[Report] "Return Our Tuition Fees" Ewha Students Hold 'Tuition Refund' Protest Amid Heatwave

Ewha Womans University Student Council Launches Indefinite Emergency Sit-in for Tuition Refund
Students: "Poor Online Classes Not Worth Tuition"
Ewha Officials: "No Discussions on Tuition Refund Underway"
Government Says Tuition Refund Requests to Universities Not Possible

Around 1:30 PM on the 23rd, the second day of the sit-in protest at Ewha Womans University Student Council site. The Ewha Womans University Student Council held a press conference in front of the main gate on campus in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 22nd, urging the school to refund tuition fees and introduce an optional pass system, and started an indefinite sit-in protest.
Photo by Suwan Kim suwan@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporters Suwan Kim, Intern Reporter Bongju Kim] "We want our tuition fees back. Honestly, shouldn't some of it be refunded?"

Recently, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), most university lectures have been conducted online, leading to growing demands from students for tuition refunds.

The Ewha Womans University Student Council began an emergency sit-in protest at the school's main gate on the 22nd, calling for tuition refunds and the introduction of an optional pass/fail system.

On the 23rd at 2 p.m., students met on campus in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, raising their voices that their rights have been violated due to poor-quality online lectures. They also pointed out many issues with the grading methods, as many exams are also conducted online.

Jo Mo (22), a third-year Korean literature student, said, "Classes have not been properly conducted so far," adding, "Since the lectures are online, older professors struggled, and students couldn't ask questions immediately during class, causing many problems. That's why I really want my tuition refunded," expressing frustration.

Park Mo (21), a second-year student, said, "(Online classes) are obviously unfair. In terms of lecture quality, professors did not prepare separate lessons but showed graduate-level materials to undergraduates, showing a lack of sincerity," raising their voice, "In this regard, I think students' right to education is being infringed."

Regarding exams, they said, "Most professors conducted open-book exams to accommodate students, but this was at the professors' discretion, so many did not," adding, "During online exams, procedures like turning on cameras and verifying IDs were in place, but concerns about cheating remained."

Kim Mo (22), a natural sciences student, said about the tuition refund protest, "I think it is right to continue until (tuition is refunded)," adding, "Students have pointed out tuition issues since March when classes switched online due to COVID-19. Even if not all, some portion should be refunded."

Around 1:30 PM on the 23rd, the second day of the sit-in protest at Ewha Womans University Student Council site. The Ewha Womans University Student Council held a press conference in front of the main gate on campus in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on the 22nd, urging the school to refund tuition fees and introduce an optional pass system, and started an indefinite sit-in protest.
Photo by Suwan Kim suwan@asiae.co.kr

Meanwhile, not only Ewha students but also students from other universities support tuition refunds or reductions due to the COVID-19 outbreak delaying university openings and extending online substitute lecture periods.

On April 27, the National University Student Council Network (Jeondaenet), composed of student councils from 27 universities, announced that a survey of 21,784 students enrolled in 203 domestic universities showed that 99.2% of respondents said "tuition refunds for the first semester are necessary."

Students cited reasons for demanding tuition refunds such as "the quality of remote classes (online lectures) is poor" and "school facilities are inaccessible."

Opinions on the amount to be refunded varied. Among students, 55% said "half should be refunded," 28.4% said "20-30% refund," and 9.5% hoped for a "full refund."

Moreover, for practical classes, face-to-face instruction was not conducted at all, causing significant disadvantages in departments where practical skills are essential.

Especially, students in arts and physical education criticized universities for not preparing measures for practical classes, effectively neglecting the issue.

Kang Mo (20), a student in the Korean music department, said, "Face-to-face classes were not held due to infection concerns," adding, "Our department requires classes with dozens of students gathering, but due to COVID-19, it was inevitably replaced with theory lectures. However, the university did not present any concrete measures."

Ewha Womans University
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Student Council announced that they will continue an indefinite sit-in near the main gate until the school fulfills the students' demands. Oh Hee-ah, president of the Ewha Student Council, said, "Tuition refund and optional pass/fail system are the slogans of this protest. However, to realize these two, continuous communication between the school and students is necessary, but there is no channel for communication," adding, "We understand the school's position that it is unavoidable due to COVID-19, but it seems they are not showing sincerity. Other universities have made efforts such as switching to absolute grading and tuition reductions, but Ewha has not taken proactive measures at the school level."

She continued, "The school introduced scholarships, but they do not actually benefit students. The procedures are complicated, making it difficult to prove damages caused by COVID-19," adding, "In fact, all students are affected by COVID-19, so there is even more anger. Therefore, I believe the difference in tuition must be refunded."

In response, the school stated that no discussions regarding tuition refunds have taken place. A representative from Ewha's Public Relations Office said, "We are not considering tuition refunds," adding, "Currently, we are closely monitoring the Ministry of Education's situation. Instead, as with the first semester, we plan to return tuition to students as scholarships in the second semester. It seems some of the students' complaints about the difficulty of proving COVID-19 damages will be reflected."

They added, "The Student Council is requesting an optional pass/fail system, but currently, grading is operated under professor-autonomous evaluation. Since the rate of absolute grading is already high, we do not plan to introduce this system."

Meanwhile, the government maintains that requests for tuition refunds through financial support are not possible. On the 18th, the Ministry of Education stated, "Regarding students' demands for tuition refunds due to COVID-19, it is fundamentally a matter to be resolved between universities and students."

They also emphasized that while they will support universities regarding tuition issues, universities must also make self-help efforts in parallel.

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