Increasing Passers from the Capital Area in Regional Medical Schools... "The Significance of Regional Balanced Selection Fades"

Eligibility for Application Upon Graduation from High Schools in the Area
"Local Medical Schools, Training Local Talent is Important"
Seoul National University Sometimes Rejects All Interviewees from Regional Balanced Selection

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hyun-joo] As the number of successful candidates from the Seoul metropolitan area increases in the regional talent admission track of medical schools in provincial universities, concerns are rising that the original purpose of the regional balanced selection system is gradually fading.

On the 14th, the office of Assemblywoman Kang Min-jung, a member of the National Assembly Education Committee, analyzed the final enrollment status of regional talent admission track students at eight national university medical schools over the past three years. The number of successful candidates from the Seoul metropolitan area increased significantly from 5 in the 2018 academic year, to 12 in 2019, and 32 in 2020.

Among them, 16 were from the three Gangnam districts of Seoul. The reason why candidates from the metropolitan area can be admitted through the regional talent admission track is that Article 15 of the "Act on the Promotion of Local Universities and Regional Balanced Talent Development," which provides the legal basis for operating the regional talent admission track, only considers whether applicants attended or graduated from a high school in the relevant region, without any separate residency criteria.

Assemblywoman Kang pointed out, "Graduates from autonomous private high schools recruiting nationwide in the metropolitan area have been applying for the regional talent admission track and passing through loopholes," adding, "Especially in the case of medical schools, it is important to nurture local talent with strong ties to the region who have sufficient incentives to contribute to improving local medical conditions."

At Seoul National University, there was even a case where no applicants were selected through the regional balanced selection track. In the 2019 college entrance, a specific department at Seoul National University announced six recruitment spots for the early admission regional balanced selection track. However, all 17 applicants were rejected in the interview stage, including one applicant who received an A+ in the document evaluation but was given a C grade for reasons such as "poor academic ability and not fitting the department's desired talent profile." It is known that no department in that year’s specific track failed to select even a single applicant.

Gu Bon-chang, director of Education Concern Without Private Tutoring, said, "Seoul National University's regional balanced selection involved school principal recommendations, so it was not a proper regional balanced selection in practice," and added, "To align with the purpose of the track and select students without regional bias, selection should be done through the curriculum track rather than the comprehensive student record track."

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