Assemblywoman Yoon Sung-mi Urges Measures Against Jinju National University of Education Admission Manipulation: "It Is Unfair to Punish Students Who Have Worked Hard Toward Their Dreams"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Ju Cheol-in] Yoon Seong-mi, a member of the Gyeongnam Provincial Assembly, urged the Ministry of Education to actively prepare countermeasures, warning that the Ministry’s excessive sanctions related to the admission manipulation at Jinju National University of Education, recently exposed by an admissions officer, could cause significant harm to students preparing for entrance exams.

The Jinju National University of Education admission manipulation case became controversial after it was revealed that in the 2018 special admissions process for students with disabilities, the head of the admissions team deliberately instructed grade manipulation to intentionally fail an applicant with visual impairment.

The Ministry of Education notified Jinju National University of Education of the highest penalty, a 10% suspension of admission quotas, citing unfair operation of special admissions.

In response, Assembly Member Yoon pointed out at the 388th extraordinary session held on the 2nd, “While disciplinary action against the school for neglecting management and supervision duties is absolutely justified, it is unreasonable for the damage to be passed on to our students who have been working hard toward their dreams for the past four years.”

She continued, “Without addressing the systemic issues that enabled admission manipulation and the widespread discrimination and prejudice against people with disabilities in our society, there can be no fundamental solution,” criticizing the Ministry of Education’s unreasonable judgment.

Yoon also highlighted that the current employment rate of people with disabilities among all teachers in the province is below 2%, far short of the legally mandated employment rate of 3.6%. She urged that this incident be used as a lesson to actively recommend expanding the admission quotas for students with disabilities at teacher training universities and to make proactive efforts to improve social prejudice against teachers with disabilities.

In response, Deputy Superintendent Lim Jun-hee said, “We caused concern to the residents by not responding more actively. We will strive harder to prevent such incidents from recurring.”

Meanwhile, according to Assembly Member Yoon, a recent provisional injunction was accepted by the Seoul Administrative Court, and the 10% reduction in Jinju National University of Education’s admission quota will not apply to the 2022 academic year admissions.

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