half of the tuition fees.

However, universities maintain their position that tuition refunds are impossible based on current laws and internal school regulations. They argue that separate expenses were incurred to prepare for online lectures, and there are fixed costs such as faculty and staff salaries. The regulations on university tuition state, "In cases where payment of tuition is recognized as difficult due to natural disasters, etc., tuition may be exempted or reduced." However, tuition reduction is at the discretion of the university, and the education authorities cannot enforce mandatory reductions. According to Article 3 of the University Tuition Regulations, a subordinate law of the Higher Education Act, the authority for tuition refunds or reductions lies with the university president.

Among legal experts, many also believe that actual tuition refunds are difficult to achieve. The Korean Bar Association interpreted in the 'COVID-19 Legal Consultation Q&A' prepared last month that "tuition refunds or partial returns due to university online classes are not possible."

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